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China lies mainly in the north temperate zone, characterized by a warm climate and distinctive seasons, with a climate well suited for habitation. From September to April the following year, dry and cold winter monsoons blow from Siberia and the Mongolian Plateau, resulting in cold and dry winters and great differences in the temperatures of north and south China. From April to September, warm and humid summer monsoons blow from the seas in the east and south, resulting in overall high temperatures and plentiful rainfall, and little differences in the temperatures of north and south China. In terms of temperature, the nation can be sectored from south to north into equatorial, tropical, subtropical, warm-temperate, temperate, and cold-temperate zones. Precipitation gradually declines from the southeastern coastal areas to the northwestern inland areas , and the average annual precipitation varies greatly from place to place. In southeastern coastal areas, it reaches over 1,500 mm, while in northwestern areas, it drops to below 200 mm.

Located in the east on the Asian continent on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, the People's Republic of China has a land area of about 9.6 million sq km, and is the third-largest country in the world, next only to Russia and Canada.

From north to south, the territory of China stretches from the center of the Heilong River north of the town of Mohe to the Zengmu Reef at the southernmost tip of the Nansha Islands, covering a distance of 5,500 km. From east to west, the nation extends from the confluence

of the Heilong and Wusuli rivers to the Pamirs, covering a distance of 5,200 km.

With a land boundary of some 22,800 km, China is bordered by Korea to the east; Mongolia to the north; Russia to the northeast; Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the northwest; Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan to the west and southwest; and Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam to the south. Across the seas to the east and southeast are the Republic of Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

China's mainland coastline measures approximately 18,000 km, with a flat topography, and many excellent docks and harbors, most of which are ice-free all year round. The Chinese mainland is flanked to the east and south by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas, with a total maritime area of 4.73 million sq km. The Bohai Sea is China's continental sea, while the Yellow, East China and South China seas are marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean.

Some 5,400 islands dot China's territorial seas. The largest of these, with an area of about 36,000 sq km, is Taiwan, followed by Hainan with an area of 34,000 sq km. The Diaoyu and Chiwei islands, located to the northeast of Taiwan Island, are China's easternmost islands. The many islands, islets, reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, known collectively as the South China Sea Islands, are the southernmost island group of China. They are called the Dongsha (East Sandbar), Xisha (West Sandbar), Zhongsha (Middle Sandbar) and Nansha (South Sandbar) island groups according to their geographical locations.

China's topography was completely formed around the emergence of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the most important geological event over the past several million years. Taking a bird's-eye view of China, the terrain gradually descends from west to east like a staircase. Due to the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates, the young Qinghai-Tibet Plateau rose continuously to become the top of the four-step "staircase," averaging more than 4,000 m above sea level, and it is called "the roof of the world". Soaring 8,848 m above sea level on the plateau, Mt. Qomolangma is the world's highest peak and the main peak of the Himalayas. The second step includes the
gently sloping Inner Mongolia Plateau, the Loess Plateau, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Tarim Basin, the Junggar Basin and the Sichuan Basin, with an average elevation of between 1,000 m and 2,000 m. The third step, dropping to 500-1,000 m in elevation, begins at a line drawn around the Greater Hinggan, Taihang, Wushan and Xuefeng mountain ranges and extends eastward to the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Here, from north to south, are the Northeast Plain, the North China Plain and the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain. Interspersed amongst the plains are hills and foothills. 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. The area of mountains and hills and plateaus account for 65 percent of the total land area of China.

China has over 1,500 rivers. Most of the major rivers - like the Yangtze - have their source on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and drop greatly from the source to the mouths. As a result, China is rich in water-power resources, leading the world in hydropower potential, with reserves of 680 million kw.

Known as Chang Jiang or "Long River" in Chinese, the Yangtze at 6,300 km is not only the longest river in China but in all of Asia. It is the third longest river in the world, next only to the Nile in Africa (6,670 km) and

the Amazon in South America (6,400 km). In its upper reaches, the Yangtze tumbles through steep, forested gorges. In its middle and lower reaches, the Yangtze River flows through important agricultural regions that have a warm and humid climate, plentiful rainfall and fertile soil.

