Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: 黃土高原; pinyin: Huángtǔ Gāoyuán), also known as the Huangtu Plateau, is a plateau that covers an area of some 640,000 km² in the upper and middle reaches of China's Yellow River. Loess is the name for the silty sediment that has been deposited by wind storms on the plateau over the ages. Loess is a highly erosion-prone soil that is susceptible to the forces of wind and water; in fact, the soil of this region has been called the "most highly erodible soil on earth". The Loess Plateau and its dusty soil cover almost all of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, as well as parts of Gansu province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

History

Historically the Loess Plateau has provided simple yet insulated shelter from the cold winter and hot summer in the region, as homes called yaodong (窰洞) were often carved into the loess soil; in medieval times people stayed here to grow rice; some families still live in this kind of shelter in modern times. During the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake, 830,000 people were killed as a result of collapsing loess caves. The yaodongs that are best known to the world are perhaps those in Yan'an where the Communist Party led by Mao Zedong headquartered in 1930s. When Edgar Snow, the author of Red Star Over China, visited Mao and his party, he lived in a yaodong. In ancient times, this region was also an important center of the Silk Road. Goods moving by caravan to the west included gold, rubies, jade, textiles, coral, ivory, and art works. In the opposite direction moved bronze weapons, furs, ceramics, and cinnamon bark.

Podcasts:

PLAYLIST TIME:

Warmth Of The Sun

by: Louis Eliot

Here comes the day
Falling in through the curtains
And all it says is the future is uncertain
I don't care that the world stops
For nothing and no one
I can feel the rain drops
And the warmth of the sun
There go the waves
On the beach gently breaking
They wash away all the marks
I've been making
I don't care that the world stops
For nothing and no one
I can feel the rain drops
And the warmth of the sun
I drive the car
I don't care where I'm going
I see the wind
In your hair
As it's blowing
I don't care that the world stops
For nothing and no one
I can feel the rain drops




Latest News for: loess plateau

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Xi Story: A chat on the village bench

China Daily 21 Mar 2025
On Monday afternoon, that was exactly where he was ... Tourism's a large industry now." ... Over a half century ago, he labored for seven years on the Loess Plateau, working the fields, herding livestock, and hauling coal ... Xi flashed a smile ... Photo ... .
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Getting world drawn to China

China Daily 19 Mar 2025
The Loess Plateau in north-central China once buried the ores or metals under layers of heavy windblown dust ... vast landscape, from the plains with fields of rice to the endlessly stretching plateau.
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‘All the birds returned’: How China led the way in water and soil conservation

The Guardian 14 Mar 2025
The Loess plateau was the most eroded place on Earth until China took action and reversed decades of damage ...
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First Thing: Chuck Schumer to back Republican funding bill to avoid shutdown

AOL 14 Mar 2025
At the end of the 20th century, overcultivation meant China’s Loess plateau – once a thriving, fertile landscape – was considered the most most eroded place on Earth, according to a documentary by the ecologist John D Liu.
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Spring tide surging blueprint, the wisdom of a new journey – The 2025 China two ...

GetNews 11 Mar 2025
From the loess plateau to the coast of the South China Sea, from the quantum laboratory to the intelligent production line, the 2025 China two sessions will not only outline the magnificent blueprint ...
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