Northern China or North China (simplified Chinese: 华北; traditional Chinese: 華北; pinyin: Huáběi; literally "China's north") is a geographical region of China. The heartland of North China is the North China Plain, or the Yellow River Plain.
The vast region in China in the Yellow River Valley and north to the Yangtze River was the centre of Chinese empires, and home to Confucian civilization. In prehistoy and early history, the plain (Henan in particular) is considered the origin of Chinese civilization in official Chinese history. The region cultivated wheat, and most speak Mandarin as their dialects, a language that today being established as the de facto language of the People's Republic of China. The region remains the political, military, and cultural center of the PRC to this day.
Read more about North China: History, Administrative Divisions in The PRC
Famous quotes containing the words north and/or china:
“Biography is a very definite region bounded on the north by history, on the south by fiction, on the east by obituary, and on the west by tedium.”
—Philip Guedalla (1889–1944)
“The roof of England fell
Great Paris tolled her bell
And China staunched her milk and wept for bread”
—Karl Shapiro (b. 1913)