Also known as the "golden waterway," the Yangtze serves as an important trade and transportation route. The second longest river in China is the Yellow River with a length of 5,464 km. The Yellow River valley was one of the birthplaces of ancient Chinese civilization. It has lush pasturelands along its banks, flourishing agriculture and abundant mineral deposits.

The Heilong River is a large river in north China with a total length of 4,350 km, of which, 3,101 km are in China. The Pearl River (Zhujiang), 2,214 km long, is a major river in south China. In addition, China has a famous man-made river - the Grand Canal, running from Beijing in the north to Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province in the south. Work first began on the Grand Canal as early as in the fifth century A.D. It links five major rivers: the Haihe, Yellow, Huaihe, Yangtze and Qiantang. With a total length of 1,801 km, the Grand Canal is the longest as well as the oldest man-made waterway in the world.

China's many rivers can be categorized as exterior and interior systems. The catchment area for the exterior rivers that empty into the oceans accounts for 64 percent of the country's total land area. The Yangtze, Yellow, Heilong, Pearl, Liaohe, Haihe and Huaihe 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 Yarlungzangbo Grand Canyon, the largest canyon in the world, 504.6 km long and 6,009 m deep. The Ertix River flows north 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 about 36 percent of China's total land area. Its 2,179 km makes the Tarim River in southern Xinjiang China's longest interior river.

China's territory includes numerous lakes, most of which are found on the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Freshwater lakes mostly lie in the former area, such as Poyang, Dongting, Taihu, and Hongze; while in the latter are saltwater lakes, such as Qinghai, Nam Co and Siling Co. Poyang Lake, in the north of Jiangxi Province and with an area of 3,583 sq km, is the largest one of its kind and Qinghai Lake, in northeast Qinghai Province and with an area of 4,583 sq km, is the largest one of its kind.

Cultivated land, forests, grasslands, deserts and tidelands are distributed widely across China. Cultivated land is mainly located in east China, grasslands are mainly located in north and west China, and forests mainly in the remote northeastern and southwestern areas.

In China today, 130.04 million hectares of land is cultivated, mainly on the Northeast Plain, the North China Plain, the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain, the Pearl River Delta and the Sichuan Basin. The fertile black soil of the Northeast Plain, the largest plain in China with an area of more than 350,000 sq km, abounds in wheat, corn, sorghum, soybeans, flax and sugar beet. The deep, brown topsoil of the North China Plain is planted with wheat, corn, millet and cotton. The Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain's flat terrain and many lakes and rivers make it particularly suitable for paddy rice and freshwater fish, hence its designation of "land of fish and rice." This area also produces large quantities of tea and silkworms.The purplish soil of the warm and humid Sichuan Basin is green with crops in all four seasons, including paddy rice, rapeseed and sugarcane, making it known as the "land of plenty." The Pearl River Delta abounds with paddy rice gathered 2-3 times every year.

Forests cover only 158.94 million ha of China. The Greater Hinggan, Lesser Hinggan and Changbai mountain ranges in the northeast are China's largest natural forest areas. Major tree species found here include conifers, such as Korean pine, larch and Olga Bay larch, and coniferous-broadleaf trees such as white birch, oak, willow, elm and Northeast China ash. Major tree species in the southwest include the dragon spruce, fir and Yunnan pine, as well as teak, red sandalwood, camphor, nanmu and padauk. Often called a "kingdom of plants," Xishuangbanna in the south of Yunnan Province is a rare tropical broadleaf forest area in China, playing host to more than 5,000 plant species.

Grasslands in China cover an area of 400 million ha, stretching more than 3,000 km from the northeast to the southwest. They are the centers of animal husbandry. The Inner Mongolian Prairie is China's largest natural pastureland, and home to the famous Sanhe horses, Sanhe cattle and Mongolian sheep. The important natural pasturelands north and south of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang are ideal for stockbreeding. The famous Ili horses and Xinjiang fine-wool sheep are raised here.

China's cultivated lands, forests and grasslands are among the world's largest in terms of sheer area. But due to China's large population, the areas of cultivated land, forest and grassland per capita are small, especially in the case of cultivated land - only one-third of the world's average.

