China Travel Guide

Asia

Our Philosophy
  • No Junk Tours

    No Junk Tours
  • No Gimmicks

    No Gimmicks
  • Complete Transparency

    Complete Transparency

Geography Of China

Leave your footprints all over the world! Know your destination through geography.

The geography of China is varied and is situated in the Southeast Asia along the shoreline of the pacific ocean, China is the world‘s third largest country, after Russia and Canada. With a zone of 9.6 million square kilometers and a coastline of 18,000 kilometers, its shape on the guide resembles a rooster. It comes to Mohe in Heilongjiang Province as its northern end, Zengmu Ansha (or James Shoal) toward the south, Pamirs toward the west, and extends toward the eastern outskirt at the combination of the Heilongjiang (Amur) River and the Wusuli (Ussuri) River, spreading over around 50 degrees of scope and 62 degrees of longitude.

China is bordered by 14 countries -- Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. Marine-side neighbors include eight countries -- North Korea, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Physical Features
The vast land of China consists of plateaus, plains, basins, foothills, and mountains. Defining uneven plateaus, foothills and mountains it occupies nearly two-thirds of the land, higher in the West and lower in the East like a three-step ladder.

Regional Division
China is divided into four divisions that is, the North, South, Northwest and the Qinghai-Tibetan areas. Because of geographical differences, inhabitants of each region have different life-styles, customs, values and characteristics. The North and South regions are situated in the Eastern monsoon area and are separated by the Qinling Mountains-Huai River. Nearly 95 percent of the Chinese population stays here. The other two regions namely the Northwest and Qinghai-Tibetan regions that dwell in 55 percent of the land have fewer people, although most of the ethnic groups come here together.


Rivers and Lakes
China has various rivers and lakes. According to figures, more than 50,000 rivers have drainage areas that surpass 100 square kilometers; more than 1,500 exceed 1,000 square kilometers. These rivers can also be differentiated as exterior and interior rivers.

The Yangtze is the longest in China and even in Asia, is the third-longest in the world. The Yellow River is also termed as Mother River of the Chinese People, is situated just behind the Yangtze, both flows into the Pacific Ocean. And the Yarlung Zangbo River belongs to the Indian Ocean water system. And on the other hand, the interior rivers drain less area than the exterior ones.

Mountainous Topography
China has the large areas of mountainous land covering about 66% of the nation. The extents for the most part run from east to west and from upper east to southwest. Among these mountains, some reach to the sky, and others are lower with delightful landscape. Out of the mountains all through the world at the altitude of over 7,000 meters, over 50 stand in China. Toward the east in China, lower mountains like Mt. Taishan, Mt. Huashan, and Mt. Emeishan, mesmerizes travelers with its unique beauty.