The Yangtze River takes an important part in Chinese history. Traces of human activity in the area can be found as far as 2 million years ago. In the Spring and Autumn Period of China, Ba and Shu tribes lived in the western part of the river, what are now the provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, and western Hubei. The Chu settled in the central part of river, corresponding to today's Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and southern Anhui provinces. Wu and Yue were located in the eastern part of the river, now Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.

　　The modern era on the Yangtze River started in 1900 when the British Paddle-Steamer S.S. "Pioneer" managed the upstream-trip to Chongqing on its own power. The voyage was still not without danger as the example of German passenger steamer shows that was smashed to pieces on one of the rocks the same year. Today a trip on the Yangtze, either up or downstream is as pleasant as it can be. Most of the ships are equipped with modern navigation and sea sickness is seldom seen as most of the ships have motion stabilizers in their bellies.

　　The Yangtze River is of major economic importance from the ancient time to now. The agricultural areas along the river produce nearly half of the country’s total crop production, while most of the industrial hotspots are located here. It has also been an important means of transport for goods up and down the river. In the past the transit has not been easy as the river has some dangerous reaches, rocks and wildly fluctuating water levels. The boats often had to be drawn by hand through the most dangerous parts. Especially between June and September the up-stream traffic nearly came to an end, as the winds where not strong enough to let the junks sail against the raging waters.