In the year of 1987 from April 30 to September 25, there was a first successful source-to-sea descent without power of the whole 5,464 km long yellow river by three domestic teams from Beijing, Ma'anshan and Luoyang. The total vertical drop of this descent has reached 4,831 meters. Seven team members drowned in the steep upper
reaches of the river. The Beijing team lost one member, the Ma'anshan team lost two members, and the Luoyang team lost 4 members. An descent was even made of the Hukou Waterfalls, the largest fall with approximately 50 meters drop on the yellow river, with the brave Chinese rafters dying in the attempt.
