Despite China's obvious and growing importance on the world stage, it remains often and easily misunderstood. Perhaps this is due in part to the pace of the nation's remarkable rise and the many economic, political, and environmental problems that have accompanied its growth. Indeed, there are many Chinas, as this comprehensive survey of contemporary China vividly illustrates.

Now in a thoroughly revised and updated third edition that offers the only all-embracing geography of the reform era, this book traces the changes occurring in this powerful and ancient nation across both time and space. Beginning with China's diverse landscapes and environments, and continuing through its formative history and tumultuous recent past, the authors present contemporary China as a product of both internal and external forces of past and present. They consider past and present successes and difficulties, including environmental challenges, while placing China in its international context as a massive, still-developing nation that must meet the needs of its 1.4 billion citizens while becoming a major regional and global player. Through clear prose and140 insightful maps, tables, and photos, China's Geography illustrates and explains the great differences in economy, politics, and society found throughout China's many regions.

Full-color versions of all the maps, figures, and photographs in the book are available on the China's Geography website at http://chinadatacenter.org/chinageography, along with a number of additional maps and data sets that can be used for class exercises or as the basis for student research papers and presentations. The site also offers links to the authors' favorite YouTube videos, sources of statistical data on China, and an on-line mapping website.