Evolution of Culture

The Chinese civilization can be traced back to the Neolithic age. It evolved on the banks
of both, the Yellow river and the Yangtze river valleys. Over a period of time, many
dynasties flourished in China. Following is a list of a few notable ones.

Xia Dynasty 2100 - 1600 B.C.

Shang Dynasty 1700 - 1046 B.C.

Zhou Dynasty 1046 - 256 B.C.

Qin Dynasty 221 - 206 B.C.

Han Dynasty 202 B.C. - 220 A.D.

Sui Dynasty 589 - 618 A.D.

Tang Dynasty 618 - 907 A.D.

Yuan Dynasty 1271 - 1368 A.D

Ming Dynasty 1368 - 1644 A.D.

Qing Dynasty 1644 - 1911 A.D.

Though historical records inform us about the existence of the Xia dynasty, the
documented history of China can be found from the period of the Shang dynasty. During
the Zhou period, the kingdom fabricated into six separate states, which went to war with
each other. Qin Shi Huang of Qindynasty defeated Zhou dynasty, and brought the
warlords of the six fighting states together to build the very first Chinese empire. The
successive dynasties laid down a strong foundation for bureaucratic systems and
management. This enabled the future Emperors to exercise control over unified China.
 Arts

• The Chinese traditional arts represent the country's rich heritage. Since the Neolithic
period, arts have been prevalent in the country.

• In ancient times, artifacts made of jade, and pottery formed the crux of Chinese arts.

• Bronze was introduced only during the Shang dynasty.

• Chinese porcelain (a form of ceramic ware which is famous worldwide) was used
during the Imperial era.

• With the advent of this era, performing arts like theater and dance were introduced in
China.

• The rule of Yuan dynasty brought in a remarkable phase of Chinese culture, marked
by great paintings of Zhao Mengfu, and the beginning of Chinese opera.

• Many musical instruments were also played in the ancient period.

• Many Chinese art forms were influenced by Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.

• Motifs and designs of birds, flowers, butterflies, dragons, phoenixes, etc. in arts,
depicted the inherent liking for nature among the Chinese people.

• Under the rule of the Zhou dynasty, it was said that a student needed to master the Six
Arts (liù yì in Chinese) for his all-round development, which included rites, music,
archery, chariot racing, calligraphy, and mathematics.

• Apart from these, pottery, painting, sculpture, folk arts, paper craft, martial arts, and
metal arts were amongst the diverse art forms that were practiced in ancient China.
 Architecture

• Ancient Chinese architecture is a magnificent and a splendid aspect of Chinese

culture.

• The Grand Canal, which was formed by connecting different river systems during
the Sui dynasty, is a man-made wonder.

• Even the Great Wall of China that was completed during reign of the Ming dynasty is
an architectural wonder of the world.

• The Imperial Mausoleum (built by thousands of architects) is another fine example

that showcases the grandeur of royal life, and labors of the common Chinese people in
the ancient times.

• Many beautiful imperial gardens were built during the Tang period.

• The ancient Chinese architecture was influenced by Taoism, which stressed on

balance or symmetry. The houses in this period had long pillars and curved roofs.

• With the introduction of Buddhism, the artistic sensibilities shifted from Taoism and
Chinese folk religion to Buddhism. Big pagoda-style houses came up as a result of
transition.

• Later on, a variety of styles and structures were fused in the pagoda architecture.

• The Forbidden City, a stunningly beautiful imperial palace, was built during
the Ming period.

• Emperors from different ruling dynasties built varied styles of imperial and summer
palaces. These palaces, built on the sides of hills and mountains, boast of rich
architectural excellence that prevailed in ancient China.

• Since the number nine was regarded lucky, the structures were designed in such a
way that they had nine sections, and the size of each section was in multiples of nine.

• Dragon and phoenix were very important mythical beings in Chinese mythology. The
palace and temple walls were embellished with dragon and phoenix motifs, believed
to be a representation of the emperors themselves.
 Food and Beverages

• In China, millet and rice were harvested around the fourth and fifth millennium B.C.
Rice has been the staple food in ancient China since 5000 B.C. Wine, made out of rice,
was also very popular.

