Geography of Shaanxi Province

Shaanxi Province is situated in the center of China; in fact, the exact geographical center of China is located in the province's Shaanxi in tile middle reaches of the Yellow River in the eastern part of northwest China。Shaanxi has a varied terrain. It is divided into three natural areas (north to south): the Northern Plateau, the Guanzhong Plain, and the
Qinba Mountainous Region. 1) The Northern Shaanxi Plateau is the middle part of the Loess Plateau, comprising the whole of northern Shaanxi. 2) The Guanzhong Plain, also known as the Weihe Plain or the Guanzhong Basin, is 30-80 km. by 300 km. and crossed by the Weihe and its tributaries, the Jinghe and Beiluo rivers. With fertile soil, abundant farm produce, large population and convenient communications, the area is one of the country's important industrial-agricultural centers. 3) The Southern Shaanxi Mountain Area, also known as the Qinba Mountain Area, includes the Qinling and Daba ranges and the Hanshui Valleyland between them. Rising more than 2,000 meters above sea level, the Qinling range is the major watershed of the Yellow and Yangtze River valleys and an important geographical divide between northern and southern China. Shaanxi has a continental monsoonal climate, with great difference between the areas north and south of the Qinling range. Shaanxi has a continental climate with distinctive four seasons. The province is 1,000 kilometers long from north to south and 360 kilometers wide from east to west. In all, Shaanxi Province covers an area of 205,600 square kilometers. The population of Shaanxi Province is 29,309 million people. Most of Shaanxi's population lives in the Weihe Plain and the Hanshui Valleyland.


Culture analyse: Xi'an is its historical center. Emperors chose Xi'an as their capital partly because of its fertile land and sufficient water supply and partly because it was militarily formidable because of the mountains that skirted it .The local dialect of Xi'an and the Guanzhong Plain is reflective of the rhythm and timbre of archaic Chinese. Weddings, funerals, celebrations, diet, and social etiquette are all evocative of the social mores and traditions of the dynasties of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang.