Natural Features Of Geography Essay

The natural features of geography protected the Chinese and influenced the way they lived through rivers that provided rich soil for growing crops, mountainous regions providing protection/isolation and the growth of a new crop to China, deserts veering off invaders and a major ocean border. The first natural feature of geography that influenced the Chinese way of life is the Yellow River, or Huang He, a river that travelled across the agricultural land of China, collecting rich and fertile soil along the way. This soil, loess, would sink to the riverbed, creating a thick layer of silt that would allow Chinese people to grow staple foods and catch fish. In the North the staple was wheat and in the south, rice. An example of the Yellow River influencing the way the Chinese people lived is in the map in source 1, drawn by cartographer Cha Yun in 1861-1875, as it shows the river with roots coming out in all directions of the land, conveying how the river provided food and life to the Chinese people. The Tibetan plateau, a mountainous and

With an altitude of 4500m, the Tibetan Plateau provided protection and isolation from invaders and influences from the western world. Another natural geographic feature that protected the Chinese was the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts. The Gobi desert was a very dry area with limited rainfall; it would make many groups of invaders too afraid to cross it, or die along the way. The Taklamakan desert included both extremes of climate, being hot during the day and extremely cold during the night. China was bordered on the east by the broad Pacific Ocean, providing food and protection from invading ships. Therefore there were many natural geographical features that protected the Chinese and influenced the way they lived including, the Yellow River, the Tibetan Plateau, and, the Gobi and Taklamakan