• The kind of food that the people of ancient China consumed, depended on their
geographical location.

• The northern people prepared foods with flavor of garlic and vinegar along with oil,
whereas the southern Chinese dishes were more spicy, and cooked with chili and
peppers.

• The Chinese also ate fish, chicken, pork, and meat. Their diet included noodles,
soybean, and vegetables such as cabbage, peas, beans, bamboo shoots, etc.

• It is interesting to note that the shortage of sources of fuel prompted people to cut food
into fine pieces for quick cooking.

• The essence of Chinese food was its color, aroma, and flavor along with the nutritional
value.

• The Chinese also believed in the medicinal importance of food. This formed the very
basis of traditional Chinese medicine.

• One of the most popular beverages in ancient China was tea. Its invention is credited
to the Zhou dynasty, according to Erya, an ancient Chinese dictionary.

• The Chinese people had certain rules for eating. Food was consumed while being
seated in a particular order. For example, men were seated first, followed by women,
and finally, children.
 Festivals

• Traditional Chinese festivals like the Chinese New Year and the Dragon Boat
Festival have been celebrated since the ancient times.

• The Chinese New Year begins on the first day of the first month, according to the
lunisolar Chinese calendar. Legend has it that the festival started with a fight
against Nian (a mythical beast).

• The ancient Chinese had a belief that Nian will not attack them, if food was offered to
it. Since then, they started keeping food outside their house entrances on the first day of
the festival.
• People prayed to the God of wealth with the hope that He will bring good fortune to the
family.

• The Dragon Boat Festival was celebrated with zeal, even during the ancient times.

• Some sources mention that the festival was celebrated in order to honor the death
of Qu Yuan (340 B.C. to 278 B.C.), the royal poet of the ancient state of Chu.

• During the Warring States Period (that resulted in the unification of China under
the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C.), the king of Chu decided to ally with the powerful state
of Qin.
• Qu Yuan opposed this alliance, following which he was banished by his state, and
charged for treachery. Owing to this, he drowned himself in the Miluo river on the fifth
day of the fifth lunar month.

• The local villagers who admired him, fed the fish in the river with rice, so that it would
spare his body. The villagers also paddled out on boats to retrieve his corpse. This
marked the beginning of the Dragon Boat Festival.

• Traditional Chinese festivals were celebrated with the aim of spreading good wishes
and happiness.

• The traditional Ghost Festival was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar
month. It marked the end of the Ghost Month celebrations.

• Offerings of food were made and ghost money was burned, in order to please the
visiting ghosts, ancestors, and spirits. • In ancient China, people also celebrated
the Lantern Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and so on.
 Funeral Beliefs and Customs

• Ancient Chinese people believed in the concept of reincarnation. Jade was believed to
have the powers to bestow immortality and protection.

• Many royalties were buried with an entire robe made of small jade tiles, attached
together with threads of gold or silver.

• Rich people and noblemen were buried with a jade disk or a jade mask on their
bodies.

• The size and design of the tombs demonstrated the social ranking or political status of
the deceased person. Chinese emperors and affluent people were buried in more
elaborate tombs.

• Small spirit utensils or figurines (Mingqi) were also placed in the tomb. Items of daily
use like food, beverages, lamps, weapons, musical instruments, clothing, jewelry, silk
textiles, trinkets, bronze vessels, lacquers, jades, ceramic and terracotta replicas of
buildings, chariots, servants, farm animals, military figurines, food items and utensils,
etc. were also kept in the tomb. This was done to look after the requirements of the
dead in their afterlives.

• A great example of this funerary art form is the terracotta army, buried with Emperor
Qin Shi Huang for protecting him in his afterlife.

• A dangerous looking beast or a human sculpture was placed outside a tomb as a

'tomb guardian'.

• The practice of sacrificing humans during burial came to an end during

the Qin dynasty. However, animals like horses and dogs were buried along with their
masters, even during the Han dynasty.
 Livelihood

• A strong class system was prevalent during the ancient times. The four social
hierarchies were shi, the gentry scholars; nong, the peasants; gong, artisans and
craftsmen; and shang, merchants and traders.

