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Geography and Early Settlement of China

 Large country in Eastern Asia
 Third largest country in the world
 About 2.3 billion people live in China
 Divided into two main areas → Outer China and Inner China
 Geography of Outer China-
o Outer China includes Western and Northern parts of present day China
o Southwest China is bounded by the Himalaya Mountains
 Tibet-Qinghai Plain- World’s largest plateau
o Bitterly cold
o 50 days a year without frost or snow
o Snowstorms common in July
 China’s Northwest-
o Northwestern desert area includes the second lowest place in China called
the Turfan Depression
 550 feet below sea level
 It is so hot that raindrops evaporate before reaching the ground
 Northeast- Northeastern plain
o Low hills and plains
o Short hot summers
o Winters are long and dry
o 5 months of freezing temperatures
 Geography of Inner China- Southeastern part of present day China
o Closer to sea level
o Land of rolling hills, river valleys and plains
o Rivers enrich the soil by flooding
 Tibet-Qinghai Plateau- Southwestern part of China
o “Roof of the World”
o Covers 25% of China
o Elevation is 2 miles above sea level
o Climate is very cold
o Air is thin and dry
o Snow falls all year long
o Two of China’s major rivers in this area
 The Huang He (Yellow River)
 The Chang Jiang (Yangtze River)
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o The plateau is rather dry

o Natural vegetation is sparse shrubs and grass
o Antelopes and yaks (a type of ox) roam the area
o Wolves and wildcats hunt the animals in the area
 The Northwestern Deserts-
o Taklimakan Desert- Shared with India
o Gobi Desert- Shared with Mongolia
 Taklimakan Desert- 105,000 square miles of dangerous desert
o “Once you go in, you will not come out”
o Sand dunes and sandstorms
 The Tibet-Qinghai Plateau-
o Legend says 300 cities are buried 600 feet beneath the sand dunes
 The Gobi Desert- Stretches 500,000 square miles
o One of the world’s largest deserts
o Most of the desert is made up of small pebbles
 The Northwestern Plain- Located in present day Mongolia
o Land of low hills and plains
o Natural vegetation is mostly prairie grass
o The plain is too cold and dry to be a good place for growing crops
o This plain was the route that invaders took
 The North China Plain- “Land of the Yellow Earth”
o Flat region of grassland in Inner China
o Temperatures range from very cold to warm
o Covered by yellow limestone silt
 Silt- fine particles of rock found in rivers
o Limestone silt makes the Huang He River a Yellow River
o Longest River in the world
 The Middle and Lower Chang Jiang Basins- low and wet coastal plains
o Near a river called Chiang Jiang – means long river
o Warm and wet climate
o Ancient times it was a thick rainforest
o Limited space for farming, not suitable for grazing
o Able to grow rice
 Early Settlement in Ancient China
o First inhabitants lived in caves 500,000 years ago
o Peking Man found in 1920’s
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o Lived by hunting, gathering and fishing

o People began farming and settled in the North China Plain in Inner China
o They lived near the Huang He River
 Ancient China’s Isolation-
o China’ geography kept the early settlements in Inner China isolated