1. The Geography of China
Chapter 7

2. The Himalayas
The Himalayas separate the Indian subcontinent from the rest of Asia
Within those mountains is a huge plateau, or raised plain that forms most of Tibet
This plateau sits higher than most mountaintops in the U.S.
The Indus and many of Asia’s largest rivers begin on this plateau.

3. The Huang River
The River starts its 3,000 mile long trip in Northern China
The Huang starts as a clear stream but grows and picks up silt along its winding journey.
During summer floods the Huang spreads silt on the North China Plain to create one of the largest deltas.
The river also creates miles of fertile marshland

4. The Huang River Valley
The Huang makes a giant curve around the edge of the Ordos Desert
As is turns, the Huang cuts through a hilly region
The hills are made almost entirely of loess (a dusty, yellow soil that is deposited by wind)

5. Working with the Huang River
During Summer rains, huge amounts of loess are washed into the Huang River causing it to be the World’s muddiest river.
The Loess soil is both a blessing and a curse to farmers because while it provides fertile soil, its lightness makes it easy for storms to carry that kind of soil away.
The river floods are both helpful and harmful to Chinese farmers because they bring loess but can also wash it away and destroy everything in their path.

6. Controlling the River
About 3,000 years ago, farmers began building levees to hold back the Huang (a wall that keeps a river within its bank)
Like the Sumerians, ancient Chinese farmers also built canals to bring water to their fields.
Loess clogged the canals and had to be cleared away.

7. China’s Sorrow
The Huang River is called China’s Sorrow because it has cost millions of lives throughout China’s history.
Famine as much as drowning has also been a cause of these deaths. When it washes away crops, it leaves people with nothing to eat
Chinese generals also used the power of the river as a deadly weapon. One general blew up a levee during flood season to stop the Japanese army. His plan worked- but it also took the lives of one million farmers and more died during the famine.

8. “Whoever controls the Huang River controls China.”
According to Chinese tradition a powerful ruler spoke these words almost 4,000 years ago.

9. The Chang Jiang or Yangzi River
Flows from the mountains of Tibet to the Pacific Ocean.
The Yangzi River is the longest river in Asia
In early China, the two rivers helped link people in the eastern part of the country with those in the west.
The mountains between the rivers limited contact

10. Other regions of Ancient China
To the North of The Huang Valley are windswept steppes. (a dry, treeless plain)
People in this area do not plant crops. They herd sheep on horseback
People ate more meat in this area instead of grains.

11. The Gobi Desert Gobi means "Waterless Place”
It is approximately 500,000 square miles
Fifth largest desert in the world
It is a cold desert

12. Plateau of Tibet The Tibetan Plateau is the highest plateau on Earth.
It is nicknamed “The roof of the world,”
It separates northern China from southern China.

13. Ancient Chinese Geography
China covers an area of nearly four million square miles.
China is about the same size of the United States.

14. Natural Barriers West-Pacific Ocean North-Gobi Desert
East- Plateau of Tibet
South-South China Sea
Inner China- Yellow and Yangzi Rivers