Editing Geography of China (section)

===Xinjiang-Mongolia===
{{Main article|Northwestern China|Inner Mongolia}}
Northwest of the Tibetan Plateau, between the northern slope of Kunlun and southern slope of Tian Shan, is the vast [[Tarim Basin]] of [[Xinjiang]], which contains the [[Taklamakan Desert]]. The Tarim Basin, the largest in China, measures {{convert|1500|km|mi|abbr=on}} from east to west and {{convert|600|km|mi|abbr=on}} from north to south at its widest parts. Average elevation in the basin is 1,000 m. To the east, the basin descends into the [[Turpan Depression|Hami-Turpan Depression]] of eastern Xinjiang, where the dried lake bed of [[Lake Ayding]], at −154m below sea level, is the lowest surface point in China and [[List of countries by lowest point|the third-lowest in the world]]. With temperatures that have reached 49.6 C., the lake bed ranks as one of the hottest places in China. North of Tian Shan is Xinjiang's second great basin, the [[Dzungaria|Junggar]], which contains the [[Gurbantünggüt Desert]]. The Junggar Basin is enclosed to the north by the [[Altay Mountains]], which separate Xinjiang from Russia and Mongolia.

Northeast of the Tibetan Plateau, the [[Altun Shan]]-[[Qilian Mountains]] range branches off the Kunlun and creates a parallel mountain range running east–west. In between in northern Qinghai is the [[Qaidam Basin]], with elevations of 2,600–3,000 m and numerous brackish and salt lakes. North of the Qilian is [[Hexi Corridor]] of Gansu, a natural passage between Xinjiang and [[China Proper]] that was part of the ancient [[Silk Road]] and traversed by modern highway and rail lines to Xinjiang. Further north, the [[Mongolian Plateau|Inner Mongolian Plateau]], between 900 and 1,500 m in elevation, arcs north up the spine of China and becomes the [[Greater Hinggan]] Range of [[Northeast China]].

Between the Qinling and the Inner Mongolian Plateau is [[Loess Plateau]], the largest of its kind in the world, covering {{convert|650000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} in [[Shaanxi]], parts of [[Gansu]] and [[Shanxi]] provinces, and some of [[Ningxia]]-Hui Autonomous Region. The plateau is 1,000–1,500m in elevation and is filled with loess, a yellowish, loose soil that travels easily in the wind. Eroded loess silt gives the [[Yellow River]] its color and name. The Loess Plateau is bound to the east by the Luliang Mountain of Shanxi, which has a narrow basin running north to south along the Fen River. Further east are the [[Taihang Mountains]] of Hebei, the dominant topographical feature of [[North China]].
[[File:Bayanbulak grassland.jpg|thumb|600px|center|The Bayan Bulak Grasslands in [[Hejing County]] of the [[Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture]] in [[Xinjiang]]]]

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| caption4 = The tallest peak entirely within China is [[Shishapangma]] (8013m, 14th) of the Tibetan Himalayas in [[Nyalam County]] of [[Tibet Autonomous Region]]
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 | caption5  = The north face of [[Mount Everest]] in the [[Himalayas]] from the Tibetan side of the China-Nepal border
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 | caption6  = The [[Karakorum Range]] in [[Xinjiang]]}}

;Highlands
The [[List of highest mountains|world's tallest mountains]], the [[Karakorum]], [[Pamirs]] and [[Tian Shan]] divide China from [[South Asia|South]] and [[Central Asia]]. Eleven of the seventeen tallest mountain peaks on Earth are located on China's western borders. They include the world's tallest peak [[Mount Everest]] (8848 m) in the [[Himalayas]] on the border with Nepal and the world's second tallest peak, [[K2]] (8611 m) on the border with [[Pakistan]].  From these towering heights in the west, the land descends in steps like a terrace.

North of the Himalayas and east of the Karakorum/Pamirs is the vast [[Tibetan Plateau]]. It is the largest and highest plateau in the world, and for this reason is also informally known as the "Roof of the World". Its average elevation is 4000 meters above sea level. Its area is 2.5 million square kilometers which is just over a quarter of China's total area. In the north, the plateau is hemmed in by the [[Kunlun Mountains]], which extends eastward from the intersection of the Pamirs, Karakorum and Tian Shan.

;Tallest mountain peaks
Besides Mt. Everest and K2, the other 9 of the world's 17 tallest peaks on China's western borders are: [[Lhotse]] (8516 m, 4th highest), [[Makalu]] (8485 m, 5th), [[Cho Oyu]] (8188 m, 6th), [[Gyachung Kang]] (7952 m, 15th) of the Himalayas on the border with [[Nepal]] and [[Gasherbrum I]] (8080 m, 11th), [[Broad Peak]] (8051 m, 12th), [[Gasherbrum II]] (8035 m, 13th), [[Gasherbrum III]] (7946 m, 16th) and [[Gasherbrum IV]] (7932 m, 17th) of the Karakorum on the border with [[Pakistan]]. The tallest peak entirely within China is [[Shishapangma]] (8013 m, 14th) of the Tibetan Himalayas in [[Nyalam County]] of [[Tibet Autonomous Region]].  In all, 9 of the 14 mountain peaks in the world over 8,000 m are in or on the border of China.  Another notable Himalayan peak in China is [[Namchabarwa]] (7782 m, 28th), near the great bend of the Yarlungtsanpo (upper [[Brahmaputra River|Brahmaputra]]) River in eastern Tibet, and considered to be the eastern anchor of the Himalayas.

Outside the Himalayas and Karakorum, China's tallest peaks are [[Kongur Tagh]] (7649 m, 37th) and [[Muztagh Ata]] (7546 m, 43rd) in the Pamirs of western [[Xinjiang]], [[Gongga Shan]] (7556 m, 41st) in the [[Daxue Mountain|Great Snowy Mountains]] of western [[Sichuan]]; and [[Jengish Chokusu|Tömür Shan]] (7439 m, 60th), the highest peak of Tian Shan, on the border with [[Kyrgyzstan]].