Figure 1.--Until railroads arrived, rivers wee the highways of China. The same was true of America and Europe. The major rivers are the Yellow anf Yangtze, but are many smaller rivers. This is the Kumming River in Yunan Povinnce (southwetern China). The photograph was taken during World War II. Kunming was a major Chinese military center and an American air base. It was also a transportation hub for the Burma Road, which was used to move supplies into China.

China dominates eastern Asia. Asia is the largest continent and China occupies some one quarter of Asia. This is almost as large an area as all of Europe. As beautifully captured by Chinese artists, the Chinese landscape is marked by dramatic geographical diversity. Topographically, it characterized by the south western Tibetan highlands where the annual snow melt creates inexhaustible rivers. The northwest is arid and deserts like the Gobi meant that the area has played little role in China's long history. These deserts along with Tibetan mountains have helped to isolate China--penetrated only by a trickle of trade over the Silk Road. China's great rivers flow east carving out the country's dramatic landscape before flowing into into the Pacific Ocean. The two most important of these rivers are the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers--one of the great river valley systems that gave birth to human civilization. These and other rivers provides life creating water and rich alluvial soil needed to support China's prodigious agricultural productivity as Pearl Buck described it--'the good earth'. The land between these two great rivers were the core of China and explain the term Middle Kingdom. The Grand Canal (大运河) built during the medieval created a system of interconnected man-made waterways linking the major rivers (especially the Yellow and Yangtze) connecting the hungry north with the food producing south. The Grand Canal was a vital waterborne transport system through the heart of the Middle Kingdom, a major factor in China's economic success. While China is best known for the Great Wall, the Grand Canal is of far greater significance. It is the longest artificial waterway in the world. The water in the Chinese rivers and feeding the Grand Canal descends as part of a three-step staircase. The first step is the towering Tibetan highland mountainous of the southeast. The second step is the high plateau. The third step is the plains and lowlands in the east and southeast. occupying over 10 percent of China's land. China's climate adds to the east-west disparity. The north and west is extremely dry. The south and east. The warmer highly productive south has tropical monsoons providing additional water to support agriculture. All of this explains why most of the population lives in south and east. China's growing need for water has caused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to dam rivers in the Tibetan Highlands and redirect the water flow from South and Southeast Asia and into arid areas of China. The agriculturist productive created China's huge population, for most of history the most populace country. China incredibly has more than 50 cities with populations of half a million or more and some 25 with a million or more. The capital city, Beijing, is in the north. Coastal Shanghai in central China is China's the largest city and the country industrial and commercial center. It has a population of over 15 million people. The genius of the CCP today is leading China over a population cliff that is placing the future of Han ethnicity in question.

Regions

China dominates eastern Asia. Asia is the largest continent and China occupies some one quarter of Asia. This is almost as large an area as all of Europe. As beautifully captured by Chinese artists, the Chinese landscape is marked by dramatic geographical diversity. Topographically, China is characterized by the south western Tibetan highlands where the annual snow melt creates inexhaustible rivers. The northwest is arid and deserts like the Gobi meant that the area has played little role in China's long history. These deserts along with Tibetan mountains have helped to isolate China--penetrated only by a trickle of trade over the Silk Road.

Hydrology

China was gifted with one f the best hydrological systems in the world. The Tibetan highlands are the source of China's water. China's great rivers flow the Tibetan highlands east carving out the country's dramatic landscape before flowing into into the Pacific Ocean. The two most important of these rivers are the Yellow (Huang He) and Yangtze Rivers--one of the great river valley systems that gave birth to human civilization. These and other rivers provides life creating water and rich alluvial soil needed to support China's prodigious agricultural productivity as Pearl Buck described it--'the good earth'. The land between these two great rivers were the core of China and explain the term Middle Kingdom. China has engineered a remarkable economic change since the 1970s. Little attention, however, has been given to environmental issues by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which seized control of the country (1948). China today has gleaming cities and first-class infrastructure, but a severe and worsening water crisis. And no know where is this more notable than the Yellow River. The Yellow River flow is characterized by high sediment loads which made agriculture so productive. There are also seasonal variations basically the spring flow from the snow melt and monsoons. Tragically, there has been a significantly reduced flow in recent decades due to both climate change and even more importantly extensive water usage. Today the Yellow River sometimes drys up before reaching the sea. Human activities, including water diversion for irrigation, urban needs and industry heavily impact its flow, leading to reduced water volume and dramatic changes to its delta. Not only has the Yellow River being depleted, but China had tapped into into ground water which has taken eons to develop. This had mean that drilling had had to go far deeper than ever before. But even worse, most of China's ground water is seriously polluted. There is no way to refill aquifers or to clean the polluted ground water. One observable result is that hundreds of smaller Chinese rivers no longer exist. The Grand Canal (大运河) built during the medieval created a system of interconnected man-made waterways linking the major rivers (especially the Yellow and Yangtze) connecting the hungry north with the food producing south. The Grand Canal was a vital waterborne transport system through the heart of the Middle Kingdom, a major factor in China's economic success. While China is best known for the Great Wall, the Grand Canal is of far greater significance. It is the longest artificial waterway in the world. The water in the Chinese rivers and feeding the Grand Canal descends as part of a three-step staircase. The first step is the towering Tibetan highland mountainous of the southeast. The second step is the high plateau. The third step is the plains and lowlands in the east and southeast. occupying over 10 percent of China's land. China's growing need for water has caused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to dam rivers in the Tibetan Highlands and redirect the water flow from South and Southeast Asia and into arid areas of China. The agriculturist productive created China's huge population, for most of history the most populace country.

Economic Impact

For much of history, China has been the leading, most productive civilization. Europeans like Marco Polo were amazed when they first glimpsed China. It was by far the world's richest civilizations--although they never developed capitalism. China was an engine for technological generation--although they never developed science. Much if the technology that led to the Industrial Revolution in the West originated in China. The primary reason for these advances was the country's prodigious agricultural productivity. (The same reason that made France so important in the West.) One has to understand that for most of the history of civilization, economies and the creation of wealth was based in agriculture. The Industrial Revolution changed this , but is a very recent development, beginning in one country alone (mid-18th century). It did not gave a major impact and only in a handful of countries--and China was not one of them (19th century).

Climate

China's climate adds to the east-west disparity. The north and west is extremely dry. The south and east. The warmer highly productive south has tropical monsoons providing additional water to support agriculture. All of this explains why most of the population lives in south and east.

Resources

Cities

China incredibly has more than 50 cities with populations of half a million or more and some 25 with a million or more. The capital city, Beijing, is in the north. Coastal Shanghai in central China is China's the largest city and the country industrial and commercial center. It has a population of over 15 million people. The genius of the CCP today is leading China over a population cliff that is placing the future of Han ethnicity in question.

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Created: 4:56 AM 2/10/2025
Last updated: 6:04 PM 12/15/2025