The Yangtze is the great river of China — the longest river in Asia, about 6,300 km, running from the Tibetan Plateau all the way east to the sea near Shanghai. In English it is almost always "the Yangtze" or "the Yangtze River", with "the" in front, the way English does with rivers.

The Yangtze is the great river of ChinaYangtze是中國的大河 — the longest river in Asia是亞洲最長的河, about 6,300 km大約6,300公里長, running from the Tibetan Plateau all the way east to the sea near Shanghai從青藏高原一路向東流到上海附近的海。In English it is almost always "the Yangtze" or "the Yangtze River"在英文裡幾乎都寫成『the Yangtze』或『the Yangtze River』, with "the" in front前面加『the』, the way English does with rivers這是英文對河流慣用的說法。

Two things often surprise students. First, this is a place name in geography books, news reports, and travel writing, so it appears in fairly formal English; you will not hear it in daily chat unless the topic is China.

Two things often surprise students有兩件事常常讓學生感到意外。First第一, this is a place name in geography books, news reports, and travel writing這是一個出現在地理課本、新聞報導和旅遊寫作裡的地名, so it appears in fairly formal English所以它出現在相當正式的英文裡; you will not hear it in daily chat unless the topic is China除非話題是中國，不然你不太會在日常聊天裡聽到它。

Second, and more interesting: Chinese people do not call it this. In Chinese the river is 長江. "Yangtze" comes from 揚子, which was only the name of a small part of the river near Yangzhou, close to a ferry crossing called 揚子津. Foreign visitors heard that local name, thought it was the name of the whole river, and carried it home. So the English name is a piece of the river standing in for all of it — a common accident with place names.

Second第二, and more interesting而且更有趣的是: Chinese people do not call it this中國人並不這樣稱呼它。In Chinese the river is 長江中文裡這條河叫長江。"Yangtze" comes from 揚子『Yangtze』這個名字來自『揚子』, which was only the name of a small part of the river near Yangzhou這原本只是揚州附近一小段河的名字, close to a ferry crossing called 揚子津靠近一個叫『揚子津』的渡口。Foreign visitors heard that local name外國訪客聽到了這個當地的名字, thought it was the name of the whole river以為那就是整條河的名字, and carried it home就把它帶回國去用了。So the English name is a piece of the river standing in for all of it所以這個英文名字其實是用河的一小部分代表了整條河, a common accident with place names這在地名裡是常見的誤會。

You may also meet the old story that Yangtze means "son of the ocean", from 洋子江. That is a folk etymology: a wrong-but-pretty explanation people repeated because it sounded good.

You may also meet the old story that Yangtze means "son of the ocean"你也可能會聽到一個舊說法，說Yangtze的意思是『海洋之子』, from 洋子江源自『洋子江』這個寫法。That is a folk etymology這是一個民間詞源說法: a wrong-but-pretty explanation people repeated because it sounded good一個不正確、但因為聽起來很美而被大家一直流傳的解釋。

Chinese speakers writing careful English sometimes prefer "the Changjiang", but "the Yangtze" is what most English readers know.

Chinese speakers writing careful English sometimes prefer "the Changjiang"講究的中文母語者寫英文時，有時會偏好用『the Changjiang』, but "the Yangtze" is what most English readers know但大多數英文讀者熟悉的還是『the Yangtze』。