Hongshui
Hongshui 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
- 24.05°, 108.40°

About Hongshui
The Hongshui River is a major river in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is one of the main rivers in the basin of the Xi River, which in its turn is one of the main tributaries of the Pearl River. Because it flows through the red rock series area, the river is reddish brown, hence the name Hongshui River (lit. 'red water river').
Conventionally, the Hongshui River is formed by the merging of the Beipan and Nanpan Rivers (Beipanjiang and Nanpanjiang, i.e., the Northern and Southern Pan Rivers) at the Guizhou-Guangxi border. From there, it flows in the general southeastern direction. In Laibin Prefecture in central Guangxi the Hongshui merges with the Liu River that comes from the north, forming the Qian River, which continues to the east toward, eventually, the Xi River.
The Hongshui has 10 large dams on it, that provide electric power and flood control.
According to the Beijing Review the Hongshui River had 300 shoals that interfered with navigating the river with cargo vessels.
Several of the dams are equipped with ship lifts capable of lifting vessels of 300 tons displacement.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Hongshui River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Hongshui: Key Facts
| Length | 638 km |
|---|---|
| Drainage basin | 138,340 km² |
| Mouth | Qianjiang River |
| Tributaries | Nanpan River, Buliu River, Qingshui River, Beipan River |
Facts from Wikidata Q615328 (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
Hongshui: Quick Answers
- Where is Hongshui?
- Hongshui is located in China, at 24.0481° N, 108.4028° E.
- Are there dams on the Hongshui?
- No dam on the Hongshui is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.