• Men from affluent families often took up places in the court, as warriors.

• They also worked as scholars, who used their intellectual prowess for guiding the
emperor on strategic matters.

• Many people worked as peasants, and had to toil very hard on farmlands to scrape a
living.

• Many artisans worked as painters, calligraphers, musicians, poets, etc. Men were also
involved as architects in building tombs, palaces, buildings, etc. Many were involved in
building the Grand Canal and the Great Wall of China.

• The merchants acted as traders, bankers, shopkeepers, moneylenders, etc., and

indulged in the exchange of goods and services.

• Other vocations pursued during the ancient era by men included working as priests,
domestic servants, fishermen, hunters, laborers, soldiers, guards, court eunuchs, etc.

• Women were expected to stay at home and run the household. They looked after
cooking, cleaning, sewing, weaving, and undertaking other laborious chores around the
house. They were also supposed to take care of children.

• However, some peasant women had to go and work in the farms, alongside looking
after their homes, in order to earn a sufficient living.
 Attire and Hairstyles

• The apparels of the ancient Chinese people differed according to their social ranks.
The rich and the royal classes wore silk clothing, while the working classes wore clothes
made of ramie or hemp.

• The Mongol emperor Kublai Khan gave impetus to cotton clothing.

• The three traditional Chinese clothing were pien-fu (a two piece ceremonial
costume), changshan (a long dress), and shen-i (a long robe with loose sleeves).

• Both men and women wore long tunics with belts or sashes.

• They wore padded clothes with pants throughout winter.

• From the Sui dynasty onwards, only the emperor was allowed to wear yellow color.
The poor people were only allowed to wear blue or black colored clothing.

• The color code for clothes during mourning was white, and during celebration or
happiness, a red attire was preferred.

• Embroidered designs were a unique feature of traditional Chinese clothing. People

used ornamental shells and stone beads for embroidering the garments.

• Both men and women sported long hair as they believed that their hair was a gift from
their parents. Therefore, cutting of hair was not considered auspicious.

• Men wore various head gears to cover their heads, a tradition which was
enthusiastically followed under the rule of different dynasties.

• Women braided their hair and pinned them up. They also decorated it with various hair
clasps, crowns, combs, and hairpins.

• Married women wore different hairstyles than the unmarried ones.

 Jewelry

• People wore jewelry made of jade, turquoise, coral, gold, silver, and even blue
kingfisher feathers.

• Intricate designs of dragons and phoenixes were incorporated in the jewelry.

• Both men and women wore jewelry. Men donned special badges to mark their ranks or
social status, while women wore jewelry to look beautiful.

• Men sported ornate knobs on their hats, representing their civil or military positions.

• Necklaces and bracelets were common forms of jewelry for both men and women.

• Small earrings were worn. Men wore one earring, whereas the women wore a pair of
them.
 Shoes and Foot Binding

Credit: Underwood & Underwood/LOC/via Wikimedia Commons (PD)

• Men chose to wear black leather shoes on formal occasions, and beautiful silk and
leather ones on special occasions.

• Many Chinese men who couldn't afford silk and leather, wore cotton shoes.

• Women in ancient China were subjected to an inhuman practice of binding their feet to
make them look smaller.

• Tiny feet known as Lotus Feet were a symbol of sensuality and beauty. Having tiny
feet was a must for girls of elite classes, in order to find wealthy husbands.

• Later on, even the working class families started following this tradition in pursuit of a
wealthy match.

• Bones of the toes were broken, bend, and bound for years.

• Silk wrappings were used to cover the feet. The feet were then placed in beautifully
embroidered Lotus shoes.

• However, this practice disfigured the feet of the women, and often resulted in bacterial
infections.
 Chinese Martial Arts

• In ancient China, board games and movement games were common, both of which
originated from war training.

• Generals were given training in board games, whereas movement games or martial
arts were taught for the purpose of fighting and self-defense.

• In those times, the most popular board game was Go, which is said to have originated
around 2000 B.C.