China is rich in mineral resources, and all of the world's known minerals can be found here. To date, geologists have confirmed reserves of 158 different minerals. These include 10 energy-related minerals, including oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium; 54 metallic minerals, including iron, manganese, copper, aluminum, lead and zinc; 91 non-metallic minerals, including graphite, phosphorus, sulfur and sylvite. The reserves of the major mineral resources, such as coal, iron, copper, aluminum, stibium, molybdenum, manganese, tin, lead, zinc and mercury, are in the world's front rank. China's basic coal reserves total 331.76 billion tons, mainly distributed in northeast China and north China, with Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Shanxi Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region taking the lead. China's 21.36 billion tons of the basic reserve of iron ore are mainly distributed in northeast, north and southwest China. The country also abounds in petroleum, natural gas, oil shale, phosphorus and sulphur. Petroleum reserves are mainly found in the northwest, northeast and north China, as well as in the continental shelves of east China. The national reserves of rare earth metals far exceed the combined total for the rest of the world.

Among those countries with the greatest diversity of wildlife, China has more than 6,266 species of vertebrates, 10 percent of the world's total. Among them, 2,404 are terrestrials and 3,862 are fish.More than 100 species of wild animals can be found only in China, including such rare animals as the giant panda, the snub-nosed monkey, the golden-haired monkey, South China tiger, brown-eared pheasant, red-crowned crane, red ibis, white-flag dolphin and Chinese alligator. The giant panda, which makes its home in the forests of the Upper Yangtze River in southwest China, weighs on average 135 kg and lives on tender bamboo leaves and bamboo shoots. Because it is extremely rare - just over 1,000 are left at present - the giant panda has become the symbol of the world's protected wild animals.

China's abundance of plant life ranks it among the top in the world. For example, with an area almost exactly that of the continental United States, China has nearly twice as many plant species, about 32,000 (compared to 17,000 for the U.S. and Canada combined) or one-eighth of the world's total. China's plant species include almost all the major plants that grow in the northern hemisphere's frigid, temperate and tropical zones. In addition, China has more than 7,000 species of woody plants, including 2,800-odd tree species. Found only in China are the metasequoia, Chinese cypress, Cathay silver fir, China fir, golden larch, Taiwan fir, Fujian cypress, dove-tree, eucommia and camplotheca acuminata. The metasequoia, a tall species of arbor, is considered to be one of the oldest and rarest plants in the world. The golden larch, one of only five species of rare garden trees in the world, grows in the mountainous areas in the Yangtze River Valley. Its coin-shaped leaves on short branches are green in spring and summer, turning yellow in autumn. China is home to more than 2,000 species of edible plants and over 3,000 species of medicinal plants. Ginseng from the Changbai Mountains, safflowers from Tibet, Chinese wolfberry from Ningxia and notoginseng from Yunnan and Guizhou are particularly well-known Chinese herbal medicines. China has a wide variety of flowering plants, including the world-renowned peony that is indigenous to China and considered one of the country's national flowers.

China's administrative units are currently based on a three-tier system, dividing the nation into provinces, counties and townships:

The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

A province or an autonomous region is subdivided into autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties and/or cities.

A county or an autonomous county is subdivided into townships, ethnic townships and/or towns.

Municipalities directly under the Central Government and large cities are subdivided into districts and counties;autonomous prefectures are subdivided into counties, autonomous counties and cities. Autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties are all ethnic autonomous areas. The Constitution specifically empowers the state to establish special administrative regions when necessary. A special administrative region is a local administrative area directly under the Central Government.

The People's Republic of China has 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 centrally-administered municipalities and 2 special administrative regions (see the following table).

With the International Conference on Application for World Heritage Listing of the Silk Road being held in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi province recently, the application work moves on to the final competition.

More than 80 representatives from international organizations and over 80 countries and regions participated in the conference and discussed a series of topics regarding the application, including the standards of the application, the requirement for the truth and integrity of the assessment as well as the application work schedule.

Gu Yucai, head of the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection, State Administration of Cultural Heritage, briefed the conference on the effort China has made in application for world heritage listing of the Silk Road. He specifically gave account of the contribution Xi'an has made to preserve cultural heritages, such as the Daming Palace Sites and the Chang'an City of Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220).

The final candidate list of the application produced at the conference will later be submitted to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for final assessment and vote in 2010, and the final winner will be included in the World Heritage List.

Presently, an initial list of 48 cultural heritage sites along the ancient Silk Road in China, including 14 in Xi'an, was selected for World Heritage Application.

