[2] A vertebra of Qijianglong was first discovered in the early 1990s by farmer Cai Changming of Heba village, Sichuan, in his backyard.

Work at a nearby construction site at Qijiang District uncovered a rich fossil quarry in 2006.

In 2015, the type species Qijianglong guokr was named and described by Xing Lida (China University of Geosciences), Tetsuto Miyashita (University of Alberta), Zhang Jianping, Li Daqing, Ye Yong (Zigong Dinosaur Museum), Toru Sekiya (Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum), Wang Fengping and Philip John Currie.

On the lower braincase the processus basipterygoideus has the form of a plate, is oriented along the body axis, and has an additional boss parallel to the tubera basilaria.

The rear neck vertebrae have pneumatopores, pneumatic openings, in the depression between the diapophysis, the upper rib joint process, and the neural spine.