The Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau or Yungui Plateau () is a
highland region
Highland ( gd, A' Ghàidhealtachd, ; sco, Hieland) is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It share ...
located in
southwest China
Southwest China () is a region in the south of the People's Republic of China.
Geography
Southwest China is a rugged and mountainous region, transitioning between the Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese coastal hills (东南丘陵) and ...
. The region is primarily spread over the
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
of
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
and
Guizhou
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...
. In the southwest, the Yungui is a true plateau with relatively flatter highland areas, while in the northeast, the Yungui is a generally mountainous area of rolling hills, gorges, and
karst topography
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
.
Geography
Definition
Under the strictest definition, the Yungui Plateau stretches from the
Red River Fault
The Red River Fault or Song Hong Fault ( vi, Đới Đứt Gãy Sông Hồng) is a major fault in Yunnan, China and Vietnam which accommodates continental China's (Yangtze Plate) southward movement It is coupled with that of the Sagaing Fault in ...
in Yunnan in the southwest to the
Wuling Mountains
The Wuling Mountains () are a mountain range located in Central China, running from Chongqing Municipality and East Guizhou to West Hunan. They are home to many ethnic groups, including as the Tujia, Han, Miao, Dong, and Bai.
Wulingyuan
T ...
in Hunan in the northeast.
This plateau region includes most of eastern Yunnan and most of Guizhou. It is common, however, for much of the rest of Yunnan and surrounding highland areas to be referred to as part of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau even where there are no plateau-like characteristics.
Under the broader definition of the Yungui Plateau, the provinces would include not only Yunnan and Guizhou but also
Gulin County
Gulin County ()is a county in the south of Sichuan Province, China, bordering Guizhou
Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiya ...
and the southernmost extremes of
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
, eastern
Chongqing
Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
, southwestern
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
, western
Hunan
Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...
, and northwestern
Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
.
Human geography
Located in
Southwest China
Southwest China () is a region in the south of the People's Republic of China.
Geography
Southwest China is a rugged and mountainous region, transitioning between the Tibetan Plateau to the west and the Chinese coastal hills (东南丘陵) and ...
, the Yungui Plateau separates the
Sichuan Basin
The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributa ...
from
South China
South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...
. The area has long been considered a backwater region of China.
Historically, the plateau has been home to many
minority peoples who have traditionally engaged in intensive agriculture along hills and in valleys. Today, the Yungui region is one of the most economically depressed areas of China and both Guizhou and Yunnan provinces are in the bottom three in rankings for the
Human Development Index in China. Many residents on the Yungui Plateau live in a traditional fashion in rural villages.
Major cities on the Yungui Plateau include
Kunming
Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...
,
Guiyang
Guiyang (; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), historically rendered as Kweiyang, is the capital of Guizhou province of the People's Republic of China. It is located in the center of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, ...
, and
Zunyi
Zunyi () is a prefecture-level city in northern Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, situated between the provincial capital Guiyang to the south and Chongqing to the north, also bordering Sichuan to the northwest. Along with Guiyang an ...
. The Yungui Plateau is home to many extreme engineering feats where railways and expressways have been built to traverse the challenging terrain. The
world's highest bridge, the
Beipanjiang Bridge, is located on the Yunnan-Guizhou border in the heart of the plateau.
Physical geography
The Yungui Plateau is a large mountainous region with rugged terrain including steep karst peaks and deep gorges. The plateau is buttressed by the large
Hengduan Mountains to the northwest and by lowland regions to the north, east, and southeast. Other major mountain ranges cross or surround portions of the Yungui Plateau. The
Wumeng Mountains and
Wulian Feng
The Wulian Feng () are a mountain range in Yunnan, China, forming the northwest edge of the Yungui Plateau. The mountains are more of an escarpment than a true mountain range, towering above the right bank of the Jinsha River as it enters the ...
form a barrier through north-central Yungui along the
Jinsha (Upper
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
) River. To the north, the
Dalou Mountains
The Dalou Mountains (} are a range of limestone mountains running north east to south west across the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau spanning Guizhou and Sichuan Provinces, People's Republic of China. At , Mount Jinfo (金佛山) in Nanchuan District, ...
run along the Yungui's edge with the Sichuan Basin. The
Wuling Mountains
The Wuling Mountains () are a mountain range located in Central China, running from Chongqing Municipality and East Guizhou to West Hunan. They are home to many ethnic groups, including as the Tujia, Han, Miao, Dong, and Bai.
Wulingyuan
T ...
in the northeast form a transitional terrain between the plateau and the
Yangtze Plain
The Yangtze Plain (Chinese: 長江中下游平原/长江中下游平原; Wade-Giles: Ch'ang Chiang P'ing-yüan; Pinyin: Chang Jiang Pingyuan) is made up of a series of alluvial plains of along the Yangtze River and its major tributaries.
The Ya ...
. In the south, the
Miao Range steps down to the karst hills of South China. Across the
Red River to the southwest, the
Ailao Mountains
The Ailao Mountains (; Hani: ''Hhaqlol haolgaoq'') are located in Yunnan, China. The Ailao Mountain Nature Reserve Ailao or Ai Lao may refer to:
* Ailao Mountains, Yunnan, China
* 'Ailao, a traditional Samoan dance, a precursor to the Taualuga
* ...
form a definitive barrier.
The high mountain peaks of Eastern
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
are the source of many of
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
's great rivers, which flow southerly towards the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau. The rivers split around the plateau, with the
Salween
, ''Mae Nam Salawin'' (
, name_etymology =
, image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar
, map ...
and
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...
keeping south and the
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
turning northeast. Most of the western Yungui Plateau is drained by the
Nanpan and
Beipan Rivers, both headwaters of the
Pearl River
The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
. The eastern Yungui Plateau is largely drained by the
Wu River, a tributary of the Yangtze.
Major lakes have formed in the Yunnan portions of the Yungui Plateau, including
Dian Chi and
Fuxian Lake
Fuxian Lake () stretches out through Chengjiang, Jiangchuan and Huaning Counties in Yunnan Province, spanning an area of 212 square kilometers. The lake is ranked third-largest in Yunnan, after Dian Lake and Erhai Lake. Also the deepest lake ...
.
Erhai Lake
Erhai or Er Lake (), is an alpine fault lake in Yunnan province, China. Erhai was also known as Yeyuze () or Kunming Lake () in ancient times.
Etymology
The character "洱" (er) does not have the same meaning as ear (耳). During the Han to Tan ...
is located on the plateau's western edge at the southern base of the Hengduan Mountains.
Climate and ecology
The climate gradually transitions from drier in the southwest to rainier in the northeast. In east-central Yunnan, parts of the Yungui Plateau experience a
semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
. In most of Guizhou, the climate is classified as
humid subtropical
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
. The Yungui Plateau is covered by
subtropical evergreen forests for much of its Yunnan portions and by
mixed broadleaf forests for the Guizhou portions.
Footnotes
External links
Expansion of the Chinese Paddy Rice to the Yannan-Guizhou Plateau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau
Plateaus of China
Landforms of Yunnan
Landforms of Guizhou