East Asia: Center of the World - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 275

The Huang He is literally yellow , due to the immense
amounts of silt it carries in suspension through erosion
of the loess plateau. At one time, the Shandong (Eastern
Mountain) Peninsula was an island, but eons of alluvial
deposition have joined it to the mainland. Its highest
peak is the sacred Tai Shan at 5,056 feet (1,517 m).
Just south of the Wei River is the Qin Ling Range, an
extension of the Kunlun. East of the Qin Ling is the Huai
River. As you will discover, both the Qin Ling and the
Huai are sentinels of change in both climatic and agricul-
tural patterns in China.
The North China Plain is the largest alluvial landform
region in eastern China. It covers 125,000 square miles
(323,750 km 2 ). It blends into the Central Chang Jiang
(Yangzi River) Plain and its associated lake basins. The
Chang Jiang, the world' s third longest river, flows an incred-
ible 3,900 miles (6,279 km) from Tibet to the East China
Sea. T To the west, surrounded by mountains, is the fertile
Sichuan Basin and the Y unnan Plateau. Mountains domi-
nate southern China until breaking at the Xi River Basin by
the South China Sea. Southwestern China is dominated by
the longitudinal extensions of the Tibetan-Qinghai ranges.

bodies. Mountain patterns add to these contrasts. Winter
and summer temperatures are extreme in the interior of
China, while coastal regions have more moderate climes.
Latitude is another consideration. While rice is being
harvested in the Xi Basin, ice sculptures are being created
in the Liao Basin.
The summer monsoon (detailed in Chapter 2)
brings ever-decreasing amounts of precipitation from
south to north (Figure 10-5). Precipitation ranges from
around 120 inches (305 cm) on Hainan Island to less
than 10 inches (35 cm) in the Tarim Basin.
The Qin Ling, with peaks reaching 12,000 feet
(3,600 m), form a topographic barrier to monsoon rain-
fall from the south and to dust-laden winds from the
north. Significantly , the Qin Ling and Huai River approx-
imate both the 20-inch (51 cm) isohyet (a line on a map
joining points of equal rainfall) and the northern limit of
double-cropping.
In winter, winds sweep outward from the Siberian
high pressure cell near Lake Baikal, bringing relatively
dry , cold air to the continent as well as to Japan. Some-
times the chilling air is filled with loess, carrying yellow
dust as far as Japan' s west coast.
T Typhoons (the same as hurricanes in the United
States) are important sources of moisture during the
summer and fall. These develop in the South and East
China seas, striking China' s southern coast around May
and reaching Taiwan and Japan in July or later. T Typhoons
bring a succession of rain squalls and winds that can

Climatic Variation

East Asia is characterized by continentality modified by
the monsoon. Seasons are accentuated in the interior due
to its remoteness from the moderating effects of water

Average
Annual Rainfall
3000
2000
1500
1000
750
500
250
0

120
80
60
40
30
20
10
0

Figure 10-5
Y early precipitation in East Asia. Note how the
amount of precipitation decreases as you move
inland. How does this pattern compare with
population distribution? Compare this map with
Figure 11-18 and see the relationship between
precipitation and agricultural patterns.