The third step of the staircase

The bulk of China’s population lives in in the third or lowest step down the starcase, east of the line from the greater Hainggan, Taihang and Wushan ranges and the eastern rim of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau to the sea coast. Here are hills less then 1,000 metres and plains less then 200 metres in elevation. Lying from north to south are the northeast plain the north China Plan, the Middle-Lower Changjiang Plain and the hills and foothills south of the Changjiang River. With superior geographical conditions and a large concentration of big cities of China.
To the east of the third step in the continental shelf formed by the shallows, which are an extension of the land in to the ocean.The third step of the staircase

The second step of the staircase

Going north from the Qinghai-Tibet plateau across the Kunlun and Qilian ranges and east across the Hengduan Mountains, the land abruptly drops to plateaus, mountains and basins on an altitude of 2,000 to 1,000 metres, forming the second step down the staircase, which consists of the Yunnan-Guizhou, Loess and Inner Mongolia pllateaus and the Tarim, Junggar and Sichuan basins.

TOPOGRAPHY (PH YSICAL FEATURES)

China Is A Mountainous Counry. Hills mountains and plateaus cover two-thirds of the country’s total area and are inhabited by one-third of the population. More then half of china’s counties have mountainous areas.
With its vast mountainous regions-high in the west and Lie in the east –china has a varied topography and diverse physical features. Plains are mainly in the east; in the southeast are mainly hills; plateaus and basins join the other topographical forms scattered over wide areas of intermingling with each other to provide favour –able conditions for developing a diversified economy of agriculture, forestry, and mining. The proportion of plains, hills, mountains, plateaus and basins in the country’s total area is 12, 10, 33, 26,and 19 per cent respectively.
The land surface of china slopes down from west to east in a three-step staircase. Situated on the

The South China sea Island,

under the administration of Gungdong Province, include more then 200 coral islands, reefs, shoals and sand bars. Besides Huangyan Island, four island groups are named after their geographical locations in the south China Sea: Dongsha (East Islands), Xisha ( West Island), Zhongsha (Central Islands) and Nansha (South Islands).
The Dongsha Islands, the nearest island group to the mainland, are 140 nautical miles from Shantou on the mainland in the north.
The Xisha Islands, on the edge of the continental shelf southeast Island and 170 kilometers from the southern tip of that island, consist of over 30 reefs and are divided into the Xuande and Yongle island groups. Yongxing Island, the largest among them, covers an area of 2.65 square kilometers and is the seat of the people’s Goverment of the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha island groups.
The Zhongsha Islands, situated to the southeast of the Zisha, are composed of more then 20 reefs and shoals.
The Nashua islands contain more than 100 islets, reefs, shoals and sand bars studding the vast southern sea area south of the zhongsha islands. Of the four island groups, south Nashua is the one which is southernmost, is most scattered and has the largest number of reefs. Major islands are Taiping, zhongye and Nancie. Zemgmu, reef is the southernmost part of Chinese territory.
Frequented by fishermen from Guangdong Province, the south China sea islands have always been a part of china. The temperature here is high all year round and the rainfall plentiful. The entire area is rich in tropical resources, fish also large deposits of guano, a food fertilizer.

The Penghu Island,

southeast of the Taiwan Straits, are composed of 64 volcanic islands, the largest among them penguhu, Yuweng and Baisha. The Penghu Islands are under the jurisdiction of Taiwan Province.

The Dawanshan Island,

150 in all, are situated at the Zhujiang estuary in Guangdong Province. Orginally extensions of mountains on the mainland, as the mountains sank they became submerged in sea water and finally detached from the mainland.

The Zhoushan Archipelago,

China’s leading fishing ground and largest of china’s offshore island groups with more then 600 islands, is on the East China sea outside Hangzhou bay, to the northeast of Zhejiang Province. Zhoushn Island, the largest among them, has an area of 524 square kilometers to make it the fourth largest in china. Other meager islands include Liuheng, Taohua, Zhujiaian, Jintang and Daishan. The shengsi Islands are one of the island groups in the Zhoushan Archipelago. The Zhoushan Archipelago has four counties, Dinghai, Putuo, Daishan and Shengsi, all under the administration of zhejiang Provience. Located where warm and cold currents meet, the sea surrounding the Zhoushan Archipelago is shallow and has a plentiful supply of food for the fish brought by the Changjiang and Qiantang rivers. Large and small yellow crackers, cuttlefish and hightails are its best-known marine products. With its scenic peaks and temples, Putyuo Island, or Putuo Hill, is one of the four sacred hills of Hines Buddhism.

