Sichuan is located in the Southwest backland of China and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is in the West and Sichuan Basin in the East. The geological movement and the stupendous changes of billions of years have created the magnificent and precipitous scenery of Ba-Shu. Sichuan is situated in a corridor between the blending of the East and the West and the transition from South and the North. For many years, not only is it beneficial to blend and absorb the advantages of the East and the West, but also it is the communications center of the cultural exchange of the South and the North. The essence of the civilization of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River nurtures the extensive and magnificent Ba-Shu culture. Sichuan currently covers an area of 486,000 km². As of the end of the September, 2016, there is permanent resident population of 91 million in Sichuan. Sichuan has jurisdiction over 21 cities (autonomous prefectures) and 182 counties (cities and districts).
Terrain of Sichuan
The terrain of China’s mainland forms a flight of three steps in terms of altitude. Sichuan lies between the first step, namely Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and the second step, namely the Middle-lower Yangtze Plain. It is high in the west while low in the east, demonstrating a distinct disparity in terms of altitude.
Plateaux and mountainous areas can be seen in west Sichuan with elevations of over 4,000 meters above sea level, while basins and hilly areas can be found in the east, with elevations of 1,000 to 3,000 meters above sea level. The whole Sichuan province can be divided into three parts: the Sichuan Basin, Sichuan Northwest Plateau and Sichuan Southwest Mountains. Sichuan has a complex and varied topography with mountains and plateaus being the most outstanding feature.
The Western Sichuan, known as the Western Sichuan Plateau, is the edge part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an elevation of 4,000 to 4,900 m and tilted from the North to the South. It can be generally divided into two parts: Northwest Sichuan Plateau and Southwest Sichuan Mountain. The long geological evolution has condensed unparalleled natural beautiful sceneries, such as Jiuzhaigou Valley, Yellow Dragon Scenic Area and Hailuogou Valley, etc.; The vicissitudes of the society and history have created mysterious and primitive Tibetan, Qiang and Yi flavors. Sichuan Basin is in the East, covering an area of 162,000 km2, which is one of the most abundant and varied basins in China’s Four Large Basins. It is diamond-shaped and is often referred to as “red basin” because the surface sediments are purplish-red sandstone and shale. The Western part of the Basin is the
Chengdu Plain with vast expanse of fertile land.
Chengdu Plain, also commonly known as the “Western Sichuan Plain”, covering an area of 6,000 km2, is the largest plain in the southwest of China. The plain is gentle, with criss-crossing canals and rivers, fertile land, which is beneficial to the development of gravity irrigation. Due to its long history of reclamation and cultivation, it is renowned as the “Land of Abundance” and is an important grain and oil base and long-standing ancient culture area. On the periphery of the Basin, there is Daba Mountain and Micang Mountain to the North, Qionglai Mountain and Longmen Mountain to the West, Dalou Mountain and Daliang Mountain to the South, and Wushan Mountain to the East. Mountains around the Basin are like grand arms, broadly and gently embracing the Basin. Most rivers in China flow from these mountains to Yangtze River. Because Daba Mountain, Wushan Mountain and Dalou Mountain belong to the ancient Ba nationality region dominated by mountains and hills; and Chengdu Plain is the center of the region of ancient Shu, most major rivers in Sichuan flow from here to the Yangtze River is historically referred to as Sichuan's mountains and rivers as “mountains and rivers in Sichuan”.
The Sichuan Basin, covering an area of 165,000 square km, is one of the four largest in the country.This Basin is surrounded by mountainous regions, having the Qinling Mountains in the north, Micang Mountain, Daba Mountain in the east, the Dalou Mountain in the south, and Longmen Mountain, Qionglai Mountains in the northwest. The regional climate is warm and humid, warm in winter and hot in summer, most areas with annual rainfall of 900 to 1200 mm. Sichuan enjoys a subtropical humid monsoon climate and its vegetation is subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest. The pattern of agricultural use is double cropping in a year. The west are of Sichuan Basin is Chuanxi Plain which is the irrigation area of Dujiangyan. The lands in West Sichuan Plain are fertile and with high productivity. The middle of Sichuan Basin is purple hill area, 400 to 800 meters above sea level, whose terrain is slightly tilted to the south. Minjiang River, Tuojiang River, Fujiang River, Jialing River run to south through its north mountains and join Yangtze River. Besides, the east of Sichuan Basin is East Sichuan Parallel Range Gorge Region, including Huaying Mountain, Tongluo Mountain, and Mingyue Mountain.
The northwest of Sichuan Province is Northwest Sichuan Plateau, belonging to the southeast corner of Tibetan Plateau, average elevation of 3,000 to 5,000 meters, alpine climate, covered with alpine meadow vegetation.
The southwest of Sichuan Province is the north section of Hengduan Mountains with high mountains and stiff valleys. Rivers flow through mountains alternatively. The rivers and mountains are from east to west Minshan Mountain, Minjiang River, Qionglai Mountain, Dadu River, Daxue Mountain, Yalong River, Shualuli Mountain and Jinsha River. The climate and vegetation here are in vertical distribution, mainly including boreal coniferous forests, temperate mixed broadleaf-conifer forests, northern subtropical mixed evergreen and deciduous forests, and middle subtropical mixed evergreen and broadleaf forests.
There are four geomorphic types, that is, mountainous areas, hilly areas, plains and plateaus, accounting for 77.1%, 12.9%, 5.3%, and 4.7% respectively of the gross area of Sichuan.
Sichuan boasts rich soil types. There are 25 great soil groups, 66 subgroups, 137 soil genus and 380 soil species. The number of soil groups and subgroups take up 43.48% and 32.06% respectively of the national total.
Water Resources of Sichuan
Sichuan has heavy rainfall, and its water resources are among the richest in the country. The average annual precipitation is 488.975 billion cubic meters. The richest water resources of Sichuan are rivers and streams. Sichuan is well known as “thousand-river province”, for it boasts nearly 1,400 rivers and streams large and small. The total volume of Sichuan’s water resources approximates 348.97 billion cubic meters. In addition, there are 54.69 billion cubic meters of underground water resources, with the exploitable amount of 11.5 billion cubic meters. Sichuan is covered with over 1,000 lakes and more than 200 glaciers. There are also swamps of a considerable area, most of which spread in northwest and southwest Sichuan. The total water storage capacity of lakes is about 1.5 billion cubic meters. Plus that of marshes, the total amounts to about 3.5 billion cubic meters.
Land Resources of Sichuan
Sichuan’s land resources can be classified into 8 first-class land use types, 45 second-class land use types and 62 third-class land use types. Except for rubber plantations, all the first-class and second-class land use types in other provinces can be found in Sichuan, which makes Sichuan quite typical in
China. Forestry and animal husbandry are the main forms of land use, and the land for such uses is mainly confined to the mountainous areas around the basins and the western mountains and plateaus, accounting for 68.9% of Sichuan’s total land area; farmland is mostly in the eastern basin areas and low mountainous and hilly areas, accounting for over 85% of Sichuan’s total farmland; garden land is mainly in the basins, hilly areas, and southwestern mountainous areas, accounting for over 70% of Sichuan’s total garden land; and land for transportation and construction is mainly in the plains and hilly areas where the economy is more developed.
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