Your destination: China’s mountain

China’s surface slopes down from west to east in a four step staircase. The top of the staircase is the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, with an average elevation of more than 4,000 meters and know as the roof of the world. The Qinghai Tibet Plateau is composed of rows of snow capped peaks and glaciers. The major mountain ranges are the Kunlun, Gangdise and Himalayas.

The second step consists of the Inner Mongolia, Loess and Yunnan Guizhou plateaus, and the Tarim, Junggar and Sichuan basins, on an altitude of 1,000 – 2,000 meters.

The third step, about 500 – 1,000 meters in elevation, begins at the line from the Greater Hinggan, Taihang, Wushan and Xuefeng mountain range eastward to the sea coast.

To the east of the third step the shallow waters of the continental shelf, an extension of the land into the ocean, form the fourth step of the staircase. The depth of the water here is less than 200 meters.

Great quantities of mud and sand have been carried here by the rivers.

China’s many mountains are well known throughout the world.