Climate
The climate of China is clearly differentiated. The external China, both to the West and to the North (Inner Mongolia) of China propria, has continental climates characterized by average annual temperatures of 5-10 ° C (even lower in the mountains and high-altitude plateaus), strong thermal excursions, generally very low rainfall (200-400 mm per year). The spontaneous vegetation, consequently, varies between more or less arid herbaceous formations, and only in the oases produced by the outcrop of the aquifer or where the melting waters of the snow are conveyed is a stable and relatively dense human settlement possible; Apart from the enhancement resulting from recent mining discoveries, the prevailing economic use in this whole area was pastoralism, nomadic or semi-nomadic.
In the north-eastern region (Manchuria), the low temperatures (annual average below 10 ° C, with rivers freezing for over 6 months) caused by the relatively high latitude tend to rise moving towards the S; the precipitations are relatively abundant, the forest cover is dense on the mountains, agriculture, in the lowland, is flourishing enough to allow a consistent population.
According to localbusinessexplorer, the climate of China propria is instead, as a whole, strongly linked to the monsoon regime; however the influence of the monsoon circulation tends to be limited to the coast and to the flat areas that open up behind it, while it intervenes little in the formation of the climate of the innermost hilly-mountainous regions. More generally, the monsoons affect the water supply, sometimes in the destructive form of typhoons or exceptionally abundant rains, but not on the temperature, and especially in the interior of China propria the climate appears to be rather continental, with strong excursions annual and clear seasonality of the rains. The continentality of the climate is evident, however, also in some of the coastal and sub-coastal regions, and in all the central-northern China proper, the winter temperatures are rather low. More in detail, the northern part of China propria (Shandong, Henan, etc.) has average temperatures just over 0 ° C in the coldest month and annual averages above 10 ° C, but with excursions of 25-35 ° C; rainfall reaches 500 mm, with prevalence in July; winter is dry and long. In the central part of the city (Chang Jiang valley), there is a period of 3 or 4 months with average temperatures below 10 ° C, with annual excursions from 18 to 25 ° C; the rains prevail from April to June and are around 750-1000 mm; frequent winter and spring cyclones; the typhoons arrive with subdued violence. In the southern coastal part (Guangdong, Guangxi etc.), the averages of the coldest month are higher than 10 ° C, the annual excursions are between 12 and 20 ° C, the rainfall is higher than 1000-1500 mm per year, prevalent from June to September, coinciding with the era of typhoons. Yunnan (plateau of 1000-1300 m) has a tropical climate, with an annual average between 14 and 18 ° C, excursions between 12 and 15 ° C, and about 1000 mm of precipitation (during the summer season).
Hydrography
The hydrographic system of the China is, like the relief, closely connected with the Tibetan plateau, where the great Chinese rivers originate. The three main ones are the Huang He (Yellow River) to the North, the Chang Jiang in the center, the Xi Jiang (whose terminal part is known as the Pearl River) in S. The Huang He is born at 4455 m asl and flows into the Gulf of Bohai after a course of about 5200 km, characterized by the yellowish color of the waters due to the löss carried in suspension; it has a basin of over 750,000 km 2and also has some importance as a navigable artery. The Chang Jiang forms with its tributaries an extensive communications network, still (and even more in the past) of great economic importance; it originates at 4500 m asl and extends for 5800 km, bringing the waters drained from a basin of about 1.8 million km 2 to the East China Sea. Navigation for large boats reaches Wuhan, 1000 km from the mouth; the tidal wave goes up to Nanjing. The Xi Jiang, or Western River, originates from the Yunnan plateau and flows into the South China Sea after a course of 2000 km. Among the minor rivers, noteworthy are the Bai He, which bathes the plain of Beijing, the Huai He, which crosses the plain of Henan and the Min Jiang, in Fujian.
The main lakes are found in the Chang Jiang valley, which in periods of flood expands into numerous basins of varying extension, and in the plain between the lower courses of Huang He and Chiang Jiang; important and characteristic are also the basins, often brackish, which dot the arid China Ovest: among these, Lake Lop, in north-eastern Xinjiang.
Biogeography
The vegetation of the China is extraordinarily rich, as well as for the extension of the territory and for the climatic variety, due to the fact that it was little disturbed by the glacial period, thus being able to preserve many ancient strains of plants that have disappeared elsewhere. The variety of wood species and shrubs leads to the formation of highly heterogeneous forest masses. In northern Manchuria and China, apart from conifers, only deciduous trees and shrubs grow, while in the southern provinces, where there are more or less vast rainforests, woods and savannahs of subtropical character, the evergreens are in absolute prevalence. Many of the ornamental plants, especially shrubs, grown in Europe and North America, come from China, such as wisteria, hydrangea, camellia.
The fauna is also rich and varied. No less than 100 families of terrestrial Vertebrates are represented, and the infiltration of numerous purely oriental elements among the dominant Palearctic elements is noteworthy. Among the monkeys, a vervet (Rhinopithecus) is exclusive to the region; among the Carnivores, in addition to the well-known pandas, a canid (Nyctereutes procyonoides) and the irbis (Felis uncia) should be remembered. The elaphode is an exclusive ruminant of China and Tibet. Pheasants are notable in the ornithic fauna. The mandarin duck (Lampronessa galericulata) and the China duck (Anser sinensis) are typical species of the region. Among the Reptiles we must mention an alligator (Alligator sinensis) of the Chang Jiang; among the Amphibians, the giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) should be remembered; among the fishes, the golden fish (Carassius auratus).
