Human Environment, Interaction, and Movement Location, Region

Location, Region, and
Place
China is located in southeastern Asia. Its capital, Beijing, is
located at 39 degrees east latitude, 116 degrees north longitude.
China’s surrounding countries are Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Laos,
Cambodia, North Korea and Russia. The surrounding seas are the
Yellow Sea, East China Sea and the South China Sea.
The climate in China has many variations. The climate can
be as cold as the arctic or as hot as a country near the equator. Much
of western China is mountains or deserts. Because western China is
covered in deserts and mountains, eastern China is where most people live.
The Huang He River or the Yellow River causes many
floods in the south. After all these tragic floods, the Huang He River was nicknamed “China’s Sorrow.” Also, the Himalayan Mountain Range extends to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau which is nicknamed the “Roof of the World.”
Major cities in China are Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.
The current population in China is about 1.3 billion people which
takes place as the world’s largest population. China’s government is
controlled by the Communist Party. Millions of people are part of
the Communist Party making up about five percent of China’s population. There are four parties in the Communist Party: the National
Party Congress, the Central Committee, Political Bureau and the
Secretariat.
Human Environment,
Interaction, and Movement
People
China has the second most exports in the World Trade
Organization. China exports steel, iron, medical equipment, toys,
shoes and furniture. In the factories, clothing, toys, plastic
products and electronics are made. Most of the pollution results
from cars, factories and ships. In 2008, demand for China’s
exports grew and caused very much pollution. Because more
factories became active, more ships and boats are being sent and
arriving that all contribute to the pollution.
People in China travel by many ways like in the United
States such as busses, foot, bicycles, train, motorcycle and
pedicabs or rickshaws. Citizens in the rural areas travel and carry
objects in a different way. People there use wagons or carts hauled
by people, donkeys, mules or oxen. China has an enormous
structure of roads. The United States is the only country that has a
larger structure of roads than China.
Two major airports in China are the Beijing International
Airport and Pudong International Airport in Shanghai. Because
Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, Terminal 3 was built
in Beijing International Airport which resulted in the biggest
building in the world.
This is Beijing International Airport which includes the
largest building in the world, Terminal 3.
People are farming in the Yangtze River Valley. This
specific area is for rice, but in this area wheat is the
main crop.
A major language in China is standard Chinese or also called
Mandarin. Mandarin is the name that the Americans gave the
language and Putonghua is the official name in Chinese. People
speak different languages depending on the province where they
live. For example, the people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese.
Major religions in China are Taoism, Buddhism and
Confucianism. A belief is that the people of China included parts of
all three religions into their own. Taoism is a religion that was
created in China and founded by Lao Zi. Taoism has a belief to have
peace and harmony with nature and the world. Confucianism has
beliefs that the educated have the right to rule the common people,
men can rule women, and parents can rule their children. Also,
people who are members of Confucianism should have much
respect for their ancestors from the past. Another popular religion in
China, Buddhism, was founded by Siddhartha Gautama. In
Buddhism, the belief is that in order to have peace, one must end
suffering by following the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path
and the Middle Way.
Around half of the population in China are farmers. Because
of the increasing number of farmers, more technology and better
fertilizer is needed. Although one-tenth of the land is suitable for
farming, China leads the world in producing many kinds of crops.
Also, another major occupation is working in factories. The
factories produce clothes, leather items, shoes, food, drinks, wood
and paper.
The Great Wall of
China
The Great Wall of China is the longest structure in the whole
wide world. It stretches a massive 5,500 miles. Sections of the Great
Wall of China have broken down in past years, some of which were
rebuilt. The Great Wall of China in the east has granite blocks as part
of its structure. The sides are made of bricks or stone. The top has
bricks cemented by mortar and the inside of the wall is filled with
mud or dirt that has hardened over the years. Because western China
is composed of mostly deserts and mountains, the Great Wall of
China was not built with granite, stone or bricks. Instead the workers
used moistened earth that has dried over time.
Records that were written show that Emperor Shi Huangdi,
part of the Qin dynasty, was destined to become the first ruler. The
first ruler was supposed to build a big and great wall. When the Ming
dynasty began, most of the walls had broken down. Because of the
Mongolian attacks, they were forced to rebuild the wall for defense.
Most of the wall that was built during the Ming dynasty in 1368
remains today. However, the wall did not provide much protection
from major attacks, just the minor ones.
In the 1960’s the Great Wall of China was purposely
destroyed due to the Cultural Revolution. Later in the 1980’s, the
Chinese government rebuilt sections of the Great Wall of China that
attracted many tourists. Today the wall does not stand for defensive
purposes, but as a tourist attraction for people around the world.
Works Cited
China
"Beijing." World Book Online InfoFinder. World Book, 2013.
Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
"China." CultureGrams Kids Edition. ProQuest, 2013. Web. 2
Dec 2013.
"China." CultureGrams Online Edition. ProQuest, 2013. Web. 12
Nov 2013.
"China." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica
Online Library Edition.
Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
"China." World Book Online InfoFinder. World Book, 2013.
Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
"Great Wall of China." World Book Online InfoFinder. World
Book, 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Pearson, John. "China." Kids Search. Kids Search, n.d. Web.
Stein , Conrad. Hong Kong. Regensteiner Publishing Enterprises,
Inc., 1985. Print.
Today, the Great Wall of China is not used for
protection and defense. Instead it is used to attract
many tourists.
Gabriel Reyes