Xiang River

Xiang
The Yuan (left) and Xiang (right) basins, draining north to Lake Dongting.
Chinese	湘
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiāng Wade–Giles Hsiang IPA [ɕjáŋ] Xiang IPA Siɔ̃44-ziɔ̃31 Siɔ̃44-swɛ13 Old Chinese Zhengzhang  *Slaŋ
Xiang River
Chinese	湘江
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiāngjiāng Wade–Giles Hsiang Chiang IPA [ɕjáŋ.tɕjáŋ]
Xiang River
Chinese	湘水
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiāngshǔi Wade–Giles Hsiang Shui IPA [ɕjáŋ.ʂwèɪ]

The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the second-largest tributary (after the Min River) in terms of surface runoff, the fifth-largest tributary by drainage area of the Yangtze tributaries. The river flows generally northeast through the provinces of Guangxi and Hunan, its tributaries reaching into Jiangxi and Guangdong.

Traditionally, it was regarded that the West (left) Branch is the Main Stream of the Upper Xiang, which rises in the Haiyang Mountains between Xing'an and Lingchuan counties of Guangxi. In the 1st national water census of China in 2011, the East Branch Xiao River,^[1] was identified as the Main Stem of the Upper Xiang. The Ping Island of Yongzhou is the meeting of the two streams, the West source originating from Guangxi and the East source of the Xiao River originating from Lanshan County of Hunan.^[2]

With the tributaries, the Xiang has a river basin area of 94,721 square kilometres (36,572 sq mi), of which Hunan has an area of 85,383 square kilometres (32,967 sq mi).^[3] In a situation of Guangxi source, the Xiang has a length of 844 kilometres (524 mi); In another situation of Xiao River as the main source stream, the Xiang has a length of 948 kilometres (589 mi).^[1]