Chinese Geography: Readings and Maps | Asia for Educators | Columbia University
Chinese Geography: Readings and Maps
The consultant for this unit was Professor
Ronald Knapp of the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz.
Professor Knapp is a geographer who specializes on China.
This unit begins with a set of maps, both general and outline, and
then divides discussion of China's geography into four topical areas.
The discussion refers to the maps and other visuals imbedded in the
text. Suggested
can be used to guide students through the material in all four topics
are grouped together at the end of the units.
(China in Asia)
(For classroom activity)
RIVERS, BORDERS, and CIVILIZATIONS
Huang He (Yellow River)
Chang Jiang (Yangzi River)
Zhu Jiang (Pearl River) Delta
The Great Wall
The Grand Canal
Terracing and Irrigation
POPULATION and AGRICULTURE
Wet Rice Cycle
GEOGRAPHY and REGIONS
Municipalities
Autonomous Regions and China's Minorities
Special Administrative Regions (SARs)
General Maps (China in Asia)
Visit the following sites to view and select maps as
well as other general background information about China.
Map of China (1996)
Topographic
and Political Conditions (1996)
Produced by the National
Geographic Society, this satellite image of China has borders
and cities superimposed on it and reveals the striking regional
differences in China's topography.
Map of East Asia (1996)
Population
Densities in Asia
Linguistic Groups (1990)
Outline Maps (For classroom use)
The outline maps included below are designed to be used as transparencies
that can be overlaid on an overhead projector to demonstrate the diversity
of China's physical and cultural geography. Copies can be printed out
and reproduced also for student use. Many of the descriptive sections
below utilize the maps in ways to sharpen student's understanding of
China's geography. They may all be printed out now or printed as they
are introduced below.
Borders and Civilization
Major Rivers
China's two , the Huang He (Yellow River) and the Chang Jiang (Yangzi or Yangtze
River), as well as the Pearl River (Zhu Jiang) delta system marked
by the Xi Jiang (West River) in southeastern China, have provided the
framework for agricultural development and population growth throughout
China's history. Another river, the Heilong Jiang (known also as the
Amur River, its Russian name) marks the border between China and R
at times in the past, this area was one of confrontation between the
neighbors. The drainage basins of China's rivers differ in terms of
extent and topography, offering varying opportunities for agricultural
development. Because some of China's largest rivers have their source
regions on the high Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and drop great distances
over their middle and lower courses, China is rich in hydroelectric
resources.
Each of these rivers has special characteristics and associated problems
at different locations along their courses. (Note that &he& and &jiang& are
both translated into English as &river.& In English, there
are of course many words that differentiate flowing water according
to size and character — stream, brook, creek, river, just for
a couple of examples. In the Chinese language, similar differences
are expressed but the common words usually translated into English
as &river&
can be further clarified somewhat.
&Jiang& 江 is the
most common descriptor for
&river& in Chinese, signifying a stream that is often geologically
young which cuts through a narrow valley.
&He& 河 ,
on the other hand, is generally used for a river that is broad and
geologically old. In this regard, much of the lower course of the Huang
He is reminiscent of the sluggish Mississippi River while the middle
and upper sections of the Chang Jiang resemble the unruly Colorado
River. It is thus redundant to say Huang He River or Chang Jiang River.)
Huang He (Yellow River). China's second longest river, the Huang He rises
in Qinghai province and flows some 5464 km to the Yellow Sea. Crystal
clear lakes and sluggish meandering are characteristic in its upper
reaches. Along the Great Bend of the Huang He in its middle course,
the unruly river carves its way through the loessial plateau with
substantial erosion taking place. As the river erodes the loess,
it becomes a &river of mud&
(Loessial soil is called huang tu or &yellow earth& in
Chinese and it is the color of this suspended loess in the river
that has given the Huang He its name &Yellow River.&) Carrying
40% sediment by weight in summer (for other rivers in the world 3%
would be considered a heavy sediment load), the river deposits vast
amounts of alluvium as it courses across the North China Plain. Over
the centuries, deposition has raised the bed of the Huang He so that
it is in some ways &suspended& precariously above the lower
surrounding agricultural areas, contained by levees and embankments
built to control what historically was &China's Sorrow&—
the bringer of flood and famine.
