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The Sichuan Basin 31
The Southeastern Mountains 31
Plains of the Middle and Lower Yangtze 31
The Nan Mountains 32
The Southwestern Region 32
The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau 32
The Plateau of Tibet 32
The Northwestern Region 34
The Tarim Basin 34
The Junggar Basin 34
The Tien Shan 34
Drainage 35
Soils 36
Climate 38
The Air Masses 38
Temperature 39
Precipitation 40
Plant and Animal Life 42
Flora 42
Animal Life 44
C 2: H I 
C’ E 46
Settlement Patterns 46
Rural Areas 46
Urban Areas 48
China’s Land Use and Its Economy 49
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing 50
Farming and Livestock 50
Rice 51
Forestry and Fishing 53

Land 77
People and Economy 79
Kunlun Mountains 80
Physical Features 80
Physiography 80
Geology 81
Drainage and Glaciation 81
Climate 82
Plant and Animal Life 83
People and Economy 83
Study and Exploration 84
Takla Makan Desert 85
Physical Features 85
Physiography 85
Climate 86
Drainage 87
Plant and Animal Life 87
People and Economy 88
Study and Exploration 88
C 4: S  C’
W H S  O
N L 90
Great Wall of China 90
History of Construction 92
Early Building 92
The Han Through Yuan Dynasties 93
The Ming Dynasty to the Present 95
Design of the Fortifi cations 96
Passes 96
Signal Towers 96

Traditional Dwellings 124
Public and Commercial Buildings 125
People 129
Economy 130
Agriculture 130
Industry 131
Commerce and Finance 132
Tourism 134
Transportation 134
Administration and Society 136
Government 136
Municipal Services 137
Health 138
Education 139
Cultural Life 141
The Arts 142
Museums and Libraries 142
Recreation 143
History 146
The Early Empires 146
The Ming and Qing Dynasties 148
The Modern City 149
C 6: T M C 
N C 151
Tianjin 151
Landscape 152
City Site 152
Climate 153
Drainage 153
Plant and Animal Life 154

History 170
The Contemporary City 171
Taiyuan 172
History 172
The Contemporary City 173
Kaifeng 173
History 174
The Contemporary City 175
Zhengzhou 175
Luoyang 177
Xi’an 180
History 180
The Contemporary City 181
C 7: T T G C
 S C 183
Shanghai 183
Landscape 184
City Site 184
Climate 184
Layout 184
161
152
People 188
Economy 189
Industry 189
Commerce 190
Finance and Trade 190
Transportation 190
Administration and Society 191
Government 191

People 209
Economy 209
Manufacturing and Tourism 209
Trade and Finance 210
Transportation 210
206
Administration and Society 211
Government 211
Health 211
Education 212
Cultural Life 212
History 213
The Early Period 213
The Contemporary City 215
C 8: O M C 
S C 217
Wuxi 217
Suzhou 219
History 219
The Contemporary City 220
Hangzhou 220
History 221
The Contemporary City 223
Ningbo 224
History 224
The Contemporary City 225
Fuzhou 226
History 226
The Contemporary City 227
Xiamen 228

Other Important Southern and Western
Chinese Cities 248
Yan’an 248
Yinchuan 250
Lanzhou 252
History 252
The Contemporary City 253
Guilin 254
Nanning 255
History 255
The Contemporary City 257
Chengdu 257
History 258
The Contemporary City 258
Kunming 259
History 259
The Contemporary City 260
Lhasa 261
Ürümqi 262
History 263
The Contemporary City 263
C 10: S A
R 265
Hong Kong 265
Land 267
Relief 267
Drainage 268
Soils 268
256
Climate 269

Macau 286
Land 287
People 287
Economy 287
Government and Society 288
Cultural Life 289
History 291
C 11: S A
R 293
Tibet 293
279
Land 294
Relief 294
Drainage and Soils 295
Climate 295
Plant and Animal Life 296
People 297
Population Composition 297
Settlement Patterns 298
Economy 298
Resources and Power 299
Agriculture and Forestry 299
Manufacturing 300
Tourism 300
Transportation 301
Government and Society 301
Constitutional Framework 301
Health and Welfare 302
Education 302
Cultural Life 302

Shandong 326
Land 327
Relief 327
Drainage 329
Soils 329
Climate 330
Plant and Animal Life 331
People 332
Population Composition 332
Settlement Patterns 332
Economy 332
Agriculture and Fishing 333
Resources and Power 334
Manufacturing 334
Transportation 335
Government and Society 336
Constitutional Framework 336
Health and Welfare 336
Education 337
Cultural Life 337
History 338
Guangdong 340
Land 340
Relief 341
Drainage 341
Climate 341
Soils 343
Plant and Animal Life 343
People 344
Population Composition 344

Health and Welfare 361
Education 361
Cultural Life 362
History 362
Conclusion 363
Appendix: Statistical Summary 365
Glossary 369
For Further Reading 371
Index 373
355
353
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INTRODUCTION
I | 19
T
he Three Gorges Dam, the world’s
largest when completed in 2006, is
built across the Yangtze River in the heart
of China. The project has been heavily
criticized—to build the dam, more than
1.2 million people were moved from
nearly 500 cities, towns, and villages, and
1,200 historical and archaeological sites
were flooded. But proponents say it will
help control deadly floods, create a deep-
water reservoir, and allow for easier
navigation for oceangoing freighters. Its
26 turbines will also create a massive
amount of hydroelectric energy that will
bring electricity to millions of people.

mountain chain that has continued to
slowly grow taller. The pressure also
pushed up a wide region of land to the
north of the mountains, so that today
China is like a table tilting from west to
east. This western part, the Plateau of
Tibet (or Qiangtang), is known as the
“roof of the world.” The world’s highest
peak, Mount Everest, is in the Himalayas
on China’s border with Nepal. Just north
of the Tibetan Plateau is the Turfan
Depression, China’s lowest spot, 508 feet
(155 metres) below sea level. Also in
western China, north of Tibet, lie the
Kunlun Mountains. But the country
generally slopes eastward until it reaches
the Pacific Ocean. China’s more than
50,000 rivers flow, with a few exceptions,
from west to east.
The Huang He, or Yellow River, is the
most northern of China’s three main
rivers. It rises on the Plateau of Tibet and
drains into the Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli),
part of the Yellow Sea. The mighty river,
which gets its name because it is so filled
with silt that it appears to be yellow-
brown in colour, enriches the land with
the soil it deposits, making it fertile for
farming. It also has been called “China’s
Sorrow” because the shifting river often

of hydroelectric power.
There are many world-famous tourist
attractions in China. Among them is the
world’s longest human-made waterway,
the Grand Canal (Da Yunhe). Begun in
the 4th century BCE and expanded over
the centuries, the canal is 1,085 miles
(1,747 km) long and links Hangzhou (in
the south) with Beijing (in the north). It is
still being used to transport goods.
China Plain. The Huang He has changed
course many times. In the past 4,000
years for instance, the river has entered
the Yellow Sea at points that vary as
much as 500 miles (800 km).
The Yangtze is the longest of China’s
rivers, flowing from the Plateau of Tibet
to the East China Sea north of Shanghai.
It divides northern and southern China.
The longest river in Asia, it is the third
longest river in the world—3,915 miles
(6,300 km). It is also has the greatest
depth of any river in the world—in some
spots it is as much as 500 to 600 feet
(150 to 180 m) deep. Over history, the
Yangtze has been responsible for many
devastating floods along its fertile, highly
populated banks.
The Xi is the most southern of
China’s great river systems; it flows

Games. Development for the games
greatly changed Beijing for its residents
as well. On the one hand, the already
blistering pace of change was sped up—
the subway system was extended, new
sports facilities were built, and so was
housing. On the other, many hutongs—
alleyways with quaint, traditional homes,
were destroyed.
There is much to see in Beijing, such
as the Forbidden City, a series of palaces
within palaces built for China’s emperors
and first occupied in 1420. At the Museum
of Chinese History, visitors can see evi-
dence of human habitation of the area
around Beijing dating to about 770,000
years ago—the age of the earliest bones
of Peking man discovered near the city.
Among the cities of southeastern
China that this book explores is Shanghai.
With more than 18 million people in its
metropolitan area, Shanghai is China’s
largest city. Located on the coast of the
East China Sea, it is one of the world’s
largest ports. Its industries produce
everything from steel to consumer elec-
tronics, which creates heavy pollution.
China has always been vulnerable to
invasion from the north. From the
Xiongnu to the Mongols, nomadic peoples

Mount Wutai in the province of Shanxi is
a cluster of five flat-top peaks and one of
the great holy places of Buddhism.
The importance of serene beauty
becomes apparent when travelers
22 | The Geography of China: Sacred and Historic Places
discussed here. They are neighbours and
the largest and most remote of China’s
subdivisions. Tibet was brought into the
People’s Republic of China beginning in
1950, and this has remained a highly con-
troversial issue. Lhasa, considered holy
by Tibetan Buddhists, is its capital. The
thousand-room Potala Palace in Lhasa was
once the seat of the Tibetan government
and the main residence of the Dalai
Lama (religious leader; the current
Dalai Lama went into exile in 1959). It
was spared during the Cultural Revolution
when many of China’s historical and
sacred objects were destroyed. A first
palace was built there in the 7th century,
but the current one, begun in 1645, was
built there under the fifth Dalai Lama.
China has 22 provinces. Three—
Shandong, Guangdong, and Sichuan—are
explored here. Shandong, located on
China’s northeast coast, is the country’s
third most populous province. Its capital
and chief cultural centre is Jinan. Among

also traps acid rain and soot. In the far
west, Ürümqi is the capital of the Uygur
Autonomous Region of Xinjiang. Most
Uighurs are Muslim. Kazakh, Dungan,
and Manchu peoples also live in Xinjiang,
but the majority are Han Chinese, many
of whom have come there since the 1990s.
Hong Kong, once British-ruled, and
Macau, long under Portuguese rule, were
returned to China at the end of the 20th
century. Both are now designated special
administrative regions under Beijing’s
control, though each has some economic
and administrative autonomy. Hong Kong
Island is volcanic in origin and sits in
Victoria Harbor of the South China Sea.
Hong Kong is densely packed with people
speaking Cantonese, Mandarin and
English. Macao is located on a peninsula
in the South China Sea about 25 miles
(40 km) from Hong Kong. Like Hong
Kong, it is an important trading centre.
China also has five autonomous
regions; two—Tibet and Xinjiang—are
I | 23
Sichuan, the second largest province
in China, is also famous for its food—
though it is more hot and spicy than
Cantonese and features flavourful ingre-
dients such as chili peppers, garlic, and

the overpopulated Guangdong region
had become a source of emigration, and
in the mid-19th century these migrants
began to pour into Southeast Asia and
North America. Less than one fifth of land
is cultivated, but some of the crops that
are grown here include rice, rubber, palm
oil, hemp, coee, black pepper, sweet pota-
toes, tea, and some 300 kinds of fruit,
including citrus, litchi, and pineapples.
Cantonese cuisine features tasty dishes
such as dim sum, noodles, seafood, and
fresh vegetables.
Pearl River waterfront, Guangzhou (Canton),
China. G. Richardson/Robert Harding World
Imagery/Getty Images