QUESTION 3

Key Terms

Complete the following table of key terms used in the chapter:

Solution

CHAPTER 2

QUESTION 1

Geography and the Economy

a)  What are some of the major geographical similarities between China, the US, and India?

b)  What are some of China’s geographical advantages and disadvantages in terms of economic development?

Solution

• Similar to the US, China has a highly populated large coastline. It has comparable size of landmass when compared to the United States, while significantly larger than India. While similar in population with India, China's geography has about the same amount of arable land per capita as India.

• The United States has far more arable land per capita than China or India, mostly due to smaller population. A significant difference between the geography of China and the United States/India is that China only has one coast; the United States and India have two coasts to both east and west. This makes one side of China's border “land-locked”, exacerbated by the unfavorable terrain (dessert and mountains). This has been advantageous for China's economic development, as the commercial focus of the nation has been focus to the southeastern coast of China.

• This also led to the focus of population in the southeastern corner, which allowed quick urbanization and abundant labor in the region, leading to the developments of large trading cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong. One disadvantageous aspect of China's geography lies in its lack of arable land. Since most of the western half of China is dessert, not so much of this land mass is populated.

• The lack of arable land in the western China makes half of this nation's land mass nearly unpopulated and undeveloped. The lack of arable land also poses a problem in agriculture, since it is difficult for China to remain self-sufficient in food supply; it is the largest food consumer in the world.

QUESTION 2

Climate and Water

a)  Describe some of the distinctive patterns in China’s climate. What are the “four furnaces” of central China? Why is the climate different in central and northern China?

• The climate of China is dominated by the southeast monsoon, which sets the distinctive pattern of wet summers and dry winters. In winter there is little rain or snow anywhere in China. Overall the north is dry while the south is lush and drained by numerous waterways. The difference is reflected in an ancient saying about traditional means of transport: “South, boat; North, horse.”

• The “four furnaces” of central China are Chongqing, Wuhan, Changsha, and Nanjing. In the summer, heating of the entire Asian landmass creates a low-pressure area over central Asia that draws tropical maritime air, saturated with moisture, into southeastern China. As this air encounters mountain ridges and cooler air masses, rains fall abundantly on southern China. As a result, the coast stays relatively cool while the inland basins (were the four furnaces are located) become very hot.

b)  What are the two great rivers in China? Trace them out on the map below:

• The two great rivers are the Yellow River in the north, and the Yangtze (or Yangzi) River to the south.

• The yellow river is one of the great rivers of the world at 4,800 kilometers long.

Source: Naughton, B. J. (2018). The Chinese economy: Adaptation and Growth. MIT Press.

c)  What is the Aihui–Tengchong line? Trace this line out on your map above.

• The Aihui–Tengchong line is an imaginary line that divides the area of China into two roughly equal parts – it marks a frontier between adequate and insufficient water. It stretches from the city of Heihe to Tengchong, diagonally across China.

d)  What are some of the environmental challenges facing China?

• For the most part, the monsoons push over the belt of mountains between the Yangtze and Yellow River basins, providing modest summer rains in northern China. In bad years, however, the monsoons are too weak to cross over to the Yellow River valley and become stuck over the central mountain belt. In those years, north China is struck by drought, while the rains hover over southern China, flooding the countryside. This central mountain range, then, creates another fundamental dividing line between south China, with abundant water, and north China, which is chronically short of water.

• The vast population of northern China creates enormous demands on Yellow River water. It literally runs dry in many years, as withdrawals take all the available water. By contrast, in lush southern China, the Yangtze is only a little bit longer than the Yellow River but carries 20 times as much water. The Yangtze flows abundantly year-round.

• In relation to its enormous population, China is short of arable land, forests, and water, ensuring that China’s environmental problems will be extremely severe. When account is taken of the highly uneven distribution of resources and

population—especially the scarcity of water in the north and west—it is clear that enormous problems of environmental degradation challenge China.

QUESTION 3

Map Exercise

a)  Print out the following map and pencil in China’s provinces, autonomous regions, and   municipalities with provincial rank and any Special Administrative Regions (SAR). Use Figure 2.3 as your guide.

Source:www.mapsopensource.com

b)  Practice your recollection by completing the online China map quiz at:

http://lizardpoint.com/geography/china-quiz.php.

Keep practicing until you can score at least 50 points without having to consult the map. On the midterm exam you should be able to label correctly on a blank map at least 10 of the provinces, autonomous regions, and provincial-status municipalities.