China's physical geography in five minutes

What are the three steps of China?

The land falls from west to east in three steps. The first is the Tibetan Plateau, averaging over 4,000 m, walled by the Himalaya, Karakoram and Kunlun. The second, at 1,000 to 2,000 m, is the plateaus and basins of the north and west: the Tarim and Junggar basins, the Inner Mongolian and Loess plateaus, the Sichuan Basin and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. The third, below 500 m, is the plains of the east, the Northeast, North China and Yangtze plains, and the hills of the south-east, where most people live.

The step edges are the mountain lines on the map: the Kunlun, Qilian and Hengduan ranges hold the plateau up along the first edge; the Greater Khingan, Taihang, Wushan and Xuefeng ranges mark the second, where the Yangtze cuts through the Three Gorges. Tibet and Qinghai are the plateau; Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou are the middle step; the coast from Heilongjiang to Guangdong is the third.

Which are the longest rivers in China?

Three of these, the Yangtze, the Yellow and the Lancang, rise within 300 km of one another on the plateau in Qinghai, the Sanjiangyuan, "source of three rivers". Lengths are the usual published figures; where a river crosses a border the figure is the whole river unless the note says otherwise.

What are the highest mountains in China?

Mount Everest (珠穆朗玛峰), 8,849 m, on the border between Tibet and Nepal. 9 of the world's fourteen peaks over 8,000 m stand in China or on its borders; Shishapangma (8,027 m) is the only one entirely within China. The sacred mountains of the east, Mount Tai, Mount Hua, Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) and Mount Wutai, are low by comparison, and climbed by far more people.

Where are the deserts, basins and plateaus?

• Tarim Basin and the Taklamakan, Xinjiang: a basin the size of Germany between the Tian Shan and the Kunlun, with China's largest desert in the middle and the Silk Road oases (Kashgar, Hotan, Kuqa) around its rim.
• Junggar Basin, north of the Tian Shan: the Gurbantünggüt desert, Ürümqi on its southern edge, and the Irtysh, China's only river to the Arctic, on its north.
• Gobi, Inner Mongolia and Gansu, shared with Mongolia: gravel plains more than sand, with the Badain Jaran's 400 m dunes in its west.
• Qaidam Basin, Qinghai: a salt basin at 2,700 m, the floor of the first step's north-east corner.
• Loess Plateau, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Gansu: 640,000 km² of wind-blown silt cut into ravines, the source of the Yellow River's colour and of the cave houses.
• Sichuan Basin, Sichuan and Chongqing: the "red basin" of purple sandstone, ringed by mountains, the most fertile land of the west, with Chengdu on its plain.
• Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, Yunnan and Guizhou: limestone country at 1,000 to 2,000 m, with the karst towers of Shilin Stone Forest and, further east, Guilin.
• North China Plain: 310,000 km² of river silt from the Yellow, Huai and Hai rivers, flat from Beijing to the Yangtze, and the country's old heartland.
• Northeast Plain: the largest plain, between the Greater and Lesser Khingan and the Changbai Mountains, with black soil and the coldest winters.

Which are the biggest lakes?

Lake areas change with the seasons and the years; Poyang and Dongting can halve between summer and winter.

Where do most people in China live?

East of the Heihe–Tengchong line, drawn in 1935 from Heihe in the north-east to Tengchong in Yunnan: the 43 percent of the land east of it holds about 94 percent of the people, and the mountains, deserts and plateaus west of it the other 6 percent. The line follows the 400 mm rainfall boundary: east of it rain falls for farming, west of it the land is grazed, irrigated or empty. The same divide shows on the map as green against brown.

What is the climate like?

Monsoon. Summer winds from the Pacific and Indian oceans bring the rain, 1,500 to 2,000 mm a year on the south-east coast, under 50 mm in the Tarim Basin; winter winds from Siberia bring the cold. The Qinling mountains and the Huai River mark the divide between north and south: along that line January averages 0 °C and rainfall 800 mm, so rice grows south of it and wheat north. Harbin's January averages −18 °C and Guangzhou's 14 °C, 3,000 km apart; the Tibetan Plateau is cold all year for its height, and Turpan, below sea level, is the hottest place in the country.

See it on the map

The map draws the terrain in 3D from the same data, so the three steps are there to tilt and turn. Start with the plateau at Everest Base Camp or Namtso Lake, the middle step at Jiuzhaigou Valley or Mount Emei, and the karst of the third at Li River & Yangshuo.