Geography: Agriculture

Agriculture is an important economic sector of China, employing over 300 million farmers. China ranks first in worldwide farm output, primarily producing rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, cotton, oilseed, pork, and fish. About 75% of China's cultivated area is used for food crops. Rice is China's most important crop, raised on about 25% of the cultivated area. The majority of rice is grown south of the Huai River in the Yangtze valley, the Zhu Jiang delta, and in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces.

Although China's agricultural output is the largest in the world, only about 15% of its total land area can be cultivated. China's arable land, which represents 10% of the total arable land in the world, supports over 20% of the world's population. Of this approximately 1.4 million square kilometers of arable land, only about 1.2% permanently supports crops and 525,800 square kilometers are irrigated. The land is divided into approximately 200 million households, with an average land allocation of only 1.6 acres.


Crop 1949 Output (tons) 1978 Output (tons) 1999 Output (tons)

1.	Grain	113,180,000	304,770,000	508,390,000
2.	Cotton	444,000	2,167,000	3,831,000
3.	Oil-bearing crops	2,564,000	5,218,000	26,012,000
4.	Sugarcane	2,642,000	21,116,000	74,700,000
5.	Sugarbeet	191,000	2,702,000	8,640,000
6.	Flue-cured tobacco	43,000	1,052,000	2,185,000
7.	Tea	41,000	268,000	676,000
8.	Fruit	1,200,000	6,570,000	62,376,000
9.	Meat	2,200,000	8,563,000	59,609,000
10.	Aquatic products	450,000	4,660,000	41,220,000

Environmental Impact of Pollution in China

China is one the of world's fastest growing economies, but it is also one of the world's worst polluted areas. The World Health Organization has estimated that there are about 650,000 deaths per year in China due to indoor and outdoor air pollutants, while water pollutants kill about 95,000. One of the reasons why air and water pollutants are so big is due to the number of vehicles also known as CRV's. CRV's are highly inefficient in energy and consume about one fourth of disel fuels in China. One of the main reasons why pollutants are so high is due to the rising numbers of factories being built and more people driving to and from work instead of walking or taking public transportation. Though there are steps that the government is beginning to take such as placing emissions on how much factories can release certain gases and regulating the waterways, there is still alot of damage being done.

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/amazing-pictures-pollution-in-china/

In July 2010 there was an oil pipeline explosion in the town of Dalian, China.
https://www.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=efddde17430a42219215c771af78779f&URL=http%3a%2f%2fimages.search.yahoo.com%2fimages%2fview%3fback%3dhttp%253A%252F%252Fimages.search.yahoo.com%252Fsearch%252Fimages%253Fp%253DPort%252Bof%252BDalian%252BChina%2526ei%253DUTF-8%2526fr%253Dyfp-t-701%2526fr2%253Dtab-web%26w%3d990%26h%3d645%26imgurl%3dblooga.de%252Fcache%252Fimg%252Fd17_24398209.jpg%26rurl%3dhttp%253A%252F%252Fblooga.de%252Fbigpicture.php%253Fpage%253D%252F2010%252F07%252Foil_spill_in_dalian_china.html%26size%3d203KB%26name%3dOil%2bspill%2bin%2bDal...%26p%3dPort%2bof%2bDalian%2bChina%26oid%3db39ded9f980348cf5d2016582c7fccbd%26fr2%3dtab-web%26no%3d15%26tt%3d8720%26sigr%3d12cblnjfo%26sigi%3d114r4kpnr%26sigb%3d135ks0pnd

China's Natural Resources

China is one the world's leaders in natural resources. The country produces a multitude of resources from coal, iron, magnetite, petroleum, aluminum, natural gas, mercury, tin, lead, manganese, antimony, zinc and tungsten plus many more. China is the world's leader in natural gas, and third in Coal reserves. Most of China's resources are found along the coast line, mountain ranges and among the numerous river ways in the countryside. It is also said that China has the highest potential of becoming the world leader in hydro power with its quick flowing rivers and tributaries. Because of their numerous available resources, China is able to be one of the world's top exporters in just about everything.

Geography - Mountains

Overview

- Mountains make up 2/3 of China's land.

- Very rough terrains.

- Attract professional climbers from all over the world.






Mount Everest

- Tallest point on earth (8,850 meters).

- On the border of Nepal and China.

- Named after Sir George Everest in 1865 - Britsh surveyor-genreal of India.

- Raises a few inches every year.

- Biggest cause of death are avalanches.








http://www.chinatouristmaps.com/top-10s/mountains.html

Geography: Sea

China's major ports include Qinhuangdao, Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.




Port of Qinhuangdao:
Open in 1893 and is the world's largest coal loading port. It transports about 50% of China's coal moves through here every year. From here it is dispersed by sea and land throughout China and other parts of the world.



Port of Dalian:
Located just to the southeast of Qinhuangdao and Dalian is the biggest shipping center in China. The Port of Dalian is home to ship builders and locomotive manufactures, and it has a manufacturing sector that is thriving. The sector is producing machines, chemical, textiles, electronics, and petroleum based products.



Port of Tianjin
The Port of Tianjin's manufacturing sector is the cities biggest and fastest growing part of the city's economy. The surrounding area is made up of about 40% farmland with rice, wheat, adn maize being its most important crops. Fishing and the industrial sector are also very important to the local economy. The Port of Tianjin is China's biggest artificial harbor and very important to the countries foreign trade.



