China’s Physiographic Features
Introduction
China is a large country in eastern Asia. It’s easy to use words like highest, largest, and
longest when talking about China’s geography. The world’s highest mountains, the Himalayas,
are in China. So is one of the world’s largest deserts, the Taklimakan Desert. China also boasts
some of the longest rivers in the world.
Mountain ranges ripple across the land, making travel and communication difficult.
Deserts also create barriers within China. Across the north and northwest regions lie dry
wastelands. Though mountains and deserts have served to divide the Chinese, rivers have helped
to link them.
The geography of China has helped to create numerous regions within this vast land.
These regions developed separately from each other. Thus China became a patchwork of
different customs, cultures, and languages. The task of unifying this varied land has never been
an easy one. To understand why, you must look at all the physical features of China.
A. Yangtze (Chang Jiang) River
The Yangtze River Basin is an area of low, wet coastal plains. The basin is located along
the river called the Yangtze or Chang Jiang. This river is longer than the Huang He (Yellow)
river. In fact, the name Yangtze means “Long River”. People use the river to move goods
between eastern and western areas in the region.
The Chang Jiang starts in the high western mountains. It flows through three plains and
then to a rich delta. Its deposits help to make the surrounding lands very fertile. The river floods
less often than the Huang He, making it much less dangerous.
The climate in the Chang Jiang Basin is warm and wet. In ancient times, the vegetation
may have been thick rainforest. There was limited space for grazing animals but the basin was
very good for growing rice, which needs lots of warmth and moisture.
B. Gobi Desert
Stretching over 500,000 square miles, the Gobi Desert is one of the world’s largest
deserts. It covers part of China and present-day Mongolia. Unlike the Taklimakan Desert, the
Gobi has very few sand dunes. Most of the desert is stony. Its surface is made up of small
pebbles and tiny bits of sand.
The climate of the Gobi Desert is one of great extremes, combined with rapid changes of
temperature, not only through the year but even within 24 hours. The Gobi Desert is a cold
desert, and it is not uncommon to see frost and occasionally snow on its dunes.
Vegetation is sparse and the plants there tend to be small and widely spaced.
C. Himalayan Mountains
The Himalayas are located along China’s southern border. They are the highest mountain
range in the world. These mountains form a natural border between the Indian subcontinent and
most of the rest of Asia. This region is a bitterly cold place. There are only about 50 days a year
without frost. Snowstorms are common even in July. It is so cold that there is very little
vegetation.
D. Huang He (Yellow River)
The Huang He River, or Yellow River, is the second-longest river in China after the
Yangtze River and is the sixth-longest in the world. The river is also called the Yellow River
because of the enormous amounts of yellow silt, fine particles of rock, it carries. It may be the
world’s muddiest river. The mud makes it look more like soup than river water.
The Huang He is called "the cradle of Chinese civilization", as its basin is the birthplace
of ancient Chinese civilizations and was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history.
While the Huang He helps farmers, it has also been the source of many disasters for the Chinese.
In the past 3,000 years, the river has flooded more than 1,500 times, causing much damage and
loss of life. This has also earned the river the name "China's Sorrow".
E. North China Plain
The North China Plain is a flat region of grassland. Temperatures range from very warm
in the summer to quite cold in the winter. This region is sometimes called the “Land of the
Yellow Earth” because the ground is covered by yellow limestone silt. The silt comes from the
Gobi Desert and is carried by the wind to the North China Plain. The river that runs through the
plain, the Huang He, is also full of yellow silt.
This flat yellow-soil plain is the main area of grains, corn, and cotton production in
China. Wheat, sesame seed, and peanuts are also grown here. The plain is one of the most
densely populated regions in the world.
F. Plateau of Tibet
The southwestern part of China is dominated by the high Tibet Plateau. This area is often
called the “Roof of the World”. Its average elevation is more than two miles above sea level. It is
a very large area, covering almost a quarter of the land in China.
The Tibetan Plateau is a rocky land surrounded by towering mountains. The Himalayas
are on the southern edge of the plateau. Since the plateau is so high, the climate is very cold. The
air is thin and dry and snow falls even in the summer. The natural vegetation consists of sparse
scrubs and grasses that are eaten by antelopes and yaks that roam the area.
For the people of ancient times, the Tibetan Plateau was a challenging place to live. It
was too cold and dry to grow crops but the grasses did provide food for yaks and other livestock.
The cold, rocky plateau and the high mountains made travel through this area in China very
difficult.
G. Taklimakan Desert
The Taklimakan Desert is about 105,000 square miles and is located in western China,
just northwest of the Tibetan Plateau. It is considered one of the most dangerous deserts in the
world. In fact, its name means “Once you go in, you will not come out.” The desert’s huge sand
dunes shift and change as the wind blows the sand around. Sandstorms arise with stunning speed.
Legend says that two armies and three hundred cities are buried beneath the sand dunes.
As you might expect, the desert is too dry to have vegetation. Bushes, weeds, and trees
grow only near oases and along rivers.
H. Tien Shan (Tian Shan) Mountains
Tien Shan Mountains are located in the northwestern tip of China and lies to the north
and west of the Taklimakan Desert. They are one of the longest mountain ranges in Central Asia,
stretching some 1,700 miles eastward.
The name Tien Shan literally means “celestial mountains.” In the Chinese religion of
Daoism, the Goddess of the West is believed to guard the peach trees of immortality in the Tien
Shan Mountains.
Heavy rain and snowfall on the range create a mountain environment that contrasts
dramatically with the arid desert terrain of the southern foothills. On the lower slopes, there are
flowery meadows and forests. On the upper slopes, there are enormous glaciers, two of which are
45 miles long.
I. Manchurian Plain
The Manchurian Plain is located east of present-day Mongolia. It is a land of low hills
and plains. The natural vegetation is mostly prairie grass. In ancient times, the grass provided
food for horses, sheep, and other animals raised by herders.
The Manchurian Plain is an area of great contrasts in climate. It has short, warm
summers. The northern and eastern parts of the plain are dry and cold in the winter. The southern
half has milder weather and more water. In general, the plain is too cold and dry to be a good
place for growing crops.
Physiographic
Feature
Temperature
Annual
Precipitation
Vegetation
Yangtze
Summer: 65° F
Winter: 22° F
40 inches
Rainforest
Gobi Desert
Summer: 113° F
Winter: -40° F
5 ½ inches
Desert
Himalayan Mountains
Summer: -13° F
Winter: -100° F
80 inches (snow)
NONE
Huang He
Summer: Varies Widely
Winter: Varies Widely
16 inches
Sparse Grasses
North China Plain
Summer: 82° F
Winter: 28° F
23 inches
Grassland
Plateau of Tibet
Summer: 45° F
Winter: 18° F
10 inches
Sparse Grasses
Taklimakan Desert
Summer: 100° F
Winter: 15° F
5 inches
Desert
Tien Shan Mountains
Summer: 41° F
Winter: 15° F
10 inches
Forest
Manchurian Plain
Summer: 75° F
Winter: 10° F
20 inches
Sparse Grasses