The cradle of Chinese civilization and the Chinese race, the Yellow River is called the Mother River. The Yellow River is 5,464 km in length and is the second largest River in China. The average volume of the flow of the Yellow River, 48 billion cubic meters each year, is not more than one-twentieth of the Yangtze's. The Yellow River gains its major color that is the color of sand, because the river is the highest sand-capacity one in the world. However, the Yellow River is known as China's sorrow because it has caused countless deaths through its devastating floods. The powerful floods have often changed the course of the river.