Chapter 31: ChinaSection 2: Regions of China

The Northeast

• Amur River in the north• China Plain in the south• Greater Khingan Range• Contains China’s major

lowland ares

Beijing• China’s Northeast

province• Capital• Greatest

concentration of China’s population

• Major industrial center

Loess: Fertile Soil• Vast agricultural area• Loess: fine, yellow-

brown loam deposited by seasonal dust storms

• Blown in from Mongolia and the Gobi Desert

• Deposited along the Huang He River

• Area very fertile

Yellow River

• Huang He also known as the Yellow River

• Color the loess gives the water

• Also serves as a transportation route

Yellow River: China’s Sorrow• Brought death and

destruction• Destructive floods• 1887: One of history’s

greatest flood disasters – 1 million people died

• New problem: River can dry up completely for months

The Southeast• North China Plain down to the

country’s southern border• East coast to the western

highland areas• More mountainous than the

northeast region• Warmer, wetter climate

Agriculture

• Climate + fertile soil = excellent region for farming

• Double cropping: growing more than one crop a year on the same land

• Carve steplike terraces onto the slopes of hills to increase the area of farmable land

Yangzi River• Valley: Some of China’s

most productive farmland• One of the country’s

busiest and most crowded areas

• East-West Highway• Shanghai, China’s major

port, is on the mouth of the Yangzi

• Three Gorges Dam: control flooding and generate electricity

Special Economic Zones• Original zones: Southeast• Attract foreign businesses– Government set low tax rates – Reduced the amount of official

forms and licenses needed to set-up a business

• 1991: Foreign investors poured $22 billion into the Special Economic Zones

The Northwest• Stark, rugged, and

barren• Gobi Desert:

Northern boundary• Very little grows• Mountains

surround and separate 2 large basins

Silk Road • Great trade route in ancient times

• Stations developed in the Northwest around oases fed by mountain streams

• Stations grew into cities– Farmed– Nomadic herding

The Southwest• Plateau of Tibet• 14,000 feet (4,300

meters)• Surrounding

mountains: 20,000 feet (6,100 meters)

• Highest region in the world

• Isolated

Tibet • Distinct, traditional society

• Farmers and herders

• Ruled by Buddhist customs and decrees of the Dalai Lama

• Theocratic leader: claims to rule by religious or divine authority

1950: Chinese Invasion• Ended Tibet’s isolation• Destroyed Buddhist

monasteries• Farmers had to join

agricultural communes• Dalia Lama: exiled to

India

1959: Uprising• Chinese government: Program

to destroy Tibet’s ancient culture

• 1965: Installed a Communist government

• Autonomous region, region with limited self-government

• Renamed Tibet: Xizang• Tibetans: Hold onto their

culture and religions