• It was believed that the Yellow Emperor had invented martial arts for the first time, in
about 2600 B.C. (much before the Shang dynasty).

• By around 550 B.C., Sun Tzu wrote 'Art of War', describing the techniques of martial
arts. It was around the same time that the Taoists started practicing Tai Chi.

• During the time of the Han dynasty (around 50 A.D.), Pan Ku wrote a book
about Kung Fu. The theory behind Kung Fu fighting styles was rooted in ancient
Chinese philosophy.

• There were two categories under Kung Fu - internal and external. The former involved
training the spirit (shen) and mind (xin), whereas in external Kung Fu, one needed to
exercise muscles, tendons, and bones.

• It was practiced as a unique combination of art, exercise, self-defense, and self-

discipline.
 Role of Women

• Many men followed the Confucian principles and teachings which asserted that
women were subservient to men.

• The birth of a girl child was not treated with happiness as fathers had to give away
heavy dowry during their marriages.

• Women had no voice or right in choosing their husbands.

• If their husbands died, women were not allowed to remarry, even if they were of a
tender age. Even if a woman dared to remarry, she was sentenced to death.

• The primary duty of a woman was to bear male heirs, and look after the domestic
household.

• She had no right to stop her husband from taking other wives and concubines (as it
was legal then) unless she belonged to a rich family with a considerable social
standing.

• The inhuman practice of foot binding was rampant.

• Women were not sent to schools for education. Some women learned to read from
their brothers, and taught their children.

• Women even developed the secret Nushu language of communication, which was
privy to women only.

• However, some notable changes occurred in the status of women during

the Han and Tang dynasties. Empress Wu Zetian is one of the notable empresses of
China who brought about considerable change to the situation of women, by trying to
bestow them with equal status as that of the men.
 Language, Script, and Literature

• The Chinese language is one of the oldest written languages in the world. It has a
logographic script, where each individual grapheme represents a word.

• The language of communication for many years during the pre-modern period was the
classical Chinese language.

• One of the earliest references of written script can be traced to the Oracle bones
belonging to the Shang dynasty). Oracle bones were used for divinations. The
questions to be asked were carved on the bones with a sharp tool in the Oracle bone
script. The diviner would then heat the bone, which would cause it to crack. He then
interpreted the cracks and wrote the inferences on a shell or a bone.

• During the Zhou dynasty, cinnabar ink and brush began to be used, which led to
writing, calligraphy, and drawing on silk.

• Later on, paper and printing were also invented, developed, and widely used. The
writers, poets, philosophers, and scholars garnered a special respect in the imperial
court.

• Literary works like Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian, Analects by
Confucius, Tao Te Ching by Laozi, Water Margin by Shi Nai'an, Romance of the Three
Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, Dream of the Red
Chamber by Cao Xueqin, Book of Songs by Qu Yuan, Lessons for women by Ban
Zhao and Eighteen Verses Sung to a Barbarian Whistle by poetess Cai Wenji have
made notable contributions to Chinese literature.
 Education

• The Chinese scholars set up government educational establishments for training the
children.

• Five national schools to teach the Six Arts to the children of the noble men were set up
during the Shang and the Zhou dynasties.

• Around the Spring and Autumn period as well as the Warring States period, education
gained popularity, even among the common people.

• Confucius encouraged private teaching for all ages and hierarchies by starting his own
schools. He delineated his own philosophy and principles to the students. After this
effort, many private schools came into existence.

• Both the private and government schools trained students for taking the imperial
exams for gaining various jobs in the royal court.

• Elders and family members imparted 'family education' which stressed on morals,
social responsibilities, and attainment of wisdom.

• As compared to men, very few women were educated. Their reading was mostly
limited to books that instructed them about moral behavior and their duties towards
men.

The customs and traditions of the ancient Chinese people differed greatly from one
region to the other. Till today, the principles and teachings of Confucianism, Taoism,
Buddhism, and Legalism continue to influence the lives of many people worldwide. Be it
history, mythology, cuisine, literature or music, the ancient Chinese culture still
represents its uniqueness over other cultures of the world.
 GEOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES OF CHINA
China has a vast territory, with abundant natural resources and diverse types of land
resources. Its waterpower resources rank first worldwide. It is one of the countries in the
world having the most species of wild animals, and has almost all kinds of vegetation
found in the Northern Hemisphere. It has abundant mineral resources, with a great
variety of minerals.

