Experimental researches were conducted on flood carrying capacity of compound open channels with wide and narrow floodplains as well as hydrodynamic behavior of overbank flow across vegetated floodplains. Results show that hydrodynamic behavior of compound channels with narrow floodplains is different from that of the wide floodplains. In such compound channels with narrow vegetated floodplains as in the Pearl River delta nework, it has been found that vegetated domains become really impenetra ble when the length of vegetated domain is larger than Lm, the length of f low in floodplain coming into the main channel, and that the influence of vegeta ted floodplains upon flood stages of a channel is not very significant. Experimental researches were conducted on flood carrying capacity of compound open channels with wide and narrow floodplains as well as hydrodynamic behavior of overbank flow across vegetated floodplains. Results show that hydrodynamic behavior of compound channels with narrow floodplains is different from that of the wide floodplains. such compound channels with narrow vegetated floodplains as in the Pearl River delta nework, it has been found that vegetated domains become really impenetrable when the length of vegetated domain is larger than Lm, the length of f low in floodplain coming into the main channel, and that the influence of vegeta ted floodplains upon flood stages of a channel is not very significant.