© T. M. Whitmore Last Time China Scale & isolation Physical environments China’s 3 regions China Proper (4 sub-regions)
© T. M. Whitmore Today China “proper” Chinese Agriculture Chinese Population
© T. M. Whitmore China “proper”: Manchuria to Vietnam China sub-regions Northeast China Plain/ Manchuria The N. China Plain Huang He (formerly Yellow river) Basins of the Chang Jiang (formerly Yangtze river) Tropical southern China
Manchuria
N China Plain
Loess soils in the Guangzhong Basin © Bret Wallach
© T. M. Whitmore Major issues Huge population Little arable area Population is about 70% rural 4 Agricultural Regions NE / Manchuria North China Plain South China Western oases and arid-semiarid grazing Chinese Agriculture
© Bret Wallach Guangzhong Basin
© W.H. Freeman & Co.
© Bret Wallach Guangzhong Basin
© Bret Wallach Guangzhong Basin
Guilin © Bret Wallach
Guilin
Yunnan Village: Hengdi © Bret Wallach
© John Wiley & Sons
© T. M. Whitmore Agriculture reform Pre-Communist (pre-1949) Communist changes Current reforms Nearly self sufficient despite 1.3 billion Agriculture is very intensive 10 persons to feed per ha Urban pops increasing and so is wealth => demand increasing faster than pop growth Chinese agriculture II
Rural Chinese family’s week’s food © Peter Menzel
Urban Chinese family’s week’s food
What world city since 1990 has built almost 3,000 buildings with 18 or more stories? © Bret Wallach
© T. M. Whitmore Chinese Population Issues Population growth Revolutionary changes Mortality Fertility Ethnic composition Han Chinese Others Spatial distribution mostly in east Urbanization
© John Wiley & Sons
© W.H. Freeman & Co.
© John Wiley & Sons