The Upper Reaches begins from the source of Qinghai Province to Yichang in Hubei Province. It is the most attractive part of the river, with imposing mountain ranges, unbroken ravines, dangerous rapids and charming landscape. Along this 200-kilometer-long (130 miles) stretch, the river passes through the Three Gorges. In the Qutang Gorge, the river is only 100 meters wide with some 60 meters (200 feet) hydraulic gradient. In the Wu Gorge, mountains rise to a height of 500 to 1,000 meters (1,600 to 3,300 feet). In Xiling Gorge, China's largest engineering project - the Yangtze Three Gorge Dam is underway. Its purpose is to control disastrous flooding and provide enough hydroelectricity to power most of central and eastern China.

The Middle Reaches is from Yichang to Hukou at the mouth of Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province, a distance of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). This region features flat lands with two large lakes, the Dongting and the Poyang that feed into the river.

The Lower Reaches is from Hukou to the estuary. The landscape in the river's lower course is typified by a flat delta plain, crisscrossed by canals and waterways. The region has been known for centuries as the 'Land of Fish and Rice'. Because of a port named Yangzi in ancient times, this stretch has given rise to another name "Yangtze" with which missionaries and colonialists adopted and as a result, became established in Europe as the name of the whole river.

The wet season begins in April, bringing heavy rain to the middle and lower reaches. By July and August the wet weather reaches the Sichuan Basin where the prevalence of mountainous terrain causes widespread rainfall. Therefore, as the water level caused by the earlier wet season starts to subside, the 'Sichuan waters' begin to threaten again.