Hubei is located in the transitional region from the second to the third terrace in the terrain of China, thus having a variety of landforms. It is surrounded by Wuling, Wushan, Daba, Wudang, Tongbai, Dabie and Mufu mountains on the west, north and east. Lying in the central and southern parts are the Jianghan Plain which extends to Hunan Province to link with the Dongting Lake Plain. Except for the hills on the fringes of the plain, the altitude on the plain is 35 meters or lower above sea level. The proportion of various landforms to the total area of the province is as follows: Mountains, 55.5 percent; hills and hillocks, 24.5 percent; and plain and lake areas, 20 percent. The elevation of different parts varies greatly. Shennong Summit, the highest peak of Shennongjia in west Hubei, which is known as the "Roof of Central China," is 3,105 meters above sea level, while Tanjiayuan of Jianli County on the eastern plain has an elevation of zero.

Climate

Hubei has a subtropical monsoon climate. It enjoys abundant sunlight, with the annual amount of solar radiation totaling 85-114 kilocalories per square cm and annual duration of sunshine averaging 1,200-2,200 hours. Temperature is on the high side, with annual temperature averaging between 13-18℃. The highest temperature can reach 41℃, while the lowest temperature can drop to 14.9℃. The short frost period and abundant precipitation are favorable for agriculture. There are 230 to 300 days free of frost in a year and the annual rainfall has stood at 1,182.3 mm for many years. But rainfall is unevenly distributed. The amount of precipitation in the Wuling mountainous area is as high as 1,600-1,700 mm, while that in west Hubei is as low as 700-800 mm.

Natural resources

By 1997, Hubei had discovered 136 kinds of minerals, 86 of which having their reserves verified. The reserves of phosphorus ore, hongshiite, wollastonite, garnet and marlstone rank the fifth in China, and several others, including iron, phosphorus, copper, gypsum, rock salt, gold amalgam, manganese and vanadium, rank the seventh nationally. But Hubei lacks energy minerals, with limited verified reserves of coal, petroleum and natural gas. The province's recoverable reserves of coal stand at 548 million tons.

Hubei has 10th largest water-surface area in China. The province has 1,193 rivers of different sizes, their lengths totaling 37,000 km. Among these rivers, 42 run more than 100 km. The Yangtze River flows 1,061 km traversing Hubei from west to east. The Hanjiang River, the largest tributary of the Yangtze, runs 878 km in Hubei from northwest to southeast before emptying into the Yangtze River at Wuhan. Hubei has long been famed as a "province of thousand lakes." There were more than 1,300 lakes in the province in 1985, including 300 major ones which were three square kilometers each or larger in size. The majority of the lakes are distributed in the Jianghan Plain. Hubei is rich in underground water resources. Of its estimated 265 billion cubic meters of underground water reserves, 35.57 billion cubic meters are ready for annual extraction, approximately amounting to 36 percent of the province's average annual surface runoff.

Hubei is rich in waterpower resources, with an usable capacity of 33.4 million kw, ranking fourth in China. Hydropower undertakings have developed rapidly. The annual hydropower generation approaches 24.19 billion kwh, accounting for two-thirds of the province's total power generation and 19.08 percent of the national total, ranking first nationally. Hubei boasts China's largest hydropower station  the Gezhouba Hydropower Station. Other large and medium-sized hydropower stations include Danjiangkou, Geheyan, Hanjiang, Duhe, Huanglongtan, Bailianhe, Lushui and Fushui. Numerous small hydropower facilities spread across the province. The construction of the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River is in full swing. Expected to begin power generation in 2003, the project will be installed with 26 generating units, each with a capacity of 700,000-kw and the total installed capacity to reach 18.2 million kw. Its annual power production will be 84.7 billion kwh. In addition, some thermal power stations have been built in Wuhan, Jingmen, Huangshi and some other places in recent years.

Hubei has a land area of 185,897 square kilometers, constituting 1.94 percent of the national total. The area of cultivated land is approximately 3.35 million hectares, with per-capita area standing at 0.06 hectares.

There are 570 species of terrestrial vertebrates in Hubei. Dozens of them have been listed as rare animals under state protection. They include golden-haired monkey, serow, leopard (Panthera pardus), white bear, white musk, white deer, white snake, white-crowned king pheasant and red-bellied tragopan. There are also 175 kinds of fish, accounting for about one quarter of the country's total freshwater fish species. Rare species under key state protection include Chinese sturgeon, Chinese paddlefish, mullet and giant salamander.

Hubei boasts both large numbers of broad-leaved deciduous species, which are typical plants of north China, and many broad-leaved evergreen species, which are popular in southern China. There are more than 2,000 species of wild plants, including some 1,300 kinds of medicinal plants and over 30 species either rare in the world or peculiar to China. The well-preserved Shennongjia virgin forest is a natural park of subtropical fauna and flora.

Tourism resources

Hubei's tourism resources feature both beautiful landscapes and abundant places of historic and cultural interest. There are six national-level scenic spots, 13 national forest parks and three national nature reserves. Shennongjia has been listed in the UNESCO's program of Man and Biosphere and Wudang Mountain in the list of World Cultural and Natural Heritages. The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, Yellow Crane Tower and Gezhouba have been listed among China's top 40 tourist scenic sports. Hubei encompasses five famous historical and cultural cites designated by the state, 20 cultural sites under state protection, 365 cultural sites under provincial protection, five sites of Chu city ruins, 73 Chu Cultural sites and over 140 sites relating to the Three Kingdoms (220-265).

Environment and current issues

Sulfur dioxide, smoke and dust from burning coal remain the dominant pollutants in the air. Ammonia and nitrogen are the chief pollutants for contamination of rivers, followed by permanganate.

Control program: So far over 50 percent of the 94 projects listed in the "Cross-century Green Projects of Hubei Province (First Phase)" have been completed. The Hubei Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau has finished the drafting of the "Programs of Hubei Province for Environmental Protection in the 10th Five-Year Plan Period and Through to 2010" and the plan for the second phase of the "Green Projects of Hubei Province."