1. Geography of China’s River Valleys

2. Natural Barriers
people in ancient China had no knowledge of India, Greece, Rome, or Egypt because of the mountains, deserts, and seas that separated them from other lands
protection from invaders less trade and communication
they thought they lived in the center of the world, so they called themselves the Middle Kingdom
China’s first farming villages formed along river banks because of the rich topsoil caused by flooding

3. Eastern China:
* a plain built up from soil deposits from the Huang River
* has a short, intense summer rainy season caused by monsoons
* doesn’t get much rain the rest of the year, which causes a very
dry climate
Northern China
* desert (Gobi)
Western China
* desert (Taklimakan)
South and Southeast China
* has a warm, wet climate
* monsoons bring heavy rains from March to September
* light rains fall for the rest of the year
Southwest China
* Himalayan Mountains
* Plateau of Tibet: plateau – mostly flat area of high elevation

4. the first civilizations began along the Huang River (Yellow River), which is the second-longest river in China
it is known as the “Yellow” River due to its yellow-brown color caused by loess, which is soil carried by the river
villages later spread south to the wetter land along the Chang, China’s longest river
the Chinese grow grain called millet in the fertile soil and have grown it for thousands of years
the Huang River is also known as “China’s Sorrow” because of its destructive floods, which drown thousands of people and cut new paths in the land

5. Dragons
dragons symbolized good luck and were thought to be responsible for the rains that made fields fertile
the people would have dragon rain ceremonies, which date back as far as 500 B.C.
dragons were used to describe rivers
* limbs: smaller streams
* body: main river
* mouth: delta