Hai
Hai is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 39.06°, 117.35°
About Hai
The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, Pei Ho ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river in Tianjin emptying into the Bohai Sea. Its drainage basin covers most of Hebei, Beijing, and Tianjin, as well as parts of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong.
The Hai River at is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the Ziya River, Northern Canal, Southern Canal, Daqing River, and Yongding River. Both canals are part of the Grand Canal, the Northern Canal being the northern terminus of the Beijing-Hangzhou system connects with the Chaobai River, also called Bai He, at Tongzhou. It is the only waterway from the sea to the center of Beijing, therefore its names are sometimes used interchangeably. The Southern Canal is fed by the Wei River at Linqing. Via the Grand Canal, the Hai River is connected to the Yellow and Yangtze rivers.
The construction of the Grand Canal greatly altered the rivers of the Hai River basin. Previously, the Wei, Ziya, Yongding, and Bai Rivers flowed independently of each other into the sea. The Grand Canal cut through the lower reaches of these rivers and fused them into one outlet in the form of the current Hai River.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Hai River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Hai in Depth
History
In June 1840, the river was used for negotiations between Qing Imperial Commissioner Qishan and British Plenipotentiary Charles Elliot in the First Opium War.
On 20 May 1858, the Pei-ho, as it was then known, was the scene of an invasion by Anglo-French forces during the Second Opium War whereby the Taku Forts were captured.
In 1863 seagoing ships could reach the head of navigation at Tongzhou, but the crooked river was difficult for large vessels.
During the Boxer Rebellion, Imperial Chinese forces deployed a weapon called "electric mines" on June 15, at the Baihe river before the Battle of Taku Forts (1900), to prevent the western Eight-Nation Alliance from sending ships to attack. This was reported by American military intelligence in the United States. War Dept. by the United States.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Hai River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Hai: Key Facts
| Length | 102 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 717 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 280,000 km² |
| Mouth | Bohai Sea |
| Tributaries | Yongding River, Ziya River, Wei River, Wenyu River, Chaobai River |
Facts from Wikidata Q501253 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Hai: Quick Answers
- Where is Hai?
- Hai is located in China, at 39.0567° N, 117.3526° E.
- Are there dams on the Hai?
- No dam on the Hai is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.