The lower course of the Huang He has changed 26 times in China's
history, most notably nine times including major floods in 1194 AD
and again in 1853, that brought untold disaster to the villages and
towns of the North China Plain. () What was once a scourge that plagued
the Chinese people throughout much of their history continues to
be one of China's great natural challenges — preventing both flooding
and drought in a region with more than 100 million people. Siltation
at the mouth of the Huang He extended the length of the river by
about 35 km (20 miles) between 1975 and 1991. The North China Plain
is indeed a &gift& of the Huang He.
Throughout the loessial uplands, some 40 million Chinese still live
in cave-like or subterranean dwellings that are an especially appropriate
response to the peculiar nature of loess and the absence of alternative
building materials such as timber.
Chang Jiang (Yangzi River). As China's
&main street,&
this artery courses over 6300 km through several of China's most
economically developed regions. Excellent river ports — Shanghai,
Zhenjiang, Nanjing, Wuhan, Yichang, and Chongqing — are located near
or along the Chang Jiang, making it one of the world's busiest inland
waterways. As much of 40% of the country's total grain production,
70% of the rice output, and more than 40% of China's population are
associated with its vast basin that includes more than 3,000 tributaries.
The flow of the Chang Jiang is some 20 times greater than that of
the Huang He. With its numerous tributaries, the Chang Jiang drains
nearly 20% of China's total area. Its upper reaches tap the uplands
of the Tibetan Plateau before sweeping across the enormous and agriculturally
productive Sichuan Basin that supports nearly 10% of China's total
population. It is in the middle course of the Chang Jiang that the
controversial Three Gorges Dam project is
being constructed.
As a huge public works project — the largest dam in the world,
rivaling the building not only of China's great historical projects
such as the Grand Canal and Great Wall as well as modern projects
elsewhere in the world — the Three Gorges Dam project is wrapped
in environmental, engineering, and political controversy. Increasing
clean energy, controlling floods, and stimulating economic development
are but a few of objectives of the dam. Below the Three Gorges Dam
are the great flood plains of the Chang Jiang as well as the major
tributaries on its north and south banks. At the mouth of the river
is the great and productive Yangzi delta and metropolitan Shanghai.
With the completion of this project, disastrous floods are expected
to be eliminated.
of the past 130 years struck the Chang Jiang
valley in Summer 1998 and affected 240 million people, killing
some 3656, and leaving 14 million homeless. The flood is estimated
to have left 14 million people homeless, destroying 5 million houses,
damaging 12 million houses, flooding 25 million hectares of farmland,
and causing over US$20 billion in estimated damages. On the adjacent
infrared image, the extensive flooded area is shown in blue, other
water areas in black, vegetation in red, and clouds in white.
Zhu Jiang (Pearl River) Delta. Situated in Guangdong province
just to the north of Hong Kong and Macao, the delta of the Zhu Jiang
is the most significant farming area in southeastern China. Some
regard it as one of the most productive and sustainable ecosystems
in the world because of its integrated dike-rice paddy-fish pond
agricultural system. Between 1988 and 1995, land
reclamation along the banks of the river and along the coast
added farm land and space for fish ponds as well as created space
for rapidly expanding settlements.
Early Civilizations
Looking at the
highlights the important fact that the earliest
hearths of Chinese civilization developed along its river valleys. One
of the cradles of Chinese civilization, the Neolithic site called Banpo,
was located along a tributary of the Huang He not too far from the present-day
city of Xi'an in Shaanxi province. Hemudu, on the southern shores of
Hangzhou Bay that lies to the south of the Yangzi River delta, is another
of China's important Neolithic sites. The Shang dynasty (c.
BC) was also situated around the Huang He (Yellow River), and eventually
spread southward to the Chang Jiang (Yangzi River) and Xi Jiang.
Mountains and Deserts
The west of China is comprised of
as well as plateaus that do not provide much arable land
for agriculture. Throughout most of history, the civilization that
grew up to the east in what is today China was not surrounded by other
nearby major civilizations. To this extent the Chinese were &isolated& from
competing civilizations although there was a broad and fluid frontier
zone on the western margins. This geographical fact is important to
remember when discussing the Western encroachment on China from the
sea during the late imperial period.
Although the mountains and deserts of the west limited contact between
early imperial dynasties and other centers of civilization in the Inner
Asia, Middle East, South Asia, and Europe, there were some important
and notable exchanges of culture. The legendary Silk Road facilitated
the exchange of goods and ideas between China and each of these areas.
