It seems that in the lower reaches of the Yellow River (or Huang He to give it it's proper title) silt is washed from the banks into the turbulent waters which often results in flooding. In fact it is the world's most heavily silted river.
The river floods very rapidly and results in tidal waves which have claimed the lives of 50,000,000 people who lived or worked along it's banks over the centuries. This has earned it the ominous title "China's Sorrow"
The Yellow River is China's second largest river and has a length of 3,395 miles. The name of the river comes from the large amounts of fine yellow sediment (loess) colouring its water.
In 1955 China started a 50 year construction plan and flood control program and although silting in the area has remained a huge problem, luckily the river has not burst its banks since 1945.
