THE YELLOW RIVER The Spirit and Strength of China

A revealing look at China's people and landscape, as photographed along the famous Yellow River.

The Yellow River—the Huang He—flows over 3,300 miles from its headwaters in the Kunlun Mountains to the Bohai Sea. From the Quinghai Province, where the river originates and creates spectacular gorges, it crosses numerous provinces and territories such as Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, and Henan, and finally, in the Shandong Province, reaches the sea.

The Chinese people consider the Yellow River to be the cradle of their civilization, the Mother River. It is along its course that the Han culture—the main ethnic group in China—developed, and not far from here the Xi'an clay army was brought to light. During China's long and rich history, the Yellow River has been considered a blessing as well as a curse and has been nicknamed both "China's Pride" and "China's Sorrow." Over the centuries, the rich yellow sediment that gives the river its color and its name has sometimes blocked the flow, causing devastating flooding in the nearby provinces.

Aldo Pavan has traveled the length of the Yellow River and visited local areas of interest. His stunning photographs combine with texts that give insight into everyday life and describe the great variety of cultures, religions, ethnic groups, and landscapes that the traveler encounters along the way. 220 color photographs.

A journalist and freelance photographer, Aldo Pavan has published many books, including The Ganges.