Historical Borders
Like many other countries, the
have varied over time. Under the Han dynasty (202
BC-202 AD), China's great historical empire, these early boundaries
were significantly expanded, as the series of
shows. The extent of China's territory was greatest
under the last dynasty, called the Qing (Ch'ing) or Manchu dynasty
between . China's territory was more extensive under the Qing
empire than it is today.
Bordering Nations
China is at the core of a cultural sphere or region known as East Asia.
Looking at the map of , it is possible to identify China's neighbors,
some of which received substantial cultural influence from China.
China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam historically form the East Asian
or Sinitic cultural sphere.
The large number of countries with which China shares borders makes
Chinese foreign policy especially complex (unlike the U.S., for example
which shares borders only with Canada and Mexico).
Supplementing Geography: Great Wall, Grand Canal,
Terracing and Irrigation
The Chinese attempted to correct perceived &deficiencies& in
their physical geography by building massive civil engineering projects
that would help bring about unity and provide defense as well as by
countless smaller scale efforts at modifying their physical landscapes.
Great Wall. What is known today as the Great Wall () was reputedly first completed
during the Qin (Ch'in) dynasty (221-206 BC) when segments of the
wall existing from earlier periods were connected. Early walled ramparts
were constructed of rammed or tamped earth. The brick-faced walls
seen today were built much later during the Ming dynasty ().
Although not a single continuous wall, the Great Wall and its associated
military encampments and guard posts figured in attempts by many
dynasties to manage the nomadic peoples, sometime referred to as
&barbarians,& who lived north of it on the grasslands or
steppes. For the most part, the Great Wall should be viewed as a
zone of transition — rather than a fixed border — between farming
areas with sedentary villages and pasture lands with nomadic lifestyles.
Grand Canal.
Since China's major rivers — the Huang He
and Chang Jiang — flow from west to east and there is no natural
communication north to south except by way of a coastal route, the
Chinese dug the Grand Canal as a safe, inland water route between
the two major rivers, in the process connecting a number of minor
regional rivers. Constructed around 605 AD to serve commercial as
well as military considerations, the canal was extended several times,
most notably to the Hangzhou in 610 and eventually in 1279 to Dadu,
the great Mongol (Yuan dynasty) capital. During the Ming and Qing
dynasties which followed the Mongol dynasty, the Grand Canal ensured
that Beijing, the great successor imperial capitals to Dadu, had
sufficient grain from the southern rice bowl areas. The Grand Canal
is the longest artificial waterway in the world and has a long history
of barge traffic along its course. Although many parts of it fell
into disrepair over the years, today it is still possible to traverse
the man-made Grand Canal from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province northward
1801 km to Beijing.
Terracing and Irrigation. At least as significant as major
engineering works like the Grand Canal and the Great Wall are the
countless alterations of China's physical landscapes by centuries
of human effort. These human modifications traditionally focused
on terracing hill slopes and controlling water via irrigation as
well as reclaiming marginal land. In managing natural resources and
expanding opportunities for the production of food, the Chinese have
reclaimed, even created, land that in many areas of the world would
have been considered impossible to farm.
Creating level land through terracing of hill slopes. Throughout
the rugged areas of northern and southern China, farmers over the
centuries have sculpted the hilly land into step-like landscapes
of terraces. Sometimes terraces are relatively natural features that
need only be modified in order to produce level areas for planting,
while in others extraordinary efforts must be carried out to move
earth and rock, stabilize retaining walls, and create sluices for
controlling the flow of water. Drainage control and water storage
are as important as the level land itself.
Managing water resources in order to reduce erosion and make water
available for terraced rice production. Seen from the air,
much of China glistens with countless water surfaces that have
been created by human labor. The building of terraces on slope
land not only creates level land but also provides a means of &managing& rainwater
by controlling its runoff. As rain falls on hill slopes, it tends
to erode them relatively easily, but when the velocity of the
water is slowed because it is impounded in irrigated fields erosion
is reduced. The impounded water then can be controlled as it
flows gently from a higher level to a lower level. As water falls
from level terrace to terrace, the speed with which the water
flows beyond the fields where it is needed is minimized. Usually
fine silt is suspended in the flowing water that then is deposited
in the lower fields rather than being carried farther away. Besides
the obvious irrigation systems that are fundamental to terraced
rice production, other systems control water flow and drainage
on adjacent paddy fields that are nearly at the same level. Small-scale
and large-scale water conservancy projects continue to be important
means of increasing crop production as well as reducing flood
and drought.
