|
| |
China Cites with Hotels
 China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo), country in East Asia, the world's third largest country by area (after Russia and Canada) and the largest by population. Officially People's Republic of China, it is bounded on the north by the Republic of Mongolia and Russia; on the northeast by Russia and North Korea; on the east by the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea; on the south by the South China Sea, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), India, Bhutan, and Nepal; on the west by Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan; and on the northwest by Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan. China includes more than 3400 offshore islands, of which Hainan, in the South China Sea, is by far the largest. The total area of China is about 9,571,300 sq km (about 3,695,000 sq mi), not including Nationalist China, known officially as the Republic of China (see Taiwan). The capital of China is Beijing; the country's largest city is Shanghai.
 Some of the hotels, motels and resorts available for booking in our reservation network include, Ramada Inn, Marriott Hotels, Super 8 Motels, Econo Lodge, Holiday Inn & Holiday Inn Express, Travelodge, Hampton Inn, Sheraton, Hilton, Best Western, Hyatt and Hyatt Regency, Wyndham Inn, Ritz and Ritz Carlton, Days Inn, Courtyard by Marriott, La Quinta Inns, Comfort Inn and Comfort Suite, Embassy Suites, Quality Inn, Radisson Inn, Sleep Inn, Numerous Resorts and Resort Villas throughout the globe, along with Plaza and Plaza Suites and and array of private and Golf Clubs and Golf Resorts.
Select a city or territory from the list below.
All Countries
>
China
More than one-fifth of the world's total population lives within China's borders. China gave birth to one of the world's earliest civilizations and has a recorded history that dates from some 3500 years ago. Zhonghua, the Chinese name for the country, means "central land," a reference to the Chinese belief that their country was the geographical center of the earth and the only true civilization. By the 19th century China had become a politically and economically weak nation, dominated by foreign powers.
China underwent many changes in the first half of the 20th century. The imperial government was overthrown and in the chaotic years that followed, two groups-the Nationalists and the Communists-struggled for control of the country. In 1949, the Communists won control of China. The Nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan and set up a government there they called the Republic of China.
The accession of the Communist government in 1949 stands as one of the most important events in Chinese history; in a remarkably short period of time radical changes were effected in both the Chinese economy and society. Since the 1970s China has cast off its self-imposed isolation from the international community and has sought to modernize its economic structure.
In 1971 the United Nations (UN) admitted the People's Republic of China and expelled Taiwan from membership. Although most world governments do not recognize Taiwan, the island maintains a distinct government and economy. Information in this article, unless otherwise indicated, refers only to mainland China.
Land and Resources
China encompasses a great diversity of landscapes and a corresponding variety of natural resources. Generally speaking, China's higher elevations are found in the west, where some of the world's highest mountain ranges are located. Three of these, the Tien Shan, Kunlun mountains, and Qin Ling, date from an episode of Paleozoic mountain building (orogeny) that began late in the Carboniferous period and ended in the Permian period, when all of the world's landmasses had drawn together to form a single supercontinent, Pangaea (see Geology: The Geologic Time Scale). A fourth, the Himalayas, is of more recent origin. It formed when sediments that had been deposited in a Mesozoic sea, the Tethys, were squeezed together and lifted up by the collision of India with Eurasia, an event that began during the Oligocene epoch of the Tertiary period, some 40 million years ago. In the present or Recent epoch of the Quaternary period, tectonic activity has taken the form of devastating earthquakes that tend to occur in a broad arc extending from the western edge of the Sichuan Basin northeast toward Bo Hai, the gulf on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea.
The country's numerous mountain ranges enclose a series of plateaus and basins and furnish a notable wealth of water and mineral resources. A broad range of climatic types, from the subarctic to tropical, and including large areas of alpine and desert habitats, supports a magnificent array of plant and animal life.
Mountains occupy about 43 percent of China's land surface; mountainous plateaus account for another 26 percent; and basins, predominantly hilly in terrain and located mainly in arid regions, cover approximately 19 percent of the area. Only 12 percent of the total area may be classed as plains.
Physiographic Regions
China may be divided into six major geographic regions, each of which contains considerable geomorphological and topographic diversity.
The Northwest
This region consists of two basins-the Junggar Pendi (Dzungarian Basin) on the north and the Tarim Pendi (Tarim Basin) on the south-and the lofty Tien Shan. The Tarim Pendi contains the vast sandy Takla Makan (Taklimakan Shamo), the driest desert in Asia. Dune ridges in its interior rise to elevations of about 100 m (about 330 ft). The Turpan Pendi (Turfan Depression), the largest area in China with elevations below sea level, commands the southern entrance of a major pass through the Tien Shan. The Junggar Pendi, although containing areas of sandy and stony desert, is primarily a region of fertile steppe soils and supports irrigated agriculture.
The Mongolian Steppe
Located in north central China, this is a plateau region consisting mainly of sandy, stony, or gravelly deserts that grade eastward into steppe lands with fertile soils. This is a region of flat-to-rolling plains, partitioned by several barren flat-topped mountain ranges. Along its eastern border is the higher, forested Da Hinggan Ling (Greater Khingan Range).
