Mountains and Rivers
2 min readChina is home to many famous mountains，such as the Five Great Mountains，the Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism，and the world-famous Huangshan and Lushan，etc.Mountain areas cover two thirds of the country’s land area.
The spectacular mountain landscapes attract many visitors，climbers and adventurers alike.
The Five Great Mountains refer to Taishan Mountain in Shandong，Hengshan Mountain in Shanxi，Songshan Mountain in Henan，Huashan Mountain in Shaanxi and Hengshan Mountain in Hunan.They are located in central China and named after their cardinal points on the compass.As Buddhists used to build temples on the mountains，over time there appeared the Four Sacred Mountains worshipped by the followers:Wutai in Shanxi，Emei in Sichuan，Jiuhua in Anhui and Putuo in Zhejiang.？Huangshan Mountain in Anhui is famous for its spectacular rocks，odd-shaped pines，hot springs and sea of clouds.Some other mountains，like Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi and Wuyi Mountain in Fujian，are also world-famous.
Of course，China abounds in rivers，too.More than 1，500 rivers drain 1，000 square kilometers or larger areas.More than 2，700 billion cubic meters of water flow along these rivers，
5.8%of the world’s total.Most of the large rivers find their sources in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.As a result，China is rich in waterpower resources，leading the world in hydropower potential，with reserves of 680 million kilowatts.
China’s rivers are categorized as exterior and interior systems.The catchment area for the exterior rivers that empty into the oceans accounts for 64%of the country’s total land area.The Yangtze，Yellow，Heilongjiang，Pearl，Liaohe，Haihe，Huaihe and Lancang rivers flow east，and empty into the Pacific Ocean.The Yarlungzangbo River in Tibet，which flows first east and then south into the Indian Ocean，boasts the Grand Yarlungzangbo Canyon，the largest canyon in the world，504.6 kilometers long and 6，009 meters deep.The Ertix River flows from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the Arctic Ocean.The catchment area for the interior rivers that flow into inland lakes or disappear into deserts or salt marshes makes up 36%of China’s total land area.Its 2，179 kilometers make the Tarim River in southern Xinjiang China’s longest interior river.
In addition to those endowed by nature，China has a famous man-made river the Grand Canal, running from Beijing in the north to Hangzhou in the south. Construction work on the Grand Canal first began as early as in the 5th century BC. With a total length of 1,794 kilometers and a large drainage area, the Grand Canal is the longest as well as the oldest man-made waterway topography in the world.
