Because of the climatology of East Asia, it is sometimes referred to as “Monsoon Asia” (especially when South Asia is included). A Monsoon climatology exists in East Asia that is similar to that described in the chapter on South Asia.
The physiography of the Chinese realm helps to explain it’s relative isolation. To the north, lie the expansive Gobi Desert [chphysq] and the mountains of eastern Russia [rueleves]. To the west, the Takla Makan desert [climate] and the Tian Shan and Kunlun mountains [mountains] form a barrier to Central Asia. To the southwest the Himalayas [mountains] form a barrier between China and India. While to the south, high mountains and dense forest divide China from much of Southeast Asia.
China's physical landscape can be divided into three rather
distinct physical regions: [chregphy]
1. the River Lowlands.
2. Arid China,
3. Highland China.
The river lowlands of eastern China are densely populated [ecumene] [eapopden] lowlands [chelev] [eaelev]. It is a land of flat, fertile river valleys.
In the north is the Huang He river valley. This is the home of China's ancient culture hearth. Vast fields of wheat [chagric] dotted with small villages extend in all directions. Further west in the Huang valley [rivers] is the Loess Plateau. Up to 250 feet of very fertile windblown, dusty, soil has accumulated here.
Further south is the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) River valley [rivers]. The Chang River valley is not as wide as that of the Huang He and the surrounding terrain tends to be more hilly, even mountainous [eaelev] to the south and west. Wheat fields change to rice [chagric] as you go south and tea is grown on the hill slopes.
South of the Chang River valley is China's third great river, the XI or Pearl River [rivers]. The Xi is much shorter than the other major rivers and it passes through more rugged terrain [eaelev]. South of the Xi, to the southern border including Hainan Island, is tropical China [chclimat]. The vegetation includes tropical rain forests and two (sometimes three) rice crops are harvested a year.
In the far northeast [Physical Regions] is the former Manchuria. Some farming occurs near the Yellow Sea coast, but these farmlands soon yield to forests. This mineral rich area is sometimes called "China's Siberia" [climate].
Arid China [Physical Regions] includes the steppe grasslands of the north along the border with Mongolia and the desert basins [basins] and mountains of Xinjiang further west [mountains].
In the north the summers are hot, the winters cold, and droughts are common, although this land is not as dry as the heart of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia [climate]. The treeless, short grass steppe is sparsely populated [ecumene] [eapopden] although some nomadic herding occurs [chagric].
The government is encouraging settlement in the drier Ordos Desert along the Huang He (Yellow) River [rivers].
To the west in Xinjiang [cultural regions] we find two mountain [mountains] enclosed basins divided by the Tian Shan Mountains [basins]. The basin south of the Tian Shan is drier [eaprecip], containing the Taklimakan Desert. The Junggar Basin north of the Tian Shan is steppe grassland.
There are populated areas [ecumene] [eapopden] along the foothills of the mountains [mountains] and in oases. The government of China has built irrigation canals to encourage agricultural settlement. The discovery of oil in both basins has also encouraged settlement in this difficult land.
Highland China is a large region [physical regions] covering about a quarter of China's total land area [chelev] [eaelev], but it contains only 1% of China's population [ecumene] [eapopden]. This is the land of the Buddhist Tibetans [wwrelig].
It consists of the Himalayan Mountains [mountains] and the Xizang Plateau [eatibpla]. AVERAGE elevation here is approximately 15,000 feet [eaelev]. Mountain peaks reach to over 25,000 feet and river valleys extend down to 5,000 feet. This is a treeless, cold, and empty land of high relief. The few people [eapopden] that do live here live in these river valleys [rivers].
[TOP]
Physical Geography
US - China Comparison
There are several physical similarities between China and the United States.
China is slightly larger that the US (including Alaska) [size]. The US is 3.68 millions square miles, while China is 3.69 million square miles. Longitudinally (east to west) China and the US are very similar. Latitudinally (north to south), though, China is wider stretching from the latitude of Quebec south to the tropics [wwtropic].
The two countries are also similar climatically [compare climate]. Beginning in the east [chclimat] are the populated temperate areas (C climates) in the southeast and colder "D" climates in the northeast. China's western desert and arid areas are significantly larger than those in the United States [compare climates]. Finally, China lacks the warming effects of the US west coast. Compare the climate maps for similarities and differences.
Comparison of the climates of China and the United States reveal similar characteristics (of course China has no west coast and no corresponding Mediterranean (Csa) climate) [compare climates]. The important difference between the two countries is reflected in the presence of dry winter climates (Dwa, Dwb, Cwa and Aw) in China [compare climates]. Most of these (except Aw) are accompanied by bitterly cold winters. This reflects the large Eurasian land mass and the nearby presence of Siberia. As a result, comparative Cfa, and D climates lie farther south in China than they do in the eastern U.S and Canada [compare climates].
[The text of the above was written by Scott Girhard, San Antonio College from his online course GEOG 1301 World Geography. Used with permission.]