America's Influence on Chinese Workers

Industry and Mining in China

China has a number of different industries that are sending the country into a global leader of many products. A few that I will touch on will be the aluminum, steel and paper industries.

To Be Continued. (Still working on this one)

Rubber Production

Almost half of the world's rubber comes from China, however, China is also the world's largest consumer of rubber. The trend to moving to making their own rubber has allowed China to be self sufficient, but it also comes at a high cost. Rubber is made from the sap of rubber trees, so to produce all the rubber that they do, China has implemented state-run farms to grow rubber tress in the South China forest, mostly in Yunnan. To do this, native forrest have been cut down and replaced by rubber trees. This is a problem because not only are native flora being destroyed, but so are the homes of many native species, such as White Cheeked Gibbons and Asian elephants,
that are only found in the South China forests.

Rice Production

China produces the most rice in the world. Most rice grown in China can be found in the Yangtze River Basin. Rice is grown in wetland areas and requires a lot of labor to grow and harvest it. The Chinese have been cultivating rice for centuries, and they have created rice patties that spread for miles and defy the terrane.

Rice fields found in valleys are created on terraces on the hill sides. Although rice farming may be an old trade, the ingenuity of the Chinese farmers allows them to maximize their growing space. 

Biomes of China

Map of China's Biomes

China has a wide variety of biomes. The map above shows the biomes that are found in China. Southern China, specifically the province of Yunnan, is interesting because you find tropical biomes in a nontropical area. The rainforest is created farther north by monsoon rainclouds moving into the valleys and creating a tropical climate in the area. Southern and Eastern China's biomes allow for farming and these areas produce many crops, such as rice, wheat and corn. Western China is a unique mix of grassland, mountain and dessert biomes. 

Urban Areas of China

Since we can see from the elevation map that many people are located on the eastern side of China, it is important to know a few of the most populated areas of China.

The Current Hong Kong Skyline

Hong Kong
Situated on the edge of the South China Sea, Hong Kong was once a British colony, but now is part of Mainland China. More than seven million people inhabit Hong Kong, and it is one of the most influential business cities in the world. The city is changing at an incredible rate and an example of this is the Hong Kong skyline which has seen a drastic change over the past 50 years. The image below shows the change that has occurred in the past 40 years to the Hong Kong Skyline. Through this image, it is possible to see just how the city has grown to be in its powerful state of present day.

Beijing
Beijing is the capital of China and located in Northern China near the Yellow Sea. It is the political center of China, and houses many of the state-owned companies of the country. Along with being a political center of China, Beijing is also a cultural center of China. You can find many cultural sites important to China in Beijing, such as The Great Wall, The Forbidden City and The Grand Canal as well as others. The municipality of Beijing is home to more than 20 million people


Shanghai

Shanghai is also a municipality of China and has the largest population in China and the world with more than 25 million people inhabiting the area. Shanghai is situated on the Yangtze River Delta. The location of Shanghai allows it to be a major shipping city and has the world's largest shipping port.

Elevations of China

Using Google Earth, I created a map of the elevations of China. China has some of the highest mountains in the world. The Himalayans are located in the Western region of China. From the map we can see that as you move across the country from the Pacific Ocean, the elevation increases. The elevation lines increase by 500 meters.

Google Maps Image of the Elevations of China. The farthest right line(purple) is 500 meters and each line moving to the left increase by 500 meters. 

When looking at a population density map, we can see that the lower the elevation, the more the population. This is due to the higher elevations being harder to live in and grow food.