River
Xi River
2,197 km from source to mouth · China.
ChinaFlows into Pearl River5th longest in China
In numbers
Length
2,197km
Average flow
7,400m³/s
Basin
437,000km²
Drop
2,058m
from 2,053 m to -5 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
2,197 km of river and 23 stops on the way: 7 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 2,053 m
- 11 kmHuashan Shuiku5.8 km²
- 96 kmXiang Dam Reservoir2.7 km²
- 179 kmChaishitan Reservoir4.0 km²
- 659 kmWanfeng lake98 km²
- 831 kmBeipan Rivertributary
- 954 kmTian'e Longtan Bridge
- 1,403 kmLaibin910,282 people
- 1,582 kmGuiping71,066 people
- 1,627 kmThird Pingnan Bridge
- 1,632 kmPingnan62,483 people
- 1,747 kmWuzhou761,948 people
- 1,750 kmGui Rivertributary
- 1,750 kmXunjiangtributary
- 1,771 kmHe Jiangtributary
- 1,797 kmDucheng95,525 people
- 1,833 kmLuoding Rivertributary
- 1,889 kmLubu95,820 people
- 1,903 kmZhaoqing Bridge
- 1,915 kmZhaoqing Xijiang Bridge
- 1,918 kmZhaoqing4,151,700 people
- 1,919 kmZhaoqing Yuejiang Bridge
- 1,961 kmBei Rivertributary
- 1,965 kmJinma Bridge
- 2,197 kmPearl Riverat -5 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Guangdong, China
At the mouth it carries 7,410 m³/s on average: 3.0 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 2,053 m to -5 m, 0.9 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 437,000 km², about the size of IQ. 73.9 million people live in it. Highest water: August; lowest: from December to March. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (10% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- ZhaoqingLargest city on its banks · 4,151,700 people
- Foshan Shadi Airport (FUO)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 62 km from the city
- On the water92 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From February to March and from October to DecemberThe best months to visit
Xi River, month by month
Highest water: August
Lowest water: from December to March. Best months to visit: from February to March and from October to December.
From about 3,000 m³/s in the lowest month to 18,200 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
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The basin
Xi River: the basin in numbers
389,564 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 73.9millionpeople live in the basin
- 193/km²people per km²
- 666maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,427mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 19.2°Caverage air temperature
- 7%protected areas
- 0.4%covered by lakes
- 29km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 42% Forest
- 16% Cropland
- 31% Pasture
- 7% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Xi River: what you find on the way
- 12Weirs
- 14Locks
- 4WaterfallsLeigong Beach and 3 more
- 2Boat ramps
- 84Ferry piers
- 5Marinas
- 3River beaches
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Xi River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
4lakes on its wayLakeyas
1mountain at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (4)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Huashan Shuikukm 115.8km²
- Xiang Dam Reservoirkm 922.7km²
- Chaishitan Reservoirkm 1734.0km²
- Wanfeng lakekm 63698km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (1)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Maxiong Shan10 km away
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Xi River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (6)
Also: Beipan River, Xunjiang, Gui River, He Jiang, Luoding River
In the same basin
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q216941) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Lakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
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