As a main trade route for barter and cultural and religious exchanges between Asia and Europe, the 2000-year-old Silk Road began from Xi'an and ended in Europe via southern and central Asia countries.

The presidency is the highest state office in the PRC. In combination with the Standing Committee of the NPC, the President of the PRC exercises his or her functions and powers as the head of state. The President, pursuant of decisions of the NPC or its Standing Committee, promulgates laws, appoints and removes members of the State Council, issues orders, receives foreign diplomatic representatives on behalf of the PRC, dispatches and recalls plenipotentiary representatives abroad, and ratifies and abrogates treaties and important agreements reached with foreign states. The current President is Hu Jintao and the current Vice-President is Zeng Qinghong.

China's wetlands include 10 percent of all the wetlands in the world. (See also "Environmental Protection.") These wetland areas not only are vital to the earth's ecology but also are attractive places for people for birding and observing other wildlife, fishing (both commercial and recreational) and development of ecotourism and environmental education. Among the many protected wetlands in China, the following 21 sites have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, joined by China in 1992. The total area of these 21 sites presently covers a surface area of 3.03 million ha.

Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve, Shanghai. An extensive area of fresh and salt water marshes, tidal creeks, and intertidal mudflats at the eastern end of Chongming Island, a low-lying alluvial island in the mouth of the Yangtze River, which supports farmland, fish and crab ponds, and extensive reed beds. The site is a staging and wintering site for millions of birds, as well as a spawning and feeding ground for 63 species of fish, including the protected Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis). Because it is close to Shanghai, this area is popular with tourists but the numbers of visitors within the site are regulated. The area also supports important fisheries. The site is being developed- with support by the GEF and WWF-as a center for environmental education and training.

Dafeng (Elaphurus davidianus) National Nature Reserve, Jiangsu. A typical intertidal mudflat eco-system on the coastline of the Yellow Sea, supporting a wide variety of rare animal species, including 315 species of birds (23 of them nationally protected), 600 of insects and 156 of fish, as well as the threatened Pere David's deer or Milu. Following the introduction of 39 Milu in 1986, the population has grown to nearly 500, said to be the largest Milu population in the world. The site performs all of the normal coastal wetland functions, such as flood control, sediment retention, and shoreline stabilization. The site hosts some 150,000 visitors per year; surrounding areas are used for forestry and agriculture.

Dalai Lake National Nature Reserve, Inner Mongolia. A complex of lakes, rivers, marshes, shrubs, grasslands and reed beds typical of wetlands in arid steppes, still retaining near-natural conditions. A staging area in the East Asian-Australasian Shorebird Flyway, the site is important for some 284 bird species. Some 30 fish species are supported, of both Siberian and northeast China types, and some are economically important. The Dalai Lake region, as the only lower land of the Hulunbuir Plateau, has great significance for flood storage, sediment retention, and groundwater recharge, and is critical for maintaining regional climate and increasing air humidity. Tourism offers bird watching, boating, and traditional Mongolian foods, customs, and cultures, and the area is becoming a center for environmental education and research. Fishing is the primary activity of the water area, accounting for some 10,000 tons of commercial fish per year, and livestock grazing in surrounding grasslands involves more than two million animals.

Dalian National Spotted Seal (Phoca vitulina) Nature Reserve, Liaoning. A coastal area of the Bohai Sea, 20 km from Dalian City, consisting of sea floor covered by pedestal rock of between 5 and 40 meters' depth and including over 70 islands and islets with rocky coasts and reefs. The site provides habitat for 100 species of fish and numerous shellfish, as well as breeding grounds for a number of whale and dolphin species. The reserve is best known for the spotted seal, which attracts large numbers of tourists from the nearby city and elsewhere. The spotted seal population has fallen to about 1,000 and the species is presently considered endangered.

Dongtinghu (Dongting Lake), Hunan. Nature reserve. A freshwater lake with numerous smaller lakes and ponds, marshes, swamps and wet grasslands fed by flooding from the Yangtze and four other rivers. The site is extremely important for 20 species of wintering and staging migratory birds, and supports 200 species of fish, of which 20 are commercially important.