Population and
Agriculture
Population and Arable (Farming) Land
It is a well known fact that China is the most populous nation in
the world. China's total population of 1,252,800,000 nearly exceeds
the combined populations of Europe (579,700,000) and South
America (311,500,000) and the United States (272,573,000) and Japan
(125,200,000). By comparison, the population of the United States is
equivalent to only 22% of China's population.
Such a huge population imposes substantial stress on the country's
natural resources, including especially arable land. Although China
ranks fourth in the world in terms of total arable land, the pressure
of population on this precious available agricultural land is acute
and makes China's struggle to increase its agricultural output to feed
its population all the more difficult. Looking at the , you will see that China's arable
land is primarily in the eastern region, the same area where a majority
of China's vast population is concentrated. In addition to extensive
areas of western China which are relatively uninhabited, substantial
portions of southern China are unfavorable for agriculture because
of mountainous topography. There are significant variations from province-to-province
in terms of cultivated land, multiple-cropping, and overall production
of various crops.
China feeds somewhat less than one-quarter (25%) of the world's population
on approximately 7% of the world's arable land.
Viewing the , it can be seen that China has
only a slightly larger land area, 3.69 million square miles compared
to the 3.68 million square miles of the United States. However, while
approximately 40% of the U.S. land can be cultivated, only 11% of China's
land is arable. Much of the arable land in the United States, of course,
is actually not used for farming but instead is used for pasture or
has been developed for other uses.
Like China, the U.S. has a densely populated east coast. Unlike the
U.S., however, China's farmland is not concentrated in a relatively
underpopulated central section of the country. Of the roughly 273 million
population in the U.S., less than 3% are engaged in farming while the
U.S. has about 80% more farmland than does China and 10 times more
farmland per capita. The following map compares the densities of population
in the United States and China:
Despite the high population density reflected
on the map, China is not an urban society even though its total
urban population (311,000,000) exceeds the actual total population
of the United States. (The urban population of the U.S. is approximately
194,, some 75% of the country' many Americans, of course,
live in suburban communities.) Although some seventy-four per cent
(74%) of China's population is still primarily engaged in agriculture
and living in rural areas, these same farming areas have undergone
substantial industrialization and commercialization in the past two
decades since 1979.
Agriculture in China
The production of grain accounts for some 80-90% of all agricultural
crops in China. Rice, wheat, corn, barley, and millet are the principal
grain crops, each of which represents a particular adaptation to specific
environmental conditions.
Crops. Wet rice or paddy rice agriculture is carried out
particularly in fertile areas of southern and central China where
a mild climate favors two and sometimes three crops per year. The
growing of rice is frequently rotated with other crops such as winter
wheat, sweet potatoes, corn, and vegetables of various types. Vegetable
oil producing plants — specifically rape-seed (the oil of which
is known in the U.S. as canola oil), peanuts, and sesame — are widely
grown throughout this region on appropriate soils.
In addition to relatively mild winter temperatures and a long
growing season, heavy and predictable summer monsoon rains and
overall sufficient annual rainfall are the basis for substantial
productive agriculture. It is important to recognize that China's
southern and central rice-growing regions are quite diverse.
Wet Rice Cycle. Briefly explained, wet rice agriculture
is an intensive farming system in which dense populations and the
intensive use of the earth are complementary.
Rice seeds are sown broadcast in seedbeds where the densely packed
seedlings are allowed to grow for approximately a month before being
transplanted into fields. The preparation of fields by plowing and
harrowing is labor intensive activity as is the transplantation process.
Water must be moved on and off the planted areas according to a schedule,
during which on-going weeding is carried out to insure maximum yields.
Harvesting and the preparation of the rice for storage are additional
labor intensive activities requiring more people. Although some mechanization
of the process of rice production has occurred over the centuries,
the production of paddy rice continues to involve the intensive use
of human labor even to the degree that there sometimes is insufficient
labor available for a particular activity. The
describes the relationship between
the rice cycle and Chinese family patterns.
Note the area called &Sichuan rice.& Sichuan is one of
the most densely populated provinces in China today. Sichuan, including
the Municipality of Chongqing which is now administratively separate
from it, has a total population of 107,000,000. Sichuan has a greater
population than any European nation except for Russia.
