Hei RiverWade–Giles romanization Hei Ho, Pinyin Hei HeChinese (Pinyin) Hei He, or (Wade-Giles) Hei Horiver rising in central Kansu Gansu province, China, and flowing into the western Alxa Plateau (Ala Shan Desert) in western Inner Mongolia autonomous regionAutonomous Region. The river is formed by a series of small glacier-fed rivers flowing north from the Nan and Ch’i-lien Qilian mountain ranges in KansuGansu, between Chang-yeh and Chiu-ch’üanZhangye and Jiuquan. It then flows northward across the desert into a depression filled with salt marshes and swamps that vary greatly in size from one season to another. Between Ting-hsin and Hsi-miao Dingxin and Ximiao it is called the Jo Ruo River. At Hsi-miao Ximiao in Inner Mongolia the river bifurcates into two streams, the Hsi and Tung Xi (Morin) and Dong (Narin) rivers, which empty, respectively, into Lakes Ka-shun and Su-kuGaxun (Gashun) and Sub (Sogo).

The Hei Valley valley is virtually the only part of the Ala Shan plateau Alxa Plateau that has any permanent agriculture or permanent population. It was colonized on a small scale as long ago as the 1st century BC; its permanent settlement is comparatively recent. Even with irrigation, however, which is imperative in the arid climate of the area, the intense salinity of the soil is a major problem for agriculture.

The lower course of the Hei River from about 102 BC formed a forward defense line for the armies of the Han dynasty (206 BCAD 220), defending the region against the nomadic Hsiung-nuXiongnu. In 1930–31 a Sino-Swedish expedition in the area discovered great numbers of documents written on wooden strips and dating from the period before the Later Dong (Eastern) Han (AD 23–220 25–220). Most of them date from 73 to 48 BC and are the earliest surviving Chinese official documents.