Bashang Plateau or Bashang Grasslands () covers about of northwest

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

and bordering areas of

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

in the counties of Zhangbei,

Guyuan (), formerly known as Xihaigu (, Xiao'erjing: قُ‌يُوًا شِ), is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It occupies the southernmost section of the region, bordering Gansu provinc ...

Fengning Fengning Manchu Autonomous County (; Manchu: ; Mölendroff: fengning manju beye dasangga siyan) is a Manchu autonomous county of northern Hebei province, bordering Beijing to the southwest and Inner Mongolia to the north, and lying under the admin ...

, and Weichang in Hebei and Kangbao and Shangyi in Inner Mongolia.

Topography

It is on average 1,300 - 1,600 meters above sea level and is part of the

. Though the plateau itself is high it does not have tall mountain peaks nor depressions. From a distance it appears to be hills, but appears mostly flat land when there. The plateau is dotted with hills and many lakes. The largest lake, Angulinuo Lake is in area and 2–6 meters in depth.

Climate

Average annual temperature on the plateau is 2.6 °C, and the lowest recorded temperature is -34.8 °C. The average length of frost free period is 110 days, with a minimum of 70 days. Water resources are few; most of the supply comes from wells. The area supports dry land agriculture, with limited areas of irrigation using ground water. Soil conditions are poor but the plateau is covered mostly by vast natural grasslands, a good environment for animal husbandry.

External links

Photo of grasslands of the Bashang Plateau

China Earthquake: Country and Sector Background
Plateaus of China Landforms of Hebei {{Zhangjiakou-geo-stub