Ting River

Ting River

Also known as the Yan River, it was renamed Ting River because while all rivers in the world flow eastward, only the Ting flows south. In the Eight Trigrams, the south corresponds to the "Ding" position, and "Ding" combined with "water" forms "Ting," hence the name. It is the only "interprovincial river" in Fujian that flows through other provinces. Originating from the northern slope of Muma Mountain in Ninghua County, it flows through Changting, Wuping, Shanghang, and Yongding counties, with a total length of 260 kilometers and a drainage area of 9,228 square kilometers, including 85 kilometers within Shanghang. The Ting River is the mother river of the Hakka people, where the Hakka ethnic group formed, developed, and migrated outward, and it also forged the Hakka people's hardworking, hospitable, and resilient pioneering character. The late Qing Dynasty patriotic poet Qiu Fengjia wrote: “The mountain pass in the southeast opens to a great river’s flow; the Ting River comes from the south then turns eastward. Surrounded by green hills on four sides and waters on three, a picturesque city basks in the sunset glow,” vividly depicting the beautiful scenery of Shanghang, embraced by mountains and waters.