Hai nan

Hang zhou

Beijing park

China has a wide range of landscapes and climates. The country has been described as a staircase with three steps, descending from west to east. In the west is the icy plateau of Tibet, high in the towering Himalayas. Called "the roof of the world," the mountains are home to Mount Everest, the world's highest peak (8,848 metres). Central China consists of smaller mountains and foothills, deserts, salt lakes and the dry grasslands south of Mongolia. Western China descends into the low river plains that are the country's fertile heartland and the traditional home of the Han people, often called the Middle Kingdom. Great rivers such as the Chang Jing (Yangtze) and Huang He (Yellow) irrigate the region, which contains most of the country's population and cities, including Beijing.