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Home , Geography of China, Loess Plateau, Northeast China Plain, Roof of the World, Tarim River

Geography and

By Xiaoping Shen

INTRODUCTION is the most populated country in the world. More than 1 billion Chinese people live on a vast land—the third largest in the world after and . From (the world’s tallest mountain) to Turfan (the lowest land in the world at 154 meters [505 feet] below level) and from the cool-temperate climate in the north to the tropical climate in the south, China includes an extraordinary variety of physical environ- ments. As one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, the Chinese people have cre- ated unique cultural landscapes on this great landmass. This section will introduce both the physical and cultural aspects of the .

1. LOCATION AND TERRITORY

Geography Area: China covers a land area about 9.6 million square kilometers (3.7 million China is an east Asian country located in square miles), including the mainland and the southeastern portion of the Eurasian . The territory of China includes landmass and on the western shore of the , although it is currently adminis- Pacific . The territory lies between tered by governments other than that of latitudes 3º50’N to 53º31’N and longitudes the People’s Republic of China. 73ºE to 135º5’E. It covers about 50 degrees The area of China is exceeded only by of latitude and 60 degrees of longitude. those of Russia and Canada. It is slightly China is about 5,200 kilometers (3,232 larger than the area of the miles) from west to east, and about 5,500 (9.4 million square kilometers, or 3.6 mil- kilometers (3,418 miles) from north to lion square miles) and is similar to the south. area of all of . China occupies about China and the United States are both one-fifteenth of the total land surface on mid-latitude countries in the Northern the and one-quarter of the area of Hemisphere. With a very similar longitudi- . nal extent between China and the 48 con- and Islands: China has four tiguous U.S. states, China is considerably neighboring seas on the east and southeast wider from north to south. The northern- of the land area. From north to south, they most point of China is located in the mid- are Bo Hai, Huang Hai (), Dong dle of the Heilong Jiang River, which is the Hai ( Sea), and Nan Hai (South same latitude as Edmonton in Alberta, China Sea). Canada. The southernmost point of China Besides the mainland territories, there is in the Nansha Islands on the same lati- are more than 5,000 islands scattered tude as Cali in Colombia. Comparing the along the east and southeast . The latitudes, Miami—which is almost the largest is Taiwan and the second southern limit in Florida—is only halfway largest is Island. between and . Time Zones: China’s vast land crosses four time zones, similar to the 48 continu- ous states of the United States. But the dif-

3 4 Facts About China ference between the two countries is that Macao the United States uses four times in four time zones, China uses only one time, Since the 16th century, Macao has been a Beijing time, for the entire country. Since Portuguese overseas territory in South Beijing is located in east China, people in China. Macao is in the delta of the Zhu are inconvenienced by this. Jiang River () and includes two People in west get up “late” and go to work small islands. The area of Macao is 17 “late”; eight o’clock in the morning Beijing square kilometers (6.6 square miles), com- time is only five o’clock local time in the prising the Macao Peninsula and the west. If Chinese people were more equally islands of Taipa and Colôane. The popula- distributed over the territory, as in the tion of Macao was 438,000 in 2000. United States, using one time for the According to the Joint Declaration on the entire country would be even more awk- Question of Macao by the Governments of ward. the People’s Republic of China and the Beijing time is ahead of U.S. time Republic of Portugal signed in 1987, China between 16 hours (Pacific time) to 13 hours resumed sovereignty over Macao on (Eastern time). When it is daytime in the December 20, 1999. United States, it is nighttime in China. China does not have daylight savings time Taiwan in the summer. Therefore, the time differ- ence decreases one hour during daylight Taiwan is a part of China and is cur- savings time in the United States. When rently administered by the Guomindang people in the United States make phone (Nationalist Party) government. Taiwan is calls to China, they must calculate the located to the southeast of the Chinese time difference. mainland, opposite Fujian Province and is separated from the southeast coast of Hong Kong China by the Taiwan Straits. To the east of Taiwan is the . Taiwan Prov- Hong Kong is a special administrative ince consists of Taiwan Island, the P’eng- under the central government of the hu (Penghu) Islands, and 80 other smaller People’s Republic of China. Hong Kong is a neighboring islands and islets. The total port city located on China’s southeast coast area covers 36,000 square kilometers near city. The area of the Hong (13,900 square miles). Taiwan had a popu- Kong administrative region is 1,072 square lation of 22.28 million in 2000. kilometers (414 square miles). That Taiwan was occupied by from includes Hong Kong Island, Kowloon pen- 1895 to 1945, and was returned to China at insula, nearby islands, and the New Terri- the end of World War II. When the Chinese tories north to Kowloon. Hong Kong’s Communist Party won the civil war and population was 6.67 million in 2000. founded the People’s Republic of China, the Hong Kong was a British crown colony Guomindang authorities retreated from for 155 years between 1842 and 1997. the mainland to Taiwan in 1949. To this According to the Sino-British Joint Decla- day, the Guomindang government contin- ration signed in 1984, China resumed sov- ues to refer to itself as the government of ereignty over Hong Kong at midnight on the Republic of China. The delegate from June 30, 1997. The central government of Taiwan held the seat of China in the China handles defense and foreign affairs, United Nations until 1971, when the and the Hong Kong government is respon- United Nations recognized that the gov- sible for other governmental functions. The ernment of the People’s Republic of China Chinese government has promised that was the sole legal . Hong Kong will keep its own currency, (the The seat of China in the United Nations is Hong Kong dollar) and its capitalist mar- now held by the delegate from the People’s ket system for fifty years after its return to Republic of China. Working channels for China. nongovernmental contacts have been established across the Taiwan straits since 1992. Geography and Climate 5

Neighboring Countries China has 32,000 kilometers (19,888 miles) of coastline (including mainland and China has a land boundary of 22,800 island coastlines) on the east and south- kilometers (14,170 miles) and is bounded east. Across the seas to the east and south- by 16 countries: North , Russia, Mon- east, the parts of the ocean owned by golia, , , , China touch borders with parts of the , , , , ocean owned by the following countries: , Sikkim, , Japan, , , Philip- (Burma), , and . pines, Singapore, Vietnam, , Malay- sia, and Indonesia.

2. ADMINISTRATIVE

Regional Administrative System Autonomous Regions: When the majority of people in a region are from a single China has three major regional adminis- minority nationality, this region is classi- trative levels: provincial level, county level, fied as an autonomous region. For exam- and township level. There is a prefecture ple, the Hui nationality is the majority in level between the provincial and county ; therefore, Ningxia is a Hui auton- levels, but it does not have full government omous region. The five autonomous regions authority as the three major levels, except are Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Inner for those autonomous prefectures and pre- autonomous region, auton- fecture level cities. Township is the lowest omous region, Zhuang autono- level in government hierarchy; village and mous region, and Uygur street are communities that have a com- autonomous region. The names in italics mittee but do not have government offi- are the names of nationalities that have cials. China is divided into twenty-three the autonomous authority. The regional provinces (including Taiwan), five autono- government is located at the regional capi- mous regions, four municipalities, and two tal. special administrative regions (Hong Kong Municipalities: Municipality is a spe- and Macao) at the provincial level. cial term in the Chinese administrative Capital: Beijing has been the capital of system for large cities that are directly the People’s Republic of China since 1949. under the central government and enjoy It is the political, cultural, scientific, and provincial level status, although they have educational center of China. Beijing is a much smaller areas and populations. The historical city and has served as the four such municipalities are Beijing, Tian- national capital for more than 800 years. , Shanghai, and . Beijing is also a major hub of China’s rail- Cities: The word city means a nucleated way, highway, and aviation systems. settlement, multi-functional urban center, Provinces: The province is the first level including a central business district. But of regional division in China and is similar different countries have different criteria to the state level in the United States. A to define a city and to distinguish between province is a region where either the Han cities and towns. In China, city (shi) is nationality is the majority, such as in most defined as an officially approved urban provinces in the east coast region, or where area also known as a “designated city” many nationalities live together without (jianzhi shi). Urban settlements cannot any single one enjoying majority status, have the official city status without the such as or Guizhou. Each of approval of the State Council. The criteria China’s 23 provinces has a provincial capi- that the State Council used to establish cit- tal. ies were first approved in June 1955 and published three months later. These crite- ria require a clustered population of more 6 Facts About China

than 100,000 or functioning as an impor- Administrative Rank: In China, cities tant industrial, mining, administrative, are not only classified by population size and local economic center. In 1963, the but also ranked according to administra- State Council further specified that all des- tive levels. There are three levels of cities. ignated cities must have a population of at They are provincial, prefecture, and least 100,000. county. Provincial-level cities are those A city typically consists of a city proper municipalities directly under the central that is divided to several urban districts government as we described under “munic- officially designated as the urban area, ipalities.” Prefectural-level cities are pro- some suburban districts with mixed urban vincial capitals, such as Guangzhou and and rural functions and residents, and Xi’an, and other major cities, such as some rural counties under the city’s Qingdao and Xiamen. County-level cities administration that may be predominately are those originally agricultural counties agricultural. China had a total of 663 cities that converted to city status, when their in 2000 (not including cities in Taiwan). non-agricultural population reached 80 City Grade: In China, cities are officially percent. A county-level city does not have classified into three categories on the basis rural counties under its administration as of the size of a city’s non-agricultural popu- higher level cities have. Each city has a lation residing in the city proper and in the mayor, but the mayor and his salary rank suburban districts (see 1). differently according to the city rank they manage. Table 2 shows the changes of a. Cities with a population of over one mil- number of cities in the three ranks from lion are classified as extremely large cit- 1980 to 2000. ies; Counties: Counties, including autono- b. Cities with a population between mous counties, are one of the major levels 500,000 and 1 million are classified as in China’s administrative system. There is large cities; a County People’s Congress in each county. c. Cities with a population between Counties are agricultural areas in China. 200,000 and 500,000 are classified as If the majority of people in a county are not medium-sized cities; agricultural residents, the county may be d. Cities with a population under 200,000 converted to a county-level city. Counties are classified as small cities. consist of towns and townships. The town where the county government is located is called a county town. Counties in China

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City 1952 1962 1975 1985 1995 1998 grade No.1 % Pop.2 No. % Pop. No. % Pop. No. % Pop. No. % Pop. No. % Pop. Extremely large 7 4112431339213932353737

Large 8 1418192524312043154814 Medium- sized 21 19 40 20 52 22 93 24 192 29 205 29

Small 117 26 124 18 95 15 179 17 373 21 378 20 Total 153 194 185 324 640 668 Note: 1 Number of cities. 2 Percentage of population. Source: China State Statistical Bureau. Cities China 1949–1998 . Beijing: China Statistical Publishing House, 1999. Geography and Climate 7