Port of Qingdao
The Port of Qingdao is one of northern China's best natural harbors, the bay is open year around for large vessels. It is also a great curtural center with several important universities, marine science, and technology. The cities economy thrives on international trade and foreign investments.

Port of Shanghai
The Port of Shanghai is China's most popuulated city and is the worldest second busiest seaport. The port is China's leading commercial and financial center and has been called the world fastest growing economy.

Port of Ningbo
The Port of Ningbo dates as far back as 4800 BC.

Port of Guangzhou
The Port of Guangzhou is located in the Pearl Delta Region. The port is a major transportation hub for the region.

Port of Shenzhen
The Port of Shenzhen is one of the bussiest ports in souther China. It serves the Pearl Delta Region and is also one of China's most important ports for international trade.

Port of Hong Kong
The Port of Hong Kong has played a major role in the revelopment of the city of Hong Kong. It is a hub port that serves the South Asian Pacific region. It is one of the bussiest container ports in the world.

Geography: 5 Most Populated Cities in China

Shenzhen skyline.

Beijing after the conclusion of the 2008 Olympic Games.

1. Shanghai: With a population of over 16 million, Shanghai is the largest city in China and the 10th largest city in the world. Shanghai sits on the Yangtze River Delta on China's eastern coast, and is roughly equidistant from Beijing and Hong Kong. Air pollution in Shanghai is low compared to other Chinese cities such as Beijing, but the rapid development over the past decades means it is still high on worldwide standards, comparable to Los Angeles.

2. Beijing: With a population of over 12 million, Beijing is China's second largest city and is the 19th largest city in the world. Beijing is also the capital city of the People's Republic of China and was host to the 2008 Olympic games. Beijing is situated at the northern tip of the roughly triangular North China Plain, which opens to the south and east of the city. Mountains to the north, northwest and west shield the city and northern China's agricultural heartland from the encroaching desert steppes.

3. Guangzhou: Guangzhou has a population of over 10 million, making it the third largest city in China. The city is part of the Pearl River Delta situated next to the Baiyun Mountain, which is locally referred to as "the lung of the city". Guangzhou has a lengthy monsoon season, spanning from April through September, averaging 67 inches of rainfall a year.

4. Shenzhen: Shenzhen has a total population of over 8 million people, and is one of China's most rapidly growing cities thanks to a large amount of foreign investors. A former fishing village in the 1970's, Shenzhen has had over $30 billion pumped into its economy from foreign investors for building factories and forming joint ventures. It is now reputedly one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

5. Tianjin: Tianjin has a population of around 6 million people, making it China's fifth largest city. Farmland takes up about 40% of Tianjin total area. Wheat, rice, and maize are the most important crops with fishing the most important along the coast. Tianjin is generally flat, and swampy near the coast, but hilly in the far north, where the Yanshan Mountains pass through the tip of northern Tianjin.

Geography - Rivers

Overview

- China has more than 50,000 rivers.

- Most of the rivers flow from west (mountains) to east (lower plains).

- Rivers are mainly used for transporting goods to the ports at sea.

Most Important Rivers in China

1. Yangtze River

- Longest river in China, measuring at 6300 kilometers (3rd in world).
- Flows through Shanghai.
- Catchment area of 1.8 million square millions (1/5 of the total land in China).
- Cruises are on the river are one of the most popular tourists attractions.
- Location of the Three Gorges Dam (considered one of the wonders of the world).

2. Yellow River

- Second longest river in China (5,464 kilometers).
- Flows across 9 provinces.
- Attracts tourists from all over the world.
- Breathtaking scenary.
- Lots of history and culture along the river.

3. Heilongjiang River

- Takes the form of a black dragon, and gets its name from that.
- Located in the far north regions.
- 11th largest river in the world (4,370 kilometers).
- Lots of green trees anbd grass along the river.

http://www.chinatouristmaps.com/top-10s/top-10s-rivers.html

Geography: Climate

China’s climate varies from bitter cold in the winter to unbearable heat in the summer. The Yangtze River serves as the diving line between the north and the south. China’s climate is dominated by hot dry seasons and wet monsoons; this type of change is caused by the cold northern winds from the mountains in the winter and the warm southern winds coming off the sea in the summer months. We can break the country up into 4 regions to describe the countries climate: North, Central, South, and Northwest.

North:
Northern winters, from December to March, can be extremely cold. Some parts of the area can experience temperatures as low as -40*F. While the summer months, May to August, the same areas can hit 100*F.

Central:
The Yangtze River valley has long and humid summers with high temperatures. The winters can be as cold as those in the North.

South:
The south is effected by the typhoons season in the summer spanning from July to September with temperatures can rise to as much as 100*F. The winters here are short only lasting a few months after the first of the year.

Northwest:
This region contains some of the most harsh and diverse climate changes in the entire country. In the summer it is hot, dry and sunny. The desert region can be scorching in the daytime. A depression lies here approximately 150m below sea level; this is known by many as “the hottest place in China” with maximum temperatures around 116*F. The winters can see temperatures around 14*F. Precipitation averages less than 4 inches per year.


http://www.china-travel-tour-guide.com/about-china/climate.shtml



China's Annual Percipitation: