The Old Course of the Yellow River in Siyang

The Old Course of the Yellow River in Siyang

There is a 63-kilometer stretch of the old course of the Yellow River within Siyang County. What was once a desolate and barren landscape has now transformed into a veritable forest belt. The woodland covers an area of over 40,000 acres, with millions of poplar trees reaching skyward. Some visitors have dubbed this forest belt the "new green corridor of Jiangsu." Comrade Qiu He, former Deputy Governor and former Party Secretary of Suqian City, once praised: "When looking at Siyang from the air, the forest covers the land — villages are invisible in the day, and lights are invisible at night."

It was formed in the eighth year of the Taiping Xingguo era during the Song Dynasty (983 AD), when the Yellow River diverted into the Huai and then into the Si rivers. Flowing from today’s Suyu County through Siyang, it runs from northwest to southeast, passing through towns such as Yanghe, Zhenglou, Cangji, Linhe, Chengxiang, Zhongxing, Likou, and Xinyuan before entering Huaiyin County. It meanders along the southern bank of the Grand Canal. Later, as the Huai'an section of the Grand Canal silted up, north-south water transport had to detour via the Yellow River. However, the river was treacherous and difficult for boats to navigate. In the 25th year of the Kangxi reign (1686), the Director-General of River Works, Jin Fu, excavated the “Middle River,” which passed through Suqian and Siyang to reach Qinghe, avoiding 180 dangerous li of the Yellow River. From then on, the 3,000-li Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal flowed through the “Middle River” and traversed Siyang.

Over centuries, sediment accumulation caused the Yellow River bed to gradually rise until it was eventually abandoned due to silting. The 37-kilometer-long old course of the Yellow River was covered in yellow sand, with dust flying everywhere, to the extent that there were sayings such as "three days without rain brings sand-filled skies," and "in winter and spring, everything is white and bleak; when the wind blows, the sand flies; one bowl of seeds sown in spring yields only half a harvest in autumn." Later, under the vigorous management and governance led by the Party and government, the area gradually donned a green mantle, becoming a spectacular and beautiful scenic highlight on the land of Siyang. The clear waters of the old Yellow River course are mirror-like, teeming with aquatic plants, while the banks are overgrown with clusters of shrubs like purple-flowered amorpha and willows, along with wildflowers and grasses. The entire woodland belt is simple and natural, free from any artificial embellishment, evoking a sense of freshness, tranquility, and wild charm. Visitors strolling through it can hear birds chirping in the treetops, breathe in fresh air, and feel as if they’ve entered a vast natural oxygen bar, often inspiring a sense of being far removed from the noise of the world and fully enjoying the gifts of nature. Especially today, when forest coverage in many areas has been compromised, visiting this newly revitalized forest belt offers an extraordinary experience and unique sense of wonder.