Geography and Regions
The cross-hatching nature of China's five mountain ranges, the step-like
staircase decrease in elevation from the lofty Tibetan plateau towards
the sea, and the location of rivers make for a number of distinct geographical
regions that fall into a checkerboard composition of basins, plateaus,
and plains. Note the problems these pose for political and economic
unity on the overlays of
For the sake of elementary convenience, the landmass of China can
be divided into two basic components:
A vast Western region occupying nearly 2/3 of the
country that is generally too high, too cold, and/or too dry to support
a dense agricultural population. Much of this higher western area
occupies the two upper steps of the topographic staircase: Qinghai-Tibetan
plateau, sometimes known as the &roof of the world&
with average elevations above 4000 meters and a broad arc-like step
running northeast/southwest from the grasslands of the Inner Mongolian
steppes through the deserts and basins of Xinjiang to the Yunnan-Guizhou
plateaus of southwestern China.
An Eastern region occupying 1/3 of the country —
portion of China east of the Tibetan Plateau and generally south
of the Great Wall — forming the core of China Proper. It is
framed on the west by mountain ranges about 1000 meters in elevation —
Khingan, Taihang, Wushan, and Xuefeng — and includes the densely
settled North China Plain along the lower course of the Huang He
and numerous plains in the middle and lower reaches of the Chang
Jiang. This diverse region includes the eighteen traditional provinces
of imperial China, and can be divided into Northern China and Southern
China with the Qinling Range and Huai River forming the natural
zone of demarcation between them. It is customary to include Northeast
China, often still referred to as Manchuria, in this Eastern
Interregional Trade
A benefit of China's varied geography is that a shortage of resources
in one part of China can be overcome by trade with another part. In
this way China historically has been able to develop internally by
promoting interregional trade, as opposed to going outside
the country as many smaller European countries had to do. Instead of
industrializing to overcome shortages, China traded within its
own borders, thus promoting commercial development.
Similarly, a shortage in labor in one area could be filled by migration
within the country or by shifting manufacturing to another area. Geographic
factors that facilitated this internal trade were the Chang Jiang (Yangzi
River), the complex network of rivers in the south, and China's long
coastline. China thus did not feel great pressure to develop labor-saving
technologies or to engage in extensive expansionist or colonizing activities
beyond its borders, in contrast to the West and Japan. (This contrasts
markedly with the political and economic history of Europe, where the
existence of many small countries led to trade barriers and local shortages,
prompting individual countries to make technological advances and wage
costly wars that contributed to the rise of large financial empires
and engage in expansionist imperialism.)
Disparity among Regions
A recurrent problem, however,
is that some regions in China have developed more quickly than others
because of their location. For example, the coastline of China with
its ports and fertile soil has developed more rapidly than western
China with its deserts and mountains. Western China is more isolated
and thus lags behind the coastal regions, a condition that can be seen
clearly in this view of the Earth at night where only lights and fires
are visible.
Again, compare the U.S. and China to highlight the importance
of locational factors and physical geography to economic development.
Political Divisions
The People's Republic of China has 34 major
political divisions (Although the PRC considers Taiwan to be
one of its provinces, Taiwan remains politically separate as the
Republic of China).
4 municipalities — Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin,
and Chongqing. Because of their size and other characteristics,
these four cities have been given provincial-level status and report
directly to the central government.
5 autonomous regions. The title &autonomous
region& indicates that a substantial proportion of the population
in the region is composed of minority nationality peoples whose
language, culture, and particular social traits are distinct from
the dominant H for the sake of political unity, the
regions are given special consideration by Beijing in policy formulation.
The regions are otherwise not &autonomous.&
(Eight percent of China's population is composed of minority nationality
peoples. There are 55 distinct minority nationalities in China)
A crucial factor is that these minority nationalities occupy 50-60%
of Chinese territory — most notably Xinjiang (where China's
nuclear installations are located), Mongolia, and Tibet. These
facts are useful in highlighting the difficulties entailed in ruling
such a vast country. (See attached map and list on )
1 Special Administrative Region (SAR). Hong
Kong gained this status on July 1, 1997 when it ceased being
a British Crown Colony. Macao, once
a colony of Portugal, reverted to Chinese sovereignty on December
20, 1999 and became the country's second SAR.
For information from China about China:
Questions for
Discussion
General Maps (China in Asia)
1. Using the points of the compass, north, south, east, and west,
where does China have land borders? Sea borders?
2. Is China's terrain varied in terms of lowland, mountains, river
systems, desert land, and sea coast?
3. Where do you think the earliest inhabitants of China would be
likely to settle? Why?
