|
Mt. Qomolangma, the world's highest peak and the main peak of the Himalayas. |
A bird’s-eye view of China would indicate that China’s terrain descends in four steps from west to east.
The top of this four-step “staircase” is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Averaging more than 4,000 m above sea level, it is often called the “roof of the world.” Rising 8,848 m above sea level is Mt. Qomolangma, the world’s highest peak and the main peak of the Himalayas.
The second step includes the Inner Mongolia, Loess and Yunnan-Guizhou plateaus, and the Tarim, Junggar and Sichuan basins, with an average elevation of between 1,000 m and 2,000 m.
|
|
|
|
To the east, the land extends out into the ocean, in a continental shelf, the fourth step of the staircase. The water here is less than 200 m deep.