Dongzhaigang, Hainan. Nature reserve. A small shallow sea bay of extensive intertidal mudflats and mangrove swamps. The swamps are important feeding and nursery areas for water birds and fish. The site is located in a densely populated region, surrounded by numerous villages and large rice paddies.

Ordos National Nature Reserve, Inner Mongolia. A typical Eurasian grassland and Asian desert with high ecological fragility, including a large number of permanent freshwater and saline lakes and pools, with islands and human-made aquaculture ponds. The site supports some 15,000 breeding relic gull in May and is a staging area for 60 percent of the world's population of that species; some 83 other species of water birds are also present, with 18 of them breeding there. Within the site, 16 villages support a population of 6,400 people who rely upon undeveloped agriculture, forestry, and livestock grazing for their livelihoods; fish farming is also practiced within the site.

Honghe National Nature Reserve, Heilongjiang. A near-natural marsh eco-system with a large variety of wetland types, providing support for six endangered and rare species of flora and three of avifauna. The Reserve is the main breeding site for the Oriental stork, as well as for black stork, red-crowned and white-napped cranes, whooper swan, and mandarin duck. State-owned farms cultivate rice in the area.

Huidong Harbor Sea Turtle National Nature Reserve, Guangdong. At the juncture of Daya Bay and Honghai Bay in the South China Sea, presently the only sea turtle protected area in China, with seawater and gently-sloping sandy beaches especially suitable for sea turtles, traditionally honored in the region as a symbol of longevity and good luck. The beach, 1,000 m long and 70 m wide, surrounded by mountains on three sides, supports as many as 400-500 green turtles during egg-laying. The area is under collective ownership, and the site has been delimited as a fishery protected area by local government. Artificial incubation and breeding ponds have been established to assist young turtles when adverse conditions, such as bad weather, warrant.

Mai Po Marshes & Inner Deep Bay, Hong Kong. A shallow coastal bay with extensive intertidal mudflats backed by dwarf mangroves, shrimp and fish ponds. Thirteen globally threatened species of birds and 17 species of invertebrates new to science are present. An important area for internationally important numbers of wintering and migrating water birds, the site regularly holds over one percent of the global population of at least three species of birds.

Nandongtinghu Wetland and Waterfowl Reserve, Hunan. Nature reserve. Located in the southern part of Dongting Lake, the largest lake on the plains of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the site supports important numbers of endangered Oriental stork and Siberian crane as well as Chinese sturgeon. It also plays an important role in the regulation and storage of flood water from the Yangtze. Some 14,000 people live within the site, chiefly practicing fishing and aquaculture in artificial ponds and growing economic crops in the mudflat areas, including some 120,000 tons of reeds annually. Some 24,000 bird-watchers visit the site's facilities annually.

Niaodao ("Bird Island"), Qinghai. Nature reserve. The lake, centered on an island, is fed by two rivers and numerous smaller rivers originating from mountain snow melt. Marshes are both brackish and fresh, along which a rich alpine meadow community thrives. The site is extremely important for numerous species of breeding birds, wintering ducks, geese, and swans and for staging water birds in spring and autumn.

Poyanghu, Jiangxi. Nature reserve; crane network site. A large freshwater lake subject to seasonal fluctuations, within a region of subtropical, deciduous broadleaf and evergreen forest surrounded by marshes and wet grassland fed by five major rivers. The site supports numerous species of plankton, mollusk, fish, and mammals and at least 46 species of birds. It is important for wintering and staging birds and for a population of 20,000 people whose activities include grazing water buffaloes, harvesting grass and aquatic vegetation, small-scale cultivation, fishing and a freshwater pearl industry.

Sanjiang National Nature Reserve, Heilongjiang. Near the Sino-Russian border. An alluvial floodplain typical of high-altitude wetlands, a mixture of rivers, open bogs, seasonally flooded meadows, and sedge marshes, the largest area of freshwater wetland in the country. The site is internationally important for water birds, particularly ducks, and for fishery resources, and serves as a natural reservoir for the Sanjiang Plains, providing vital flood control as well. Due to its remote location and cold winters, human interference has been minimal, though local inhabitants - including 300-400 people of the Hezhen (one of the smallest ethnic groups in China) who support a unique culture - find abundant animal, fish, and forest resources.