Land Resources

China’s land resources exhibit the following basic features: The land resources are
large in absolute terms but small on a per-capita basis. There are more mountains than
plains, with cultivated land and forests constituting small proportions. Various types of
land resources are unevenly distributed among different regions. The cultivated land is
mainly in plains and basins in the monsoon regions of east China, while forests are
mostly found in the remote mountainous areas in the northeast and the southwest.
Grasslands are chiefly distributed on inland plateaus and in mountains.

Cultivated Land

According to the Agricultural Census in 1996, China has 130.04 million hectares of
cultivated land and 35.35 million hectares of land suitable for agricultural uses.

The cultivated land is mainly distributed in the Northeast China, North China and
Middle-Lower Yangtze plains, the Pearl River Delta and the Sichuan Basin.

Forests

The sixth national enumeration of forest resources (1999-2003) showed that China’s
total forest area was 175 million hectares, and its forest coverage rate was 18.21
percent. The total standing stock volume of China was 13.62 billion cubic meters. The
stock volume of its forests stood at 12.46 billion cubic meters.

Natural forests are concentrated in the northeast and the southwest, but scarce in the
densely inhabited and economically developed eastern plains and the vast northwestern
region.

The forests in China are rich in tree species, with the number of arbor species alone
exceeding 2,800. Rare and peculiar species include ginkgo and metasequoia (dawn
redwood). In order to conserve environment and meet the needs of economic
development, China has launched large-scale afforestation campaigns. The area of
planted forests has reached 33.79 million hectares, accounting for 31.86 percent of the
nation’s total forest area, making China a country with the largest area of planted forests
in the world.

In terms of regional distribution, China’s forests are found mainly in the Northeast China
Forest Zone, the Southwest China Forest Zone and the Southeast China Forest Zone.

Northeast China Forest Zone: Located in the Greater and Lesser Hinggan Mountains
and the Changbaishan Mountains, it is the largest natural forest area in China, with its
forest coverage and timber reserves accounting for over one third of the national totals.
The area turns out half of the national total timber output. Chief tree species include
larch and Korean pine.

Southwest China Forest Zone: China’s second largest natural forest area, it consists
of forests in the Hengduanshan Mountains, on the southern slopes of the Himalayas
and in the area at the U-turn of the Yarlung Zangbo River. Its forest reserves make up
one third of the national total. Main tree species include fir, red sandal and nanmu.

Southeast China Forest Zone: Comprising mainly planted forests, it covers the vast
hilly areas south of the Qinling-Huaihe line and east of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.
Non-timber species are mainly planted in the zone, such as tea shrub, moso bamboo,
masson pine and lacquer tree.

Shelter Forests: In a bid to resist sandstorms and prevent soil erosion, China has
constructed many shelter forests and developed a number of shelterbelts, such as the
three-north (northeast, north and northwest China) shelterbelt, shelter forests along the
middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, coastal shelterbelt networks,
afforestation project in the Taihangshan Mountains and the plain afforestation project.
Of these, the three-north shelterbelt, which is currently under construction and regarded
as "the world’s greatest ecological project," will extend more than 7,000 km and cover
260 million hectares, accounting for a quarter of China’s total land area.

Grassland

China has 400 million hectares of grassland, with those of economic value accounting
for 313.33 million hectares. China is one of the countries with the largest area of
grassland in the world. Natural grassland is mainly distributed in areas west and north of
the Greater Hinggan Mountains, the Yinshan Mountain and the eastern foot of the
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, while artificial grassland is concentrated in southeast China
where it lies amid cultivated land and forests.
Four Major Pasture Areas

Inner Mongolia Pasture Area: The largest in China, it produces such fine breeds as
Sanhe horse and Sanhe cattle.