The Miaodao Island,

the entrace to the Bohai Sea, are scattered over the Bohai straits, at the confluence of the Bohai and Hunghai seas, consisting of Changshan, Daqin, Huangcheng and some 30 other islands. Adminstered under the jurisdiction of Changdao Country, Shandong Province, the island group is a major fishery base in the northern sea area.

The Changshan Island,

an important fishing center in the north of Hunghai Sea on the east side of Liaoning Province’s Liaodong Peninsula, consist of the Greater Changshsn Island, the Lesser Changshan Island, Guanglu, Zhangzi and about 50 other islands, the Greater Changshan being the largest among them. The island group, administered in the name of Changhei Country, is under the jurisdiction of Dalian City, Liaoning province.

Chogming Island,

the third largest island in china, lies at the mouth of the Changjing River bounded by the East China sea in the east. With an area of 1083 square kilometers, it is also the largest alluvial island, having been formed by the mud and silt deposits of the Changjiang River. With a maze of rivers and streams and a fertile soil, the island has well-developed agriculture, animals husbandry and fishery. Chongming country Com's under the administration of Shanghai Municipality.

Hainan Island

known for its tropical crops in its year-Ronda tropical climate, is on the continental shelf in the north of the south China sea facing the Keizhou Peninsula of Guangdong Province in the north across the Qiongzhou Straits. With an area of 34380 square kilometres, it is the second largest island in China. Its topography is low on four sides and high in the centre from which radiate the island’s rivers. Twenty per cent of the island is mountainous, 15 per cent hilly and 65 per cent is plain and tableland. Two major ports, Haikou and Yulu, are along its 1440-kilometere coestline. The HainanAdministrative Region is under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province. known for its tropical crops in its year-Ronda tropical climate, is on the continental shelf in the north of the south China sea facing the Keizhou Peninsula of Guangdong Province in the north across the Qiongzhou Straits. With an area of 34380 square kilometres, it is the second largest island in China. Its topography is low on four sides and high in the centre from which radiate the island’s rivers. Twenty per cent of the island is mountainous, 15 per cent hilly and 65 per cent is plain and tableland. Two major ports, Haikou and Yulu, are along its 1440-kilometere coestline. The hainan Administrative Region is under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province.

Taiwan Island

southwest of the mainland, is bounded by the Pacific in the east and face s Fujian Province in the West across the Taiwan Straits. Three hundred and ninety-four kilometres long from north to south and 144 kilometres wide from West to east, it covers an area of 35788 square kilometres of which one-third is plain and the rest mountainous.The largest island in China, Taiwan Island belongs to the country’s Taiwan Province proper.

Taiwan IslandTaiwan Island

ISLAND

China;s vast sea area has more then 5000 islands, with a total area of 80000 square kilometers. Over 90 Percent of these are less then one square kilometers in area
About 60 Per cent of china;s islands are in the East china sea, 30 per cent in the south China Sea, and 10per cent in the Bohai and Hunghai seas. Most of them area situated off the coast of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces.
China’s islands can be divided into three types, based on how they were formed: (1) rock islands-more than 90 per cent of the country’s islands including Taiwan and Hainan formed directly from the action of the geological structure of the mainland and continental, shelf;(2) alluvial islands-mainly at the months of the Chongqing, zhujiang and some other rivers-formed out of the mud and silt carried down by these rivers as they flow into the sea; (3) coral islands such as the Dongsha Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha island groups, built up from the deposits of tropical marine organisms.

The breadth of the territrial sea

On September 4 ; 1958;The Government of the people’s Requblic of china declare the breadth of china’s territorial sea to be 12 nautical miles. The provision applies to all territories of the people’s Republice of china, including the Chines mainland and its coastal islands, as well as Taiwan and its surrounding islands, the peng Island, the Dongsha islands, the Xisha Islands, the Zhongsha Islands, the Nansha Islands and all other islands belonging to china which are separated from the mainland and its coastal islands by the high seas. China’s territorial sea along the mainland and its coastal island takes as its baseline the line composed of the straight lines connecting certain base-points on the mainland coast and on the outermost of the coastal islands; the water area extending 12 nautical miles out from this baseline is China’s territorial sea. The water ares inside the baseline, including the Bohai and the Qionzhou Straits, are Chinese inland Waters, and the islands inside the baseline are China’s inland island.

The continental shelf

china’s seashore continental shelf is one of the widest in the wouldst in the world. Like the mainland surface, the seashore floor, generally speaking, slopes from northwest to southeast, forming a gen tel continental shelf zone that is a natural extension of the mainland into the sea topographically and geologically, while outside that zone is a topographically complicated continental slope, trench or deep-sea basin zone. The subcontinental floors of the Bohai and Hunghai seas are entirely on the continental shelf while two-thirds of the east china sea and more then half of the south china sea are on the continental shelf. The seashore continental shelf is richly endowed with oil and natural gas.