&)0123456# and Northwest. In this book, the China $(7'&777 State Statistical Bureau’s classification in China’s statistical yearbook series is used 1980 1985 1988 1992 1996 2000 for the above divisions at the provincial level. The three major regions are: 1 Provincial 333334 • East region, including twelve provin- Prefecture 107 162 183 189 218 259 cial-level units (Liaoning, , County 113 159 248 325 445 400 Beijing, , , Jiangsu, Total 223 324 434 517 666 663 Zhejiang, Shanghai, Fujian, Guang- Note: dong, Guangxi, and Hainan); (Hong 1 Not including Hong Kong and Macao. Kong, Macao, and Taiwan are listed Sources: separately); China State Statistical Bureau. China Statistical Yearbook, 2001. Beijing: China Statistical Publishing • Central region, including nine pro- House, 2001. vincial-level units (, Inner Mon- China State Statistical Bureau. Cities China golia, , , Anhui, 1949–1998. Beijing: China Statistical Publishing , , , and Hubei); House, 1999. • West region, including 10 provincial- level units (, Chongqing, are not defined the same way as they are Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, , in the United States, where counties can , , Ningxia, and Xin- include cities or metropolitan areas. For jiang). example, Hartford County in Connecticut The seven regions are: includes the city of Hartford as well as other towns. There are 1,697 counties • Northeast: Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaon- (1996) in China (not including Taiwan, ing; Hong Kong, and Macao). • North: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, ; Towns and Townships • East: Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Towns and townships are the lowest Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong; level in the administrative system. As with • Central: Henan, Hubei, Hunan; city status, town status needs official • South: , Guangxi, Hainan; approval. Officially approved towns are • Southwest: Sichuan, Chongqing, called designated towns. The designated Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet; towns normally administer a well-defined and fairly densely populated town area but • Northwest: Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, have no formally demarcated suburban Ningxia, Xinjiang. regions, although towns may have some villages under their administration. A Changes of Provincial-Level township is a rural community either with Administrative Regions a small urban center called a market town or without any urban center at all. There Most provinces and provincial bound- were more than 29,800 townships and aries have remained unchanged since the minority nationality townships and 17,300 People’s Republic of China was founded in towns as of 1995 (not including Taiwan, 1949. Some provincial boundaries were Hong Kong, and Macao). once changed and then changed back later on, such as Inner Mongolia and surround- Regional Divisions ing provinces and autonomous regions. Tianjin was granted municipality status in Conventionally, China is divided into 1949 along with Beijing and Shanghai. three major regions: east coast region, cen- That was revoked, and Tianjin was tral region, and west region. It is also fur- returned back to Hebei Province for the ther divided into seven regions: Northeast, period 1958–1967. After 1967, Tianjin North, East, Central, South, Southwest, regained municipality status. 8 Facts About China

The biggest changes at the provincial before 1997. Hong Kong’s return added one level were creations of two provincial-level new category at the provincial level in units: Hainan Province in 1988 and Chong- 1997, the special administrative region. qing municipality in 1997. Hainan was Macao joined Hong Kong in this category part of Guangdong Province before 1988. in 1999. Chongqing was part of Sichuan Province

3. PLACE NAMES AND CHINESE UNITS Translating and pronouncing a foreign set in the Map of the People’s Republic of place name is always a challenging job, China (published by China Cartographic especially from Chinese characters to Publishing House, 1994) and Webster’s romanized languages. Chinese place Geographical Dictionary. names have been translated into roman- ized languages in several ways. The Wade- Place Names and Giles system is one of the major systems Meanings used for Chinese names, and is still in use in Taiwan (although a modified Pinyin sys- Since the pronunciation of one Chinese tem has become popular in Taiwan in character is always a single syllable, the recent years). The English Postal spelling Chinese pinyin system is constructed to is also used for some names, such as Can- pronounce Chinese characters one by one. ton (Guangzhou in Pinyin) and Peking For example, Beijing is a name with two (Beijing in Pinyin). For some Chinese place Chinese characters, bei and jing. Bei names, the meaning has been translated; means north, and jing means capital; one example is the (Huang hence, Beijing means northern capital. In He). Some names used in English do not the name Nanjing (Nanking), nan means follow any of these three systems. Exam- south. So Nanjing means southern capital. ples include some place names in minority The following page contains some fre- regions, such as Hohhot and Ürümqi. quently used Chinese characters in place In 1958, the government of the People’s names. If you can remember a few of them, Republic of China adopted Putonghua (the you can determine the meaning of many pronunciation of Chinese characters based place names. on northern Mandarin) and the Pinyin sys- tem (a romanized system to help people Chinese Units and Conversions pronounce Chinese characters) to establish a standard form of the Chinese language in In general, China uses the metric sys- China. The pinyin system replaced Wade- tem, but does have its own measuring sys- Giles, the Postal spelling, and translated tem in use. Some major Chinese units and meanings systems mentioned above. Chi- conversions are listed below: nese place names and people’s names have been changed to pinyin names since 1958. The system has caught on slowly outside of Chinese China. However, pinyin names are in gen- unit metric English eral use in today’s world. For those minor- chi 1/3 meter 1.09 foot ity place names, their spellings and li 1/2 kilometer 0.31 mile pronunciations are both kept unchanged, jin 500 gram 1.34 pound such as Tibet, Hohhot, and Ürümqi. In this mu 1/15 hectare 1/6 acre book we use pinyin names, with the excep- tion of minority names, following the style Geography and Climate 9

Chinese Place Names Frequently Used Characters

English Pinyin Example north bei Hebei: north of a river (he means river); it is a province located north of Huang He River. south nan Henan: south of a river; it is a province located south of Huang He River. east dong Dongbei: Northeast region. west xi Shanxi: west of a mountain; it is a province located west of Taihang Shan mountain. mountain shan Huang Shan: a scenic mountain in Anhui Province. mountain ling Qin Ling: a mountain in Shaanxi Province. river he Huang He: the second longest river in China. river jiang Chang Jiang ( River): the longest and largest river in China. river shui Han Shui: a river in Hubei Province. lake hu Qinghai Hu: the largest lake in China. sea hai Hainan: the second largest island south of the mainland.

4. LANDFORM

Geological Evolution northern, northeastern, and northwestern land areas, and unified the present terri- China lies east of the Eurasian Plate that tory of China into a continuous landmass adjoins the Indo-Australian Plate in the except for the , Taiwan, and south and the Pacific and Philippine Plates . in the east. About 1 billion years ago, the The Yan Shan movement had great land was being formed in northern, north- impact on the Chinese physical environ- eastern and northwestern China. Besides ment. It determined the broad geological those areas, much of today’s China was structures and macro-geomorphological covered by the sea. Since then, several features of China. Most major mountain major tectonic movements formed and ranges and were formed during reformed this vast land. the movement. The Yan Shan Tectonic Movement: The Himalayan Tectonic Movement: The Yan Shan tectonic movement occurred The Himalayan tectonic movement started between 100 and 150 million years ago. about 25 million years ago, and is still The name came from the uplift of Yan going on today. The most significant Shan Mountains in Beijing and Hebei change that this movement has brought is Province. During this movement, most of the uplift of the Himalayan Mountains and central and southern China uplifted and the Qinghai-Tibet from the sea- became land area. Those land areas joined floor to the highest mountains and plateau 10 Facts About China

in the world. Even today, the Himalayan The First Inland Step—Qinghai-Tibet Mountains are still growing at the speed of Plateau: This plateau, known as the “roof about 1 centimeter per year. Taiwan Island of the world,” is completely above 3,000 and the folding belts were also created dur- meters (9,842 feet) elevation, and most of ing this movement. the area is between 4,000 and 5,000 meters The Himalayan movement was caused by (13,123 and 16,404 feet)—double the collision between the Indo-Australian height of the Colorado Plateau, at 1,300 to Plate and the Eurasian Plate. During its 2,200 meters (4,000 to 7,000 feet). The area long geological history of more than 200 of the plateau covers about 2.5 million million years, the Indo-Australian Plate square kilometers (965,000 square miles). has moved northward and collided with the This is about 25 percent of China’s land Eurasian Plate at today’s Himalayas. The area and is equivalent to the area of Ari- collision between plates is called subduc- zona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New tion. Subduction describes when tectonic , Texas, and Utah combined. plates collide, the heavier oceanic crust is The Second Inland Step—Central forced beneath the lighter continental Mountains and Plateaus: The eleva- material. The plates are destroyed at sub- tion of this step varies between 1,000 and duction zones, where the plates are con- 2,000 meters (3,280 and 6,560 feet), about sumed downward, back into the earth’s the height of the Colorado Plateau. The mantle, forming deep ocean trenches. It is east side of the step is bordered by the Da similar to when two cars collide: their front Hinggan Ling–Taihang Shan– Shan ends smash, and one is forced up on the mountain ranges, which are higher than other. 3,000 meters (9,840 feet). The major pla- The continuous pushing force from the teaus in this area are the Inner Mongolia Indo-Australian Plate meets a firm resis- Plateau, the Plateau, the Yunnan- tance from the Eurasian Plate. The forces Guizhou Plateau, and the Alashan Pla- break the colliding edges of both plates and teau. push the area upward. That movement has been the dominant force in shaping the The Third Inland Step—: The modern Chinese physical landform and cli- plains are located in the east coast region mate. It first created the highest plateau in and . The elevation of the the world, and changed China’s landform area is about 200 meters (656 feet). It is to three topographic land steps. Second, the major agricultural area of China. The the plateau blocked the moist ocean air of major plains are the , the from reaching the central the , the Lower Eurasian , creating today’s huge Chang Jiang Plain, the Lower Xi Jiang and dry areas north of the Himala- Basin, and the Southeast Hills and Basins. yas. Third, the plateau also blocked east The largest one is the Northeast Plain, and west wind movement, then reinforced which is 350,000 square kilometers climate in southeastern China. (135,193 square miles) in area. The Continental Shelf in the Neighbor- Topographic Steps ing Seas: This is an extension of the inland topographic steps. The continental China’s topography is characterized by shelves in the neighboring seas (Bo Hai, high to low elevation from west to east. Yellow Sea, , and South From east to west, the elevation gets China Sea) are very shallow and are obvi- higher step by step, just like stairs. From ously continuous parts of the continent. west to east, or from the top of the stairs The shelves are generally less than 200 looking down, there are three inland topo- meters (656 feet) in depth and are petro- graphic steps and one continental shelf leum-bearing. step at 4,000; 1,500; 200; and –200 meters (13,120; 4,920; 656; and –656 feet) respec- Major Mountain Ranges tively. China is a mountainous country. One- third of the land area is mountain. If hills and plateaus are included, then 65 percent Geography and Climate 11

of the land areas are hills, mountains, and from Shandong to Fujian Provinces. All of plateaus. Five major mountain systems the mountains in this range are low eleva- can be identified in China. Those systems tions at about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). form the topographic and geomorphological Taiwan’s mountains occupy two-thirds of structure of China. the island and extend toward the north- East-West Mountain System: There east, the same direction as the island and are three east-west mountain ranges in the underwater folding belt. The Taiwan China. From north to south, these three mountain range was created during the mountain ranges are quite evenly distrib- Himalayan movement. Therefore, it is a uted about 8 latitude degrees apart. The younger and higher mountain range than northernmost is the –Yin Shan– the eastern mountain ranges in mainland Yan Shan mountain range system. It is China. There are more than 60 peaks located between 40ºN and 43ºN and above 3,000 meters (9,840 feet), with the extends from Tian Shan at the western highest reaching to 3,997 meters (13,110 border to Yan Shan in Hebei and Beijing feet)—the highest point in eastern China. near the east coast. Northwest Mountain System: The The middle range consists of the Kun- Altay (Altai) mountains and Qilian Shan lung Shan–Qin Ling–Dabie Shan moun- mountains are both located in northwest- tains. They are located between 33ºN and ern China. The Altay mountain range is at 35ºN and extend from Kunlung Shan at the northern border of the Xinjiang autono- the western border to the Dabie Shan mous region with Mongolia and Russia. mountains in Anhui Province. The Qilian Shan mountains are located The southern range is the Nan Ling mostly in Qinghai Province and stand as mountains, located at 25ºN to 26ºN. Com- the northeast border of the Qinghai-Tibet pared to the other two ranges, its west to Plateau. east extent is very short. It is mainly in Arc Mountain System: The Himalayas Guangxi Province. and several other mountain ranges on the North-South Mountain System: There Qinghai-Tibet Plateau stretch from the is only one north to south mountain range east of the plateau and then turn toward in China. It consists of the Helan Shan– the northwest. These mountain ranges Liupan Shan–Hengduan Shan Mountains. curve toward the south. The Himalayas This range is located in and range is the most typical one. The Himala- divides the land area into two parts. Qing- yas stand 6,000 meters (19,680 feet) above hai-Tibet Plateau, the , is sea level, and are the highest mountains in on its west, and medium-height and lower the world. Mount Everest, the world’s mountains are on its east. highest peak, is 8,848 meters (29,028 ft) Northeast Mountain System: There above sea level. are three northeastern mountain ranges in China. The western range is the Da Hing- Four Major Plateaus gan Ling–Taihang Shan–Wu Shan Moun- tain range. It stretches from the northern The four major plateaus are the Qinghai- border of the country to the Wu Shan Tibet Plateau, Inner Mongolia Plateau, mountains in the Chang Jiang basin of , and the Yunnan-Guizhou central China. This range borders the sec- Plateau. Except for the Qinghai-Tibet Pla- ond inland topographic step and divides teau, all of the other three plateaus are east and central China into plains and pla- located on the second inland topographic teaus. step and at 1,000 to 2,000 meters (3,280 to The second northeast mountain range is 6,560 feet) elevation. the Changbai Shan–Qian Shan–Wuyi Inner Mongolia Plateau: The Inner Shan mountains. Changbai Shan is the Mongolia Plateau is the second largest pla- border mountain range between China and teau in China and well known for its huge North Korea. Qian Shan and Wuyi Shan grassland. It is located mainly in the Inner are located near the east coast and stretch Mongolia autonomous region. The area of the plateau is about 1 million square kilo- meters. drops from east to 12 Facts About China

west on the plateau. Therefore, the grass- lated areas in the world, this plain has a land is very rich in the east, dry in the mid- very long history of cultivation and is still dle, and arid in the west. the major wheat-producing area. Loess Plateau: Loess is a thick deposit of Middle and Lower Chang Jiang Plain: wind-blown dust. When it accumulates in The plain stretches east to the Three an area, it gradually develops into a very Gorges and along the Chang Jiang River’s fine, pale yellow, fertile -like material. so-called golden waterway. This plain can It covers an extensive area in the mid-lati- be further divided into four parts: the tude area such as in the United States, Lianghu Plain between southern Hubei , , and Argen- and northern Hunan Provinces, Boyang tina. The loess-covered area in China totals Hu Plain around Boyang Hu Lake in 600,000 square kilometers (250,000 square northern Jiangxi and southwest Anhui miles), about the size of Texas. The Loess Provinces, Wanzhong Plain in central Plateau itself covers about 400,000 square Anhui Province, and Chang Jiang Delta in kilometers (154,402 square miles). This is Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces and the largest loess-covered area in the world. Shanghai municipality. This low and flat The plateau is located in northern China plain has an elevation of about 50 meters west to the Taihang Shan mountains and (164 feet) and a dense network of rivers between the Inner Mongolia Plateau and and many lakes. The plain is a center of the Qin Ling mountains. The depth of loess both agricultural and industrial produc- is typically 30–50 meters (98–164 feet) but tion. goes as deep as 200 meters (656 feet). Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau: This pla- Four Major Basins teau is located in , mostly in Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces. The Junggar Basin and Tarim Basin: plateau and surrounding mountains cover Divided by the Tian Shan mountains, the about 400,000 square kilometers (154,402 Junggar Basin in the north and the Tarim square miles). Covered by limestone and Basin in the south are both located in Xin- located in humid , this plateau jiang Uighur autonomous region. The contains a variety of spectacular limestone larger Tarim Basin occupies 530,000 landscapes ( topography), such as the square kilometers (204,633 square miles) Stone in Yunnan. and contains the largest in China, the Takalamacan. Originating in the Tian Three Major Plains Shan Mountains and ending in the Tarim Basin, the is the longest The Northeast Plain, , inland river in China. Oases are developed and Middle and Lower Chang Jiang Plain along Tarim River. The Junggar Basin is are the three major plains in China. They also a dry basin, although 25 to 30 percent are all located in eastern China, with ele- of its land is covered by plants, which is vations between 50 and 200 meters (164 higher than in the Tarim Basin. and 656 feet). : The Qaidam Basin is on Northeast Plain: Located between the Da the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The bottom of Hinggan and Changbai Shan mountains, the basin is about 2,500 to 3,000 meters the Northeast Plain covers 350,000 square (8,200 to 9,480 feet) above sea level. The kilometers (135,135 square miles) and is Qaidam Basin is a dried-up salt lake; the largest plain in China. Covered by Qaidam is the Mongolian word for salt. deep, fertile black soil, Northeast Plain is When the salt lake dried up, it left behind the most important grain-producing zone a vast, flat, salty basin. The salt crust—15 in China. meters (49 feet) thick—is a valuable min- eral, but nothing grows on it. Temporary North China Plain: With an area of workers even build their homes out of salt 300,000 square kilometers (115,830 square blocks. Since reserves of oil and have miles), the North China Plain mainly fol- been discovered under this basin, more lows the lower reach of the Huang He workers may build “salt houses” in this River. Being one of the most densely popu- region. Geography and Climate 13

Sichuan Basin: The is colored , this basin supports a popula- located in Sichuan Province with an area tion of 100 million and is the most densely about 180,000 square kilometers (69,500 populated basin of the four. The basin is square miles). Covered by fertile, purple- known as “The Land of Plenty.”

5. SURFACE WATER AND GROUNDWATER It is estimated that China has 2,812 bil- cipitation. The western side of the line is in lion cubic meters (99,235 billion cubic feet) the inland drainage area except for a small of surface water (including rivers, lakes, area near the northwestern border along glaciers, and marshes) and 800 billion the Altay Shan mountain ranges. cubic meters (28,232 billion cubic feet) of Oceanic Rivers: The oceanic river drain- shallow underground water. The distribu- age area can be further divided into three tion of China’s water resources is very sub-areas, according to the ocean that the unbalanced. East coast regions, especially rivers end up in: the Pacific Ocean, the southeastern and southern regions, have Indian Ocean, and the Ocean. Most abundant surface and groundwater, but rivers go to the Pacific Ocean; only Ertix the western part of China, where coal and He goes to the , and Yarlung oil are abundant, desperately needs water. Zangbo Jiang and Nu Jiang enter the Indian Ocean. Rivers Most rivers in China originate in the mountainous areas and plateaus in the China has approximately 5,000 rivers, west. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the with drainage areas (the area drained by a original place of superior rivers in China river and all its ) in excess of and Asia, such as Chang Jiang, Huang He, 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles). Lancang Jiang, Yarlung Zangbo Jiang, and Among them, 1,600 rivers have drainage Nu Jiang rivers. The east edge of the sec- areas in excess of 1,000 square kilometers ond topographic step, from Da Hinggan (386 square miles). Most rivers flow from Ling to Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, is the west to east and enter the Pacific Ocean. source of some of the major rivers in China, According to the destination of discharge, such as the Heilong Jiang, Liao He, Hai those rivers can be classified into two He, Huai He, and Xi Jiang. types: oceanic rivers and inland rivers. The oceanic drainage area largely over- Oceanic rivers end up at a sea or in an laps the monsoon climate region. Great ocean; inland rivers end up at an inland annual variation in precipitation produces lake or dry up in deserts. comparable variations in river discharge The land area of China can be divided and water levels, which has major signifi- into two major drainage areas: the oceanic cance for this area. Rivers in northern drainage area and the inland drainage China have the largest annual variation, area. The oceanic drainage area occupies such as Huai He, Huang He, Yongding He, about 64 percent of the total land area, and and Luan He. Rivers with very large the inland drainage area covers the rest of annual variations in flow create problems the land, about 36 percent. The division of for navigation. This is one of the main rea- the two drainage areas is along the line of sons for the relatively short extent of mountain ranges starting from the north navigable inland waterways (110,000 kilo- on the west side of Da Hinggan Ling, turn- meters, 68,365 miles) in China. ing to the west and the southwest through Although China has 5,000 rivers, seven Yin Shan, Helan Shan, Qilian Shan, Riyue large rivers account for 1,500 billion cubic Shan, Bayan Har Shan, Nyainqentanglha meters of surface runoff, or 55 percent of Shan, and ending at the west end of Gang- the national total. The basic information dise Shan at the southwest border in Tibet. about those seven rivers is listed in Table This line is also generally along the line of 3. 400 millimeters (15.7 inches) annual pre-