Yalong Jiang in Western Sichuan

The Yalong is the largest tributary to the Yangzte in western China. It has a great bend similar to the Yangtze Great Bend. The river canyon is mostly occupied by Tibetans.

A road follows most of the upper reaches, which were partly explored by a Chinese rafting team led by Chen Lianyue in 2000 (no pics available). Chen participated in a Grand Canyon trip sponsored by Earth Science Expeditions in 2004.

At low water in the winter of 2006, American Travis Winn, a good friend of Chen's, led a first descent kayak expedition of a roadless section of the Yalong west and southwest of the Gongga Shan area.

In November 2010, Winn led a first descent kayak expedition of the Litang River, a large tributary to the Yalong just to the west of the 2006 section.

Map adapted from Rand McNalley, photos from the 2006 expedition by Hutch Brown and Travis Winn.

If a segment of a river that has been run is not listed, it does not mean it has not been run - it only means we have not received information on a first descent.

If you have information about a first descent that is not listed or if there are errors in the info shown, contact Pete Winn at peterwinn@gmail.com