Amanda Johnson, age 15, of Bessemer, Ala., for her question:

WHY IS THE YANGTZE RIVER IMPORTANT?

China's Yangtze River is the world's third longest river. It is important because half of China's ocean trade is distributed over the Yangtze and its branches.

Ocean steamers reach Hankow, 680 miles by river from the coast. Smaller boats can go 1,000 miles farther inland.

Thousands of Chinese live on the Yangtze on sailing crafts called junks. Millions of Chinese live on the banks of this great river.

Among the great cities along the Yangtze River are Shanghi, Nanking, An ch'ing, I ch'ang, Chungking and the twin cities of Hankow and Wa Ch'ang.

The river rises in the Kunlun Mountains of Tibet, 16,000 feet above sea level. The river then flows east, southeast and finally south into the province of Yunnan. From here it winds in a great double curve and flows northeast across Szechwan Province. It then follows an irregular course east through cental China and enters the Yellow Sea 3,434 miles from its source.

The Yangtze and its branches drain nearly 706,000 square miles.