The Anning River (; ) is a river in the Hengduan Mountains region of southwestern Sichuan, China. The river is a tributary of the Yalong River, itself a tributary of the Jinsha River which is the head stream of the Yangtze. The river is located primarily in Liangshan Prefecture except for the mouth of the river which enters the Yalong in Panzhihua Prefecture.
Geography
Course of the river
The Anning River has its source at the southern
Xiaoxiang Range in
Mianning County, Liangshan. From here, it flows in a southerly direction between the southern
Daxue Mountains and the Xiaoxiang through the Anning River Plain and meets its largest left tributary, the
Sunshui River, at
Luguzhen. Measured to the furthest source, the Sunshui forms the
main stem of the Anning. Continuing south, the Anning River Plain widens and provides for greater human activity. The capital of Liangshan,
Xichang, is located at the widest extent of the valley to the east of the river.
The Anning exits the Anning River Plain in Dechang County and flows south-southwesterly until it meets the Yalong River in Yanbian County, Panzhihua. The total length of the river is .
Anning River Plain
Unlike other larger river valleys in the region, including those of the deeply-incised Yalong and Jinsha Rivers, the Anning River has a relatively flat valley known as the
Anning River Plain ().
For the section of river between Mianning and Dechang, the valley stretches between and wide. The Anning River Plain is the largest valley plain in southwest Sichuan with an area of and its fertile soils support a variety of agricultural activities. The plain, and in fact the entire Anning River's course, follows the tectonically active Anninghe Fault where a southeastern portion of the
Tibetan Plateau abuts the
Yangtze Plate.
Qiong Lake is found on the eastern edge of the Anning River Plain, approximately from the Anning River.
History
There is evidence of human activity in the Anning River basin since the
Neolithic Age.
Burial tombs from this era have been uncovered. In the last 3,000 years, the Anning River basin developed as the heartland for the
Yi People who migrated from the Tibetan Plateau and supplanted or assimilated with the original inhabitants. In the 2nd century
Common Era, the Anning River basin was incorporated into
Han dynasty China as it provided a crucial direct route between the
Sichuan Basin and the annexed
Dian kingdom in present-day
Yunnan. Qiongdu (now known as Xichang) was the primary settlement in the region and was a territorial garrison of the Han. The Anning River valley drifted in and out of Chinese administration through subsequent dynasties until its control by the Chinese was solidified in the
Ming dynasty.
In addition to being a major source of agriculture for the region, the Anning River and its valley has served as a major transportation corridor in southwest China, particularly between the major cities of Kunming and Chengdu. The Chengdu–Kunming railway, completed in 1970, and the G5 Expressway, completed in 2018, both follow the course of the Anning River.
Several dams have been constructed along the Anning River's length, including the Chengnan Dam, Qianjinqu Dam, and Xiaosanxia Dam.