CHAPTER IV. 
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF SHAN-TUNG, 
By BaILey WILLIS. 

GENERAL CONSIDERATION. 
Surroundings and character of the mountain district.—The mountain 
peninsula of Shan-tung is about 360 miles, 580 kilometers, long from 
northeast to southwest, and from 50 to 125 miles, 80 to 200 kilometers, 
wide. The sea bounds its eastern half, the coast being often bold and 
deeply indented. The great flood-plain of the Huang-ho, but slightly 
elevated above the sea, surrounds its western half and enters the moun- 
tain district in deep embayments. Thus the long and narrow mountain- 
ous peninsula descends on all sides directly to base-level. 
As a mountain region Shan-tung is peculiar in the extent and arrange- 
ment of the valleys. Lowlands penetrate far into and even across the 
mountainous areas. The rivers meander through wide flood-plains, even 
near their sources. Mountains occur as isolated individuals or in groups, 
but only exceptionally in well-defined ranges. They vary greatly in 
altitude, not only in different parts of the peninsula, but in one and the 
same district. The distribution of altitudes is irregular and unsystematic. 
The highest peak, T’ai-shan, 5,000 feet, 1,500 meters, is but 30 miles, 48 
kilometers, from the Yellow river and rises abruptly from the wide Wén-ho 
valley. Other conspicuous heights vary from 2,000 to 4,000 feet, 600 to 
1,200 meters, and there are many separate lesser hills. 
DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS. 
Description of the plains and valleys.—The great flood-plain of the 
Huang-ho is composed of alluvial loess, brought by the river and 
deposited in the depression which surrounds the western end of the moun- 
tains. Before 1862 the course of the stream was to the south of Shan- 
tung; it is now to the north. This change, which has shifted the mouth 
of the river 250 miles, 400 kilometers, is typical of the migration of the 
stream in the past, and illustrates the manner in which it has spread the 
alluvium of the great plains of eastern China. 
The activity of the Huang-ho is like that of other streams flowing 
from the mountain regions of Shan-tung. The I-ho, W6n-ho, and the 
many small streams which flow northward to the inner Yellow sea, have 
built out alluvial plains, which coalesce with that of the Huang-ho and 
extend the surrounding lowlands. 
75 
