Daling River

The Daling River (Chinese: 大だい凌りょう河かわ; pinyin: Dàlíng Hé) is a river in Northeast China. With a length of 435 kilometres (270 mi), it is the main river in the arid western part of Liaoning. Its drainage basin covers 23,837 square kilometres (9,204 sq mi), 85% of which is located in Liaoning, 13% in Inner Mongolia and the remaining 2% in Hebei.

Daling River
Native name	大だい凌しのげ河かわ (Chinese)
Location
Country	China
Provinces/Autonomous Regions	Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei
Cities	Lingyuan, Chaoyang, Yixian, Linghai
Physical characteristics
Source	Shuiquan Creek
• location	Wukunzhangzi, Yaolugou, Jianchang, Huludao, Liaoning
• coordinates	40.5669°N 119.4359°E / 40.5669; 119.4359
2nd source	Quanzi Creek
• location	Songyingzi, Yushulingzi, Pingquan, Chengde, Hebei
• coordinates	41.2596°N 119.0401°E / 41.2596; 119.0401
Mouth	Liaodong Bay
• location	southeast of Linghai, Liaoning
• coordinates	40.8584°N 121.5550°E / 40.8584; 121.5550
Length	435 km (270 mi)
Basin size	23,837 km2 (9,204 sq mi)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Laohushan River, Mangniu River, Xi River
Waterbodies	Baishi Reservoir

Course

The Daling River has two sources. The southern source is Shuiquan Creek (水みず泉いずみ沟) in the village of Wukunzhangzi (吴坤杖つえ子こ) in Jianchang County, Liaoning. The northern source is Quanzi Creek (泉子いずみこ沟) in the village of Songyingzi (宋そう营子) in Pingquan, Hebei. The two source streams meet at Dachengzi, Kazuo County, Liaoning. From there the river flows northeast past the city of Chaoyang into Baishi Reservoir, where it receives Mangniu River (牤牛河かわ) from the north. Baishi Reservoir is Liaoning's third largest reservoir with a capacity of 1.645 cubic kilometres (0.395 cu mi). The reservoir was built on the Daling River between 1995 and 2001, primarily for flood control purposes, and secondarily to supply water to nearby urban and agricultural areas. At Baishi Reservoir the river turns southeast, passing the towns of Yixian and Linghai before entering Liaodong Bay in the Bohai Sea.

History and toponymy

The Neolithic Hongshan culture flourished in the Daling River basin between 4500 and 3000 BCE, as evidenced at sites such as Niuheliang and Dongshanzui. The river was known as Bailangshui (白しろ狼おおかみ水すい) in the Han and Tang dynasties. It became known as the Ling River (灵河) in the Liao dynasty, which was rewritten as 凌しのげ河かわ in the Jin. Later it acquired the modifier "great" (大だい) to distinguish it from the "little" Ling River (小しょう凌しのげ河かわ) to its southwest.