Shankou Mangrove Nature Reserve, Guangxi. Two related areas on either side of the Shatian Peninsula on the Beibu Bay at the border between the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangdong Province in the southwest of China, where salt marshes and mangrove forests form a protective barrier for the coastal farmlands and villages. Some 14 species of mangrove are represented and provide support for a number of vulnerable and endangered species, including the Chinese dolphin, as well as for a large number of nationally protected bird species.

Xidongtinghu Nature Reserve, Hunan. The important western part of Dongting Lake, comprising an open freshwater lake and smaller lakes, some shallow mudflats during low water periods, reed swamps, sphagnum bogs, and beaches. The site is very important for rare fish, such as Chinese sturgeons, and birds, such as the threatened Oriental storks. It serves as a staging area for many other migrating cranes and storks. Fishing, and increasingly fish-breeding, and livestock grazing are important economic activities dependent upon the site. Conservation research and education, with assistance from WWF, are increasingly important as is eco-tourism because of the extraordinary beauty of the site, with its "deeply green grass and dancing water birds."

Xingkai Lake National Nature Reserve, Heilongjiang. A complex wetland system including grasslands, marshes, lakes, and forests, contiguous with Russia to the south across the Songacha River. The site, at the northern end of the large lake, provides an important breeding habitat for a number of bird species protected in China, and some 65 fish species and more than 460 higher plant species are present. A transboundary nature reserve agreement (including joint training) was established in 1992 with the Khank Nature Reserve in Russia, with the help of the International Crane Foundation, and another in 1996 for management of the whole Xingkai Lake. The reserve joined the Northeast Asian Crane Site Network in 1997. Four eco-tourism resorts drew 500,000 visitors from China and abroad in 2000.

Xianghai, Jilin. Nature reserve; crane network site. A system of freshwater marshes, lakes, wet grasslands and a linked series of irrigation canals, fed by three major rivers. The site includes sand dunes, plantations, cultivated land and reservoirs subject to spring flooding. At least 30 species of mammals are found here and the area is important for breeding, wintering and staging water birds. Fifteen thousand permanent inhabitants cultivate various crops, raise livestock and, in winter, cut reeds for the paper industry.

Yancheng National Nature Reserve, Jiangsu. Comprises the largest coastal wetland in China, expansive mudflats along over 120 km of coastline that supports high biodiversity. About three million individuals of 200 bird species are said to migrate through the site annually, and many winter here. The site provides one of the two largest habitats in China for the Pere David's deer known as "Milu," and is said to support about 10 percent of the world population of black-faced spoonbills. The core areas are uninhabited and in natural condition, whereas the buffer and experimental zones include rice fields, fish and shrimp ponds, with about one million people living in and near the site. The site is owned by Yancheng City: the Reserve management has managerial rights over the core areas, whilst local governments have managerial rights over the buffer zones, within agreed parameters.

Zhalong, Heilongjiang. Nature reserve. A system of permanent and seasonally flooded freshwater marshes, shallow lakes and ponds, with extensive reedbeds and grasslands. An important area for breeding, wintering, and staging migratory birds, supporting more than 500 species of plants, 42 species of fish, and numerous amphibians. Reed harvesting provides a major source of income.

Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve, Guangdong. The largest mangrove forest wetland reserve in China, located along coastal areas of the Leizhou Peninsula at the southernmost tip of China between the South China Sea and the Beibu Bay, adjacent to Hainan Island. Some 24 species of mangrove are said to be present, and at low tide large areas of exposed mudflats provide excellent support for migrating water birds. Like other mangrove forests, the somewhat separate components of the site provide sanctuary for offshore fish, sustenance for birds and other fauna, and coastal protection from waves, tides, and storm surges. The coastal and inshore area supports economic fishing and aquaculture for local people. Agricultural and urban development and fish farming have destroyed many of the former mangrove areas, but a comprehensive management and afforestation program for the Reserve, supported by the Netherlands, is helping to arrest damage done to some mangrove areas by farming and urban development.-Source: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands http://www.ramsar.org/

Chinese Land and Natural Resource Websites in English

Ministry of Land and Resources

http://www.mlr.gov.cn/english/english.htm

Ministry of Water Resources

http://www.mwr.gov.cn/english/index.htm

Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research http://www.bulletin.ac.cn/ACTION/2000113002.htm

China Meteorological Administration

http://www.cma.gov.cn/ywwz/