Transcript Yangtze River (Chang) Longest River in Asia—begins in the Plateau

The Great Wall
Photo taken in 1907
Photo taken in 2004
•Originally built in the Qin
Dynasty (220-206 BC)
•Little of that earthen wall remains
•Its walls were improved,
extended, and added in successive
dynasties from 206 BC-1297 AD
•During the Ming Dynasty (1449
AD), the parts of the wall that are
most elaborate and fortified were
constructed to keep out Mongol
invaders from the North.
•1 million workers died building
the Great Wall
•Total length of all parts is
estimated to exceed 5,500 miles
(if built in North America, it
would stretch from Florida to
Alaska!)
Great Wall
sections still intact (red)
Yangtze River (Chang)
Longest River in Asia—begins in the Plateau of Tibet and
opens to the China Sea at Shanghai in the east
Western China
Himalayas and Plateau of Tibet
Landscape
Three Gorges Dam
Largest Hydroelectric Plant in the World
•Idea conceived in
1919
•Over 60 years in
planning
•Took 14 years to
build (1994-2008)
•Provides 10% of
all power to China
•Cost $22.5 billion
Three Gorges Dam
Dam is located 1000 miles inland
on the Yangtze River
You can see a lake the dam
has created (to the right)
Yellow River (Huang)
empties just south of Beijing
Coast of
Southern island
of Hainan
Canola fields
of Yunnan
Two Chinas (?)
purple
People’s Republic of China
(PRC)
--Most of the world recognizes
this as CHINA
orange
Republic of China (ROC)
--Most of the world calls this
TAIWAN
However, both countries to this
day believe each is the real
China.
Taiwan
Strait between Taiwan and
mainland China
Satellite image showing rise in
elevation from west to east
Contrasting Taiwan
Rugged rural terrain
Taipei 101 towers over Capital