Pearl River (China)

The Pearl River (珠江 Pinyin: Zhū Jiāng) is China's third largest river (2197 km, after Huang He and the Yangtze) located in the south, flowing into the South China Sea between Hong Kong and Macau. Its lower reach forms the Pearl River Delta.

The Pearl is also known as Yue Jiang (粵江 "Guangdong River"). It is named after a sandy or stony island in the middle of the river called Sea Pearl (海珠). This island is now in the bank, due to the river's change of course.

It is formed by convergence of the Xi Jiang, the Bei Jiang, and the Dong Jiang. The river flows through the majority of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou Provinces, and parts of Hunan and Jiangxi, forming the 453,000-km² Pearl River Basin (珠江流域).

See also: Geography of China