The Northeast
Comprising all of Manchuria east of the Da Hinggan Ling, the Northeast region incorporates the Manchurian Plain (Dongbei Pingyuan) and its bordering uplands. The plain has extensive tracts of productive soils. The uplands are hilly to mountainous, with numerous broad valleys and gentle slopes. The Liaodong Peninsula, extending to the south, is noteworthy for its good natural harbors.
North China
This region lies between the Mongolian Steppe on the north and the Yangtze River Basin on the south and consists of several distinct topographic units. The Huangtu Plateau on the northwest is formed by the accumulation of fine windblown silt (loess). The loosely packed loess is readily subject to erosion, and the plateau's surface is transected by sunken roads, vertical-walled valleys, and numerous gullies. The region is extensively terraced and cultivated. The North China Plain, the largest flat lowland area in China, consists of fertile soils derived from loess. Most of the plain is under intense cultivation. Located to the east, the Shandong Plateau on the Shandong Peninsula consists of two distinct areas of mountains flanked by rolling hills. The rocky coast of the peninsula provides some good natural harbors. To the southwest are several mountain ranges which constitute a formidable barrier to northern-southern movement.
South China
This region embraces the Yangtze Valley and the topographically diverse regions to the south. The Yangtze Valley consists of a series of basins with fertile alluvial soils. These lowlands are crisscrossed with waterways, both natural and artificial, and dotted with lakes. The Sichuan Basin, located to the west, is enclosed by rugged spurs of several mountain ranges and consititutes a relatively isolated area of hilly terrain. The area is known for its intensive terraced farming. The highlands of South China extend from the Tibetan Plateau (Qing Zang Gaoyuan) east to the sea. In the west the deeply eroded Yunnan (Yungui) Plateau is bordered by a series of mountain ranges separated by deep, steep-walled gorges. One of the world's most scenic landscapes is found in eastern Guizhou, where the terrain is dominated by tall limestone pinnacles and pillarlike peaks. To the east are the largely deforested and severely eroded Nan Ling hills, and along the coast are the rugged Southeastern Highlands, where bays with numerous offshore islands provide good natural harbors. Lying south of the Nan Ling hills is the Xi Jiang Basin, predominantly a hilly area with infertile soils; the numerous streams of this region, however, are bordered by fertile, flat-floored alluvial valleys. The broad delta plain of the Zhu Jiang (Pearl River) is sometimes called the Canton delta.
The Tibetan Plateau
Occupying the remote southwestern extremity of China is the high, mountain-rimmed Tibetan Plateau (Qing Zang Gaoyuan); the world's highest plateau region, it has an average elevation of about 4510 m (about 14,800 ft) above sea level. Bordering ranges include the Himalayas on the south, the Pamirs and Karakorum Range on the west, and the Qilian and Kunlun mountains on the north. Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world at 8848 m (29,028 ft) rises in the Himalayas on the border of Nepal and Tibet. The surface of the plateau is dotted with salt lakes and marshes, is crossed by several mountain ranges, and also contains the headwaters of many major southern and eastern Asian rivers, including those of the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Yangtze (Chang Jiang), and Huang He (Yellow River). The landscape is bleak, barren, and rock strewn.
Rivers and Lakes
All the major river systems of China, including the three longest-the Yangtze, Huang He, and Xi Jiang-flow in a generally western to eastern direction to the Pacific Ocean. In all, about 50 percent of the total land area drains to the Pacific. Only about 10 percent of the country's area drains to the Indian and Arctic oceans. The remaining 40 percent has no outlet to the sea and drains to the arid basins of the west and north, where the streams evaporate or percolate to form deep underground water reserves; principal among these streams is the Tarim.
The northernmost major stream of China is the Amur River (Heilong Jiang), which forms most of the northeastern boundary with Russia. The Songhua (Sungari) and Liao rivers and their tributaries drain most of the Manchurian Plain and its surrounding highlands.
The major river of North China is the Huang He. It is traditionally referred to as "China's Sorrow" because, throughout Chinese history, it has periodically devastated large areas by flooding. The river is diked in its lower course, and its bed is elevated above the surrounding plain as a result of the accumulation of silt. The river rises in the marginal highlands of the Tibetan Plateau and follows a circuitous course to the Bo Hai (an arm of the Yellow Sea), draining an area more than twice the size of France. The Yangtze River of central China has a discharge more than ten times that of the Huang He. The longest river in Asia, it has a vast drainage basin. The Yangtze rises near the source of the Huang He and enters the sea at Shanghai. It is a major transportation artery.
Serving the major port of Guangzhou (Canton) are the estuarine lower reaches of the Xi Jiang, the most important river system of southern China. The river, which has numerous tributaries and distributaries, has a discharge three times as great as that of the Huang He.
Most of the important lakes (hu) of China lie along the middle and lower Yangtze Valley. The two largest in the middle portion are Dongting Hu and Poyang Hu. In summer these lakes increase their areas by two to three times and serve as reservoirs for excess water. Tai Hu is the largest of several lakes in the Yangtze delta, and Hongze Hu and Gaoyou Hu lie just to the north of the delta.
