Yellow River (Huang He)

Snaking more than 5,460 km, the Yellow River also carries a special meaning for the swimmers as it is known as China's mother river. Today, more than 4,000 swimmers will participate in the 1300-meter-long swim and challenge themselves to the waves of the mother river.

However, the flood came at enormous human cost, economic damages and environmental impact; in the immediate aftermath, 30,000 to 89,000 civilians drowned in the provinces of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu, while a total of 400,000 to 500,000 civilians died from drowning, famine and plague.