4. Can you tell if all Chinese people speak the same language?
5. Can you tell what are the most populated areas of China today?
Outline Maps of China
(The questions relate to the outline maps, moving left to right,
starting with &China and the World.& Many of the questions
provided under the section headings below may also be used in relation
to these outline maps.)
1. In which continent is China?
2. With how many countries does China have a common border?
3. Using the outline map of China and the maps in the General Maps
section, can you draw in (a) China's rivers? (b) China's mountains
and deserts? (c)China's most important cities? (d) a blue line indicating
China's sea coast?
4. Water and rivers have always been very important in Chinese history.
Can you tell why?
5. What part of China would be best for (a) traveling by camel? (b)
mountain climbing? (c) finding high pasture lands?
6. What part of China would be best for (a) plowing fields for crops?
(b) growing rice?
7. Looking at your map, where do you think most people would be likely
to live? In the west of the China? The east? Why?
8. What can you tell about a river that changes its course as the
Huang He (Yellow River) has over the centuries? What sort of terrain
would allow a river to change its course?
9. Has China's size changed over time? When was it smallest? When
was it biggest? What is it like today?
10. Why would the Chinese want to build the Great Wall? Why build
it where it is instead of somewhere else? Why would the Chinese build
canals? Why build them where they are? How do you think the Great
Wall and the Grand Canal were built? By hand? By machine? How many
people do you think it would take to build a mile of the Great Wall
or the Grand Canal? How fast could this mile be built? How would
you get the people to work on such projects?
Rivers, Borders, and Civilizations
Major Rivers
1. What are China's two major rivers?
2. Huang He (Yellow River)
a) Why is this river called a &yellow& river?
b) Why is this river called &China's Sorrow&?
c) What is loess? How is it useful for human habitation?
3. Chang Jiang (Yangzi River)
a) Why is this river called China's &main street&?
b) In what part of China are the upper reaches of this river?
c) Why is happening in the area called &The Three Gorges&?
4. Zhu Jiang (Pearl River)
a) What kind of land surrounds this river?
b) What is grown in this river's ecosystem?
Research questions involving all the readings and maps about
China's rivers:
1. If you wanted to travel in China with a row boat, which river
would you choose to go on and why?
2. Could you travel by boat from one river to another without going
into the open sea or carrying the boat across land? Which parts of
China would you see if you did this?
Early Civilizations
1. Where were the cradles of Chinese civilization? Why do
you think people chose to settle in these places?
Mountains and Deserts
1. Why was China's early civilization relatively isolated
from other early civilizations?
2. What sort of terrain did the eventual route between early China
and other civilizations follow?
Historical Borders
1. Have China's historical borders changed over time?
2. What geographical features can be found on China's borders?
3. Is it easy to travel across China's borders in terms of the terrain?
Bordering Nations
1.Why is China the core of East Asia?
2.What countries in East Asia were particularly influenced by China?
Supplementing Geography
1. The Great Wall
a) When were the first segments of the Great Wall begun?
b) What is the Great Wall built out of?
c) What was the purpose of the Great Wall?
2. The Grand Canal
a) What was the purpose of the Grand Canal?
b) When was the original canal built?
c) Can it still be used today?
3. Terracing and Irrigation
a) Why do people build terraces on hill slopes?
b) How is water managed on terraced hill slopes?
Population and Agriculture
1. Is China the most populous nation in the world?
2. Where is China's most arable land?
3. What areas of China are most populated?
4. Which country is bigger, China or the United States?
5. How do the most populated areas of China and of the United States
6. What crops do the Chinese grow?
7. What is meant by &wet rice cycle&?
Geography and Regions
1. What is the difference between the western and eastern regions
2. Why is interregional trade important in China?
3. Do the differences between the regions create problems for China?
Political Divisions
1. How many provinces are there in China?
2. What cities have provincial-level status in China?
3. How many autonomous regions are there in China?
4. What is the Special Administrative Region (SAR)?
Research project involving all the readings and maps in this section
Plan a trip in China so that you can travel by boat, by train, by
car, by foot, and by camel. Decide which parts of China would be
best for each mode of transport. Imagine what you eat in the different
regions you travel through. If you needed to talk with the local
inhabitants, how many languages would you need to know? Would you
need different clothes in different regions so as not to be too hot
or too cold? If you stayed in the homes of the local inhabitants,
how would these homes be constructed?
& 2009 Asia for Educators,
Columbia University |}