Does china have rain forests

Answer 1

The Shu-ching, a classic of traditional history compiled around the fifth century B.C., mentions how the ruler Shun (2255-2206BC) went every five years on a pilgrimage to the four mountains that defined the limits of his realm. Offering a sacrifice on the summit of each mountain, he began a tradition that has lasted to the present age (it is interesting to note that the Chinese phrase for pilgrimage - ch' ao-shan chin-hsiang - means 'paying one's respect to a mountain'). While only one of these mountains, Tai Shan (originally called Tai Tsung), was referred to by name in the Shu-ching, from other sources we learn that the following five mountains were highly venerated by the Taoists in ancient times:

• Tai Shan, Taoist mountain of the east, Shandong province, 1545 meters.
• Heng Shan Bei, Taoist mountain of the north, Shanxi province, 2017 meters.
• Hua Shan, Taoist mountain of the west, Shanxi province, 1997 meters.
• Heng Shan Nan, Taoist mountain of the south, Hunan province, 1290 meters.
• Song Shan, Taoist mountain of the center, Henan province, 1494 meters.

These mountains were not, however, the only or even the most important of the Taoist sacred peaks. Writing in Pilgrims and Sacred Sites in China (listed in the bibliography under Naquin), John Lagerwey comments: "A note on what is meant by "Taoist mountain" is perhaps in order here. It is traditional to regard the Five Peaks (wu-yueh) as Taoist, in contrast with the "four most famous (Buddhist) mountains" (ssu-ta ming shan). While both history and cosmology can be called on to justify this identification of the Five Peaks with Taoism, these mountains already constituted a distinct group in the Former Han dynasty before Taoism had taken on an organized ecclesiastical form, and it is only from the late sixth century on that Taoists made a concerted effort to claim these mountains as theirs. The Taoists were never entirely successful in pressing this claim, and of the five only Hua Shan and T'ai Shan, albeit in a very different manner, play a significant and ongoing role in Taoist religious history. Perhaps even more to the point, even these two mountains are nowhere near as important to Taoist history as are such mountains as Mao Shan and Lung-hu Shan, centers, respectively, of Shang-ch'ing and Cheng-i Taoism. Together with Ko-tsao Shan (in Kiangsi), the ordination center of Ling-pao Taoism, these mountains constituted the "tripod" on which officially recognized forms of Taoism rested from the early twelfth century on."

Answer 2

China has about 33,000 square kilometres of glacier cover over a land area of 9,560,939 square kilometres.

Thus, about0.3 percent of China’s land area is covered by glaciers, which given the country’s high relief and cold temperatures is very small, due to the extremely dry winters across much of the country which limits snowfall. These glaciers are found chielfy in Xinjiang, Tibet and western Sichuan, with a few extensions into the Kunlun Shan and the Qilian Shan of western Gansu.

Illustrating how dry the winters are, even in the Qilian Shan at 40˚N the snow line at 5,000 metres or 16,400 feet is higher than at the equator, where it is around 4,600 metres. In the Kunlun Shan and parts of western Tibet it exceeds 6,000 metres or 19,700 feet, this being the second highest snow line in the world after the Llullaillaco in the Desert Andes.

Eastern China, it must be noted, has no glaciers whatsoever even in the extremely cold Changbai and Khingan Mountains. This is because the winters are so dry that only around 0.25 metres (10 inches) of snow falls at low elevations - compare that with 2.25 metres of snow at Montreal in the same latitude of North America. As a result, despite extreme cold estimated to reach -50˚C or -58˚F, the light snow melts long before summer proper begins. In fact, Manchuria had no glaciers due to extreme aridity even during the coldest periods of the Pleistocene, whereas corresponding latitudes of North America were completely covered in thick ice sheets, which super-humid Mount Tate and Mount Tsuruga in Toyama Prefecture of Japan retain small glaciers today due to their immense snowfall of around 20 metres (790 inches).

Answer 3

Yes, China does have rainforests in regions such as Yunnan and Hainan. These rainforests are known for their high biodiversity and unique species of plants and animals. However, they are under threat due to deforestation and human activities.

Answer 4

Yes China does have a few. One of them is the one just south of the Himalaya mountains.

Answer 5

yes, most of china's surface is covered in rivers, mountains and especially rainforests