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Located
in East Asia, on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, the People's
Republic of China (PRC) has a land area of about 9.6 million sq km,
and is the third-largest country in the world, next only to Russia and
Canada.
From north to south, the territory of China measures some 5,500 km,
stretching from the center of the Heilongjiang River north of the town
of Mohe (latitude 53° 30’ N) to the Zengmu Reef at the southernmost
tip of the Nansha Islands (latitude 4° N). When north China is still
covered with snow, people in south China are busy with spring plowing.
From west to east, the nation extends about 5,200 km from the Pamirs
(longitude 73° 40’E) to the confluence of the Heilongjiang and Wusuli
rivers (longitude 135° 05’ E), with a time difference of over four
hours. When the Pamirs are cloaked in night, the morning sun is
shining brightly over east China. China has land borders 22,800 km
long, with 15 contiguous countries: Korea to the east; the People’s
Republic of Mongolia to the north; Russia to the northeast;
Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan and Tajikistan to the northwest; Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan to the west and southwest;
and Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar to the south. Across the seas to the
east and southeast are the Republic of Korea, Japan, the Philippines,
Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Chinese mainland is flanked to the east and south by the Bohai,
Yellow, East China and South China seas, with a total maritime area of
4.73 million sq km. The Bohai Sea is China’s continental sea, while
the Yellow, East China and South China seas are marginal seas of the
Pacific Ocean. A total of 5,400 islands dot China’s vast territorial
waters. The largest of these, with an area of about 36,000 sq km, is
Taiwan, followed by Hainan with an area of 34,000 sq km. Diaoyu and
Chiwei islands, located to the northeast of Taiwan Island, are China’s
easternmost islands. The many islands, islets, reefs and shoals on the
South China Sea, known collectively as the South China Sea Islands,
are subdivided into the Dongsha, Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha island
groups. |
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Rivers |
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China abounds in rivers.
More than 1,500 rivers each drain 1,000 sq km or larger areas. More
than 2,700 billion cu m of water flow along these rivers, 5.8 percent
of the world’s total. Most of the large rivers find their source in
the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and as a result China is rich in
water-power resources, leading the world in hydropower potential, with
reserves of 680 million kw.
China’s rivers can be categorized as exterior and interior systems.
The catchment area for the exterior rivers that empty into the oceans
accounts for 64 percent of the country’s total land area. The Yangtze,
Yellow, Heilongjiang, Pearl, Liaohe, Haihe, Huaihe and Lancang rivers
flow east, and empty into the Pacific Ocean. The Yarlungzangbo River
in Tibet, which flows first east and then south into the Indian Ocean,
boasts the Grand Yarlungzangbo Canyon, the largest canyon in the
world, 504.6 km long and 6,009 m deep. The Ertix River flows from the
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the Arctic Ocean. The catchment
area for the interior rivers that flow into inland lakes or disappear
into deserts or salt marshes makes up 36 percent of China’s total land
area. Its 2,179 km make the Tarim River in southern Xinjiang China’s
longest interior river. |
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Topography |
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China’s
topography is varied and complicated, with towering mountains, basins
of different sizes, undulating plateaus and hills, and flat and
fertile plains.
A bird’s-eye view of China would indicate that China’s terrain
descends in four steps from west to east. The top of this four-step
“staircase” is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Averaging more than 4,000 m
above sea level, it is often called the “roof of the world.” Rising
8,848 m above sea level is Mt. Qomolangma, the world’s highest peak
and the main peak of the Himalayas. The second step includes the Inner
Mongolia, Loess and Yunnan-Guizhou plateaus, and the Tarim, Junggar
and Sichuan basins, with an average elevation of between 1,000 m and
2,000 m.
The third step, about 500-1,000 m in elevation, begins at a line drawn
around the Greater Hinggan, Taihang, Wushan and Xuefeng mountain
ranges and extends eastward to the coast. Here, from north to south,
are the Northeast Plain, the North China Plain and the Middle-Lower
Yangtze Plain. Interspersed amongst the plains are hills and
foothills.
To the east, the land extends out into the ocean, in a continental
shelf, the fourth step of the staircase. The water here is less than
200 m deep. |
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Climate |
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China
has a marked continental monsoonal climate characterized by great
variety. Northerly winds prevail in winter, while southerly winds
reign in summer. The four seasons are quite distinct. The rainy season
coincides with the hot season. From September to April the following
year, the dry and cold winter monsoons from Siberia and Mongolia in
the north gradually become weak as they reach the southern part of the
country, resulting in cold and dry winters and great differences in
temperature. The summer monsoons last from April to September.
The warm and moist summer monsoons from the oceans bring abundant
rainfall and high temperatures, with little difference in temperature
between the south and the north. China’s complex and varied climate
results in a great variety of temperature belts, and dry and moist
zones. In terms of temperature, the nation can be sectored from south
to north into equatorial, tropical, sub-tropical, warm-temperate,
temperate, and cold-temperate zones; in terms of moisture, it can be
sectored from southeast to northwest into humid (32 percent of land
area), semi-humid (15 percent), semi-arid (22 percent) and arid zones
(31 percent). |
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 Information
provided by
China National
Tourism Administration. |
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