Saline lakes, many of considerable size, abound in the Tibetan Plateau. The largest is the marshy Qinghai Hu in the less elevated northeast, but several others nearly as large occur on the high plateau. In the arid northwest and in the Mongolian Steppe are a number of large lakes, most of which are also saline; principal among these are Lop Nur and Bosten Hu east of the Tarim Pendi. Ulansuhai Nur, which is fed by the Huang He, is in Inner Mongolia; Hulun Nur lies west of the Da Hinggan Ling in Manchuria.
More than 2000 reservoirs have been constructed throughout the nation, primarily for irrigation and flood control. Most are small, but the largest, the Longmen reservoir on the Huang He, has a capacity of 35.4 billion cu m (1250 billion cu ft).
Climate
The climates of China are similar, in their range and distribution, to those of the continental United States; temperate climates prevail, with desert and semiarid regions in the western interior and a small area of tropical climate in the extreme southeast. China's climates, however, tend to be more continental and thus more extreme, and regional contrasts are generally greater.
The Asian monsoon (prevailing winds) exerts the primary control on China's climate. In winter, cold dry winds blow out of the high-pressure system of central Siberia, bringing low temperatures to all regions north of the Yangtze River and drought to most of the country. In summer, warm moist air flows inland from the Pacific Ocean, producing rainfall in the form of cyclonic storms. Amounts of precipitation decline rapidly with distance from the sea and on leeward sides of mountains. The remote basins of the northwest receive little precipitation. Summer temperatures are remarkably uniform throughout most of the country, but extreme temperature differences between north and south characterize the winters.
Southeastern China, from the Yangtze Valley southward, has a subtropical climate with a distinctly tropical climate in the extreme south. Summer temperatures in this region average 26° C (79° F). Average winter temperatures decline from about 18° C (about 64° F) in the tropical south to about 4° C (about 39° F) along the Yangtze River. An average of eight typhoons a year, mainly between July and November, bring high winds and heavy rains to the coastal areas. The mountainous plateaus and basins to the southwest also have subtropical climates, with considerable local variation. As a result of higher elevations, summers are cooler, and as a consequence of protection from northerly winds, winters are mild. The Sichuan Basin, which has an 11-month growing season, is noted for high humidity and cloudiness. Rainfall, especially abundant in summer, exceeds 990 mm (39 in) annually in nearly all parts of southern China.
North China, which has no mountain ranges to form a protective barrier against the flow of air from Siberia, experiences a cold, dry winter. January temperatures range from about 4° C (about 39° F) in the extreme south to about -10° C (about 14° F) north of Beijing and in the higher elevations to the west. July temperatures generally exceed 26° C (79° F) and, in the North China Plain, approach 30° C (86° F). Almost all the annual rainfall occurs in summer. Annual precipitation totals are less than 760 mm (less than 30 in) and decrease to the northwest, which has a drier, steppe climate. Year-to-year variability of precipitation in these areas is great; this factor, combined with the possibility of dust storms or hailstorms, makes agriculture precarious. Fog occurs on more than 40 days a year in the east and on more than 80 days along the coast.
The climate of Manchuria is similar to, but colder than, that of North China. January temperatures average about -18° C (about 0° F) over much of the Manchurian Plain, and July temperatures generally exceed 22° C (72° F). Rainfall, concentrated in summer, averages between about 510 and 760 mm (about 20 and 30 in) in the east but declines to about 300 mm (about 12 in) west of the Da Hinggan Ling.
Desert and steppe climates prevail in the Mongolian Steppe and the northwest. January temperatures average below -10° C (14° F) everywhere except in the Tarim Pendi. July temperatures generally exceed 20° C (68° F). Annual rainfall totals less than 250 mm (less than 10 in), and most of the area receives less than 100 mm (less than 4 in).
Because of its high elevation, the Tibetan Plateau has an arctic climate; July temperatures remain below 15° C (59° F). The air is clear and dry throughout the year with annual precipitation totals of less than 100 mm (less than 4 in) everywhere except in the extreme southeast.
"China," Microsoft® Encarta® 97 Encyclopedia.
© 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 | 
Armenia • Azerbaijan • Bangladesh • Bahrain • Brunei Darussalam • Cambodia • China • East Timor • Georgia • Hong Kong • Indonesia • Israel • India • Jordan • Japan • Kyrgyzstan • Korea • Kuwait • Kazakhstan • Laos • Lebanon • Macau • Malaysia • Maldives • Myanmar • Nepal • Oman • Philippines • Pakistan • Qatar • Russia • Saudi Arabia • Singapore • Sri Lanka • Syrian Arab Republic • Tajikistan • Thailand • Turkmenistan • Turkey • Taiwan • United Arab Emirates • Uzbekistan • Viet Nam • Yemen • Search • Section Index • Site Map
Last Revised:
December 03, 2008 01:01 PM. |