Xinjiang Pasture Area: Fine breeds in the area include Xinjiang fine-wool sheep, Altay
big-tail sheep and Ili horse.

Qinghai Pasture Area: A main yak-producing area, it also breeds the world-famous
Hequ horse.

Tibet Pasture Area: It is a main yak-producing area of China.

Water Resources

China ranks in the forefront worldwide in terms of the number of rivers and
lakes.Because most of the main rivers originate from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with big
falls, China has abundant waterpower resources, with its total reserves amounting to
680 million kw, ranking first in the world. However, the waterpower resources are
unevenly distributed, with 70 percent found in southwest China. The Yangtze River
system has the most waterpower resources, which account for nearly 40 percent of the
national total, followed by the Yarlung Zangbo River system. The Yellow and Pearl river
systems also abound in waterpower resources.

Flora and Fauna Resources

China is one of the countries in the world having the most species of wild animals, with
the number of terrestrial vertebrates alone exceeding 2,000, accounting for 9.8 percent
of the world’s total. Of this, birds make up the largest proportion, followed by beasts.
Bird species so far discovered total 1,189; beasts, 500; amphibians, 210; and reptiles,
320. Many of the terrestrial vertebrate species in China are peculiar to, or are mainly
found, in the country. For instance, there are 19 species of the pheasant family, such as
bamboo partridge, tragopan, blue pheasant and white-crowned king pheasant. Giant
panda, regarded as "living fossil," is endemic to China. There is also Pere David’s deer,
which is of special value to zoological studies and whose wild species has been extinct.
Other rare species include takin, tufted deer and sika deer. China also has abundant
species of resource animals, with more than 70 fur-bearing species, accounting for
more than 17 percent of total beast species nationwide.
Plant species are abundant. There are more than 30,000 kinds of woody plants, of
which the number of arbor species exceeds 2,800. China has almost all kinds of
vegetation found in the Northern Hemisphere. Various kinds of forests are distributed in
the humid east, while in the cold north are deciduous coniferous forests, and in the
warm south, broad-leaved deciduous forests. The area of subtropical forests in China is
larger than in any other countries. In the forests grow small tracts of surviving ancient
plants, such as metasequoia, Cathaya argyrophylla and ginkgo, which are regarded as
"living fossils" and have disappeared in other parts of the world. The southernmost part
of China has tropical semi-evergreen monsoon forests, rain forests and mangroves. In
addition to its peculiar species such as metasequoia, Cathaya argyrophylla, ginkgo,
Chinese cypress, China fir, golden larch, Taiwania, Fujian cypress and eucommia
ulmoides, China has introduced some tropical plants, such as rubber, oil palm and sisal
hemp.

Mineral Resources

China has abundant mineral resources. A total of 171 kinds of minerals have so far
been discovered, of which 158 have proven reserves. These include 10 kinds of energy
mineral resources such as petroleum, natural gas, coal and uranium; 54 kinds of
metallic mineral resources such as iron, manganese, copper, aluminum, lead and zinc;
91 kinds of nonmetallic mineral resources such as graphite, phosphorus, sulfur and
sylvine; and three kinds of water and gas mineral resources such as underground water
and mineral water. Currently, the supply of over 92 percent of China’s primary energy,
80 percent of its industrial raw materials and more than 70 percent of its agricultural
means of production come from mineral resources.

Energy Mineral Resources: China boasts rich energy mineral resources, but the
structure of these types of resources is not ideal, with coal making up a large proportion
while petroleum and natural gas constituting relatively small proportions.

Coal resources demonstrate such features as: huge reserves and complete varieties
but uneven distribution among different grades, with small reserves of high-quality
coking coal and anthracite coal; wide distribution but a great disparity in abundance for
different deposit locations, with large reserves in western and northern regions and
small reserves in eastern and southern regions; a small number of surface coalmines,
most of which are lignite mines; and great varieties of associated minerals existing in
coal seams.

