Question

How did the location of the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts, the Himalaya Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean impact early settlement in China?

Answer 1

Ancient China was isolated from the rest of the world due to its geography, which made it very difficult for its population to interact and do business with other civilizations, to obtain certain types of food and materials and to know what happened outside their borders.

The country has two of the world’s largest deserts: the Taklamakan Desert (known for its extreme temperatures, poisonous snakes and sandstorms - also called “Sea of Death”) and the Gobi Desert (which was very cold). The Himalaya Mountains and the Pacific Ocean also contributed to isolate China and shape its development and cultural aspects.  

That said, it is clear that China’s geography impacted its early settlement,  isolating its population from the rest of the world for a long time.

Answer 2

As the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts were not good for agriculture, the early settlements of Chinese civilization were in the valleys of the Yellow river and the Yangtze River. This valleys and their easy acces to water proveded a fertile land for agriculture, the himalayan mountains and the Pacific ocean kept them isolated from other civilizations of the world and provided geographic protection.