Its other name is Gengshi River (Chinese: 更始水); it was called Youxi River (Chinese: 酉溪) in ancient times.
[1] Its trunk stream flows through Hubei, Chongqing and Hunan, and its drainage basin reaches into Guizhou.
[citation needed] The You River basin is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization: the Qin Dynasty Bamboo Slips of Liye and the Tusi Sites of Laosicheng and Tangya were discovered in the region.
The north source, the Beihe River (Chinese: 北河) is the main stream; it originates in the Qizimei Mountains (Chinese: 七姊妹山) in Xuan'en County of Hubei.
The Meijiang River merges into the main stream at Liangjiangkou (Chinese: 两江口) of Shiti Town (Chinese: 石堤镇) in Xiushan County of Chongqing.