Oil and gas resources have the following features: large oil reserves, which make China
one of the 10 countries in the world with more than 15 billion tons of exploitable oil
reserves; low proven rate, with verified onshore reserves accounting for only one fifth of
the total and the proven rate for offshore reserves being even lower; and concentrated
distribution, with 73 percent of the total oil resources distributed in 14 basins each
covering an area of 100,000 square km and more than 50 percent of the nation’s total
natural gas resources distributed in central and western regions.

Metallic Mineral Resources: China is among the countries with rich metallic mineral
resources. It has proven reserves, more or less, of all kinds of metallic mineral
resources that have so far been discovered worldwide. Of these, the proven reserves of
tungsten, tin, antimony, rare earth, tantalum and titanium rank first in the world; those of
vanadium, molybdenum, niobium, beryllium and lithium rank second; those of zinc rank
fourth; and those of iron, lead, gold and silver rank fifth.

Metallic mineral resources feature wide distribution with relatively concentrated deposits
in several regions. For instance, iron deposits are mainly found in three areas—Anshan-
Benxi (in Liaoning Province), north Hebei Province and Shanxi Province. Bauxite
reserves are mainly distributed in Shanxi, Henan and Guizhou provinces and Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region. Tungsten deposits are chiefly distributed in provinces of
Jiangxi, Hunan and Guangdong, and tin deposits in Yunnan, Guangdong and Hunan
provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Some of China’s metallic minerals such as tungsten, tin, molybdenum, antimony and
rare earth have large reserves, and are of high quality and competitive in world markets.
However, many important metallic minerals such as iron, manganese, aluminum and
copper are of poor quality, with ores lean and difficult to smelt. Most of the metallic
mineral deposits are small or medium-sized, whereas large and super-large deposits
account for a small proportion.

Nonmetallic Mineral Resources: China is one of the few countries in the world that
have a relatively complete range of nonmetallic mineral resources. Currently, there are
more than 5,000 nonmetallic mineral ore production bases with proven reserves in
China.

Most of the nonmetallic mineral resources in China have large proven reserves. Of
them, the proven reserves of magnesite, graphite, fluorite, talc, asbestos, gypsum,
barite, wollastonite, alunite, bentonite and rock salt (halite) are among the largest in the
world, while those of phosphorus, kaolin, pyrite, mirabilite, tripolite, zeolite, pearlite and
cement limestone hold major positions. Some natural stone materials such as marble
and granite in China are of high quality, with rich reserves. However, China is relatively
deficient in reserves of sylvine and boron.
Water and Gas Mineral Resources: Proven natural underground water resources in
China amount to 870 billion cubic meters per year, of which 290 billion cubic meters are
exploitable. The natural underground brackish water resources in China stand at 20
billion cubic meters per year.

However, China’s underground water resources are not evenly distributed, with the
southern region rich, and northern and western regions poor. Underground water
aquifer types vary from region to region. North China has a wide distribution of
underground water resources via pore aquifers, while its southwestern region sees wide
distribution of Karst water resources.

Marine Resources

China boasts abundant marine resources. Scattered in the offshore waters are
sedimentation basins, with a total area of nearly 700,000 square km, estimated to
contain about 24 billion tons of oil reserves and 14 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.
Fishing grounds in China’s territorial seas cover 2.8 million square km. There are 2.6
million hectares of shallow seas, with a depth of 20 meters or below, suitable for
aquaculture, of which 710,000 hectares have already been used for this purpose. Of the
2.42 million hectares of tidal lands suitable for aquaculture, 550,000 hectares have been
used for the purpose. China has obtained a polymetallic nodule deposit area of 75,000
square km in the international seabed region, with polymetallic nodule reserves
exceeding 500 million tons.

Salt Fields: China has more than 50 salt fields along its coast, with a combined area of
337,000 hectares. Sea salt constitutes over 70 percent of China’s total production of
crude salt.

Marine Energy Exploitation: China’s tidal energy reserves amount to 110 million kw,
21 million kw of it being exploitable, which can be used to generate 58 billion kwh of
power annually. Having larger tidal ranges, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces take up 80
percent of the nation’s total coastal tidal energy resources. The Qiantangjiang estuary in
Zhejiang has a tidal range of 8.9 meters and is an ideal place for a tidal power plant.