Located in East Asia, on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, the People's Republic of China (PRC) 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.

Taking a bird¡¯s-eye view of China, the terrain gradually descends from west to east like a staircase.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau rose continuously to become the top of the four-step ¡°staircase,¡± averaging more than 4,000 m above sea level, and called ¡°the roof of the world.¡± Soaring 8,848 m above sea level on the plateau is Mt. Qomolangma, 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.

Four Major Plateaus: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau/Inner Mongolia Plateau/Loess Plateau/Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau	Five Major Basins: Junggar Basin/Tarim Basin/Turpan Basin/Qaidam Basin/Sichuan Basin
Main Mountain Range: Tianshan/Kunlun/Qianling/Himalaya/Hengduan/Qinling/Taihang/Great Hinggan	Lakes: Qinghai Lake/Poyang Lake/Dongting Lake/Hulun Nur/Taihu Lake/Hongze Lake/Namco Lake/Weishan Lake
Rivers: Yangtze River/Yellow River/Heilongjiang River/Songhuajiang River/Liaohe River/Pearl River/Huaihe River/Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal