I, Yangtze

I, Yangtze is a work of nonfiction in CITIC Press's digital publishing brand China Story, written by the ITS Yangtze Expedition team. In 2015, Southern Weekly, NetEase Charity, and Intertek jointly launched the ITS Yangtze Expedition, assembling a scientific survey team focused on water-quality testing. Starting from the source of the Yangtze and traveling downstream, the team covered 27 days and roughly 6,380 kilometers, stopping in 15 cities before reaching the river's mouth at Shanghai. This book is the record of that journey. The book falls roughly into four parts. It opens with prefaces in which the authors explain why they chose to measure a river on foot. "Yangtze · Panorama" follows the order from source to estuary, moving through Yushu, Qumalai, Hoh Xil, Tanggula Mountains, the Yangtze source, Shangri-La, Panzhihua, Yibin, Luzhou, Chongqing, Yichang, Wuhan, Hukou, Nanjing, and Shanghai, recording the natural landscapes, hydrological conditions, and city life along the way. "Yangtze · Them" turns the lens on people: explorers, staff at conservation stations, volunteers involved in testing, and the testing process inside laboratories. "Yangtze · Future" discusses the social significance of the project, the corporate social responsibility awards it received, and how ordinary people can take part in protecting the river. The "I" in the title can be read both as the English pronoun "I" and as an indicator symbol in a test report, echoing the book's approach of looking at the Yangtze through both science and firsthand experience. The book includes volunteers' testing diaries, interviews, and extensive on-site observations. It presents the beauty of the Yangtze while not shying away from real problems such as water pollution and ecological pressure. It is a documentary work that combines a sense of travel with environmental awareness.