physical geography of china essays

physical geography of china essays China is the third largest country in the world, which is slightly larger in area than the Uni Chain is located in Central and East Asia. China is bounded by Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan to the north, North Korea, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea to the east, the South China Sea, the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan and Nepal to the south as well as India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to the west. Over 66% of China is upland hill, mountains and plateaux while the highest mountains and plateaux are found to the west. To the north and east of the Tibetan Plateau the land decreases to the desert or semidesert areas of Sinkiang and Inner Mongolia. To the northeast the broad fertile Manchurian Plains are separated from North Korea by the densely forested uplands of Changpai Shan. East of the Tibetan Plateau and south of Inner Mongolia is the Sichuan Basin which is drained by the Yangtze River that flows east across the southern plains to the East China Sea. Area: 3,691,521 sq. mi. (9,596,960 sq. km)1 CLIMATE: China has a varied climate that can be divided into seven climatic zones. (1.) North East China which has cold winters that are influenced by strong northerly continental winds while summers are warm and humid with unreliable rainfall. (2.) Central China which has warm humid summers with the coastal regions occasionally subject to cyclones and typhoons. (3.) South China where summers are hot and humid with heavy rainfalls between April to September. (4.) South West China which is mountainous with the summer temperatures moderated by altitude, while the wet winters are mild with little rain. (5.) The Tibetan region which is a high plateau where winters are severe with frequent light snow and frost, while summers are warm during the day but drop to extremes at night. Rainfall is also heaviest in summer. (6.) The western interior zone which has an arid desert climate with cold ...