The Lancangjiang River is an international river with a total length of 4,880 kilometers. It is originated from Gangguori Peak at the north of Tangula Mountain on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the Zhaqu River is its real source. It flows through Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan provinces in China and transverses Xishuangbanna; after it inflows to the border areas of the Laos and Burma, it is called the Mekong River; and it passes through the Laos, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and ingresses into the South Pacific at last. The River is the sixth longest river in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia. 2,354 kilometers of the river is in China, covering a drainage area of 165,000 square kilometers.
The upper reaches of the river, with more than 100 dangerous shoals, stretch 556 kilometers, starting from China's Guanlei Port and passing through parts of Laos and Thailand; the middle reaches stretch 821 kilometers to the Gongguo Bridge.
Near its beginnings, in Yunnan Province of China, the Mekong River is known as the Lancangjiang or Turbulent River. It flows through the rainforests of Xishuangbanna, skirts Myanmar and plays politics as the border between Thailand and Laos where it becomes the lifeline of a country.
The trunk of the Lancangjiang River has enormous hydroelectric resources, with an annual potential of up to 27 million kilowatts. China has built up three large hydropower stations and plans to build six more along the Lancangjiang River from 2001 on.
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