China’s Main Rivers:

The Yellow River and the Yangtze

Objective: By the end of today’s lesson you should

be able to list the two major rivers in China, as well as their importance.

China’s GeographyYellow River

• The two major rivers of China are the Yellow River: Huang He and the Yangtze River: Chang Jiang.– The Huang He, or Yellow River, gets its

name from the rich yellow soil it carries as it flows across China.

– It was also called “China’s sorrow” because when it over-flooded, many people drowned and homes were destroyed.

– It helped make the soil fertile by leaving behind a rich layer of topsoil.

Residents survey the damage to houses that collapsed during the flooding in

Guangan.

To combat the flooding, the Chinese have built dams and dikes to control the flooding

China’s Geography

Yangtze River

• The Chang Jiang or Yangtze River also brings rich topsoil to it’s river valley which helped in farming.

• Outside it’s river valleys, only one-tenth of China’s land can be farmed because mountains and deserts cover most of it’s land.

• The Himalaya close off China to the southwest.

• The Kunlun Shan and Tian Shan Mountains close off China’s western border.

• The Gobi Desert spreads east from the mountains.

China’s Geography• Mountains and deserts

shaped Chinese history because they were like a wall which separated China from most other people.

• China’s first civilization developed along the Huang He (Yellow) River Valley.

Chinese Society• China has the largest population in the

world. • Due to their population, an

overwhelming amount of resources and goods are consumed.

• In an effort to conserve resources, China has enacted the “one child rule.” – It is the ONLY country in the world where

the death rate exceeds the birth rate

The Silk Road

• Silk was the most valuable trade product.

• Most of it reached southwest Asia by way of a 4,000 mile trade route known as the Silk Road