To understand Chinese geography, you need to remember the Yellow River, Hua Liver, and Yangtze River.
The Yellow River is the river that separates the Middle Kingdom from the rest of China. It was around this river that Chinese civilization began. The basin encompassed by the Yellow River and its tributary, the Wei River, was known as Guanzhong, and it was the center of the Middle Kingdom. The capital of the Qin Dynasty, Chang'an (now Xi'an), was located here.
The Huaihe (淮河), which means Water River, used to be the boundary between North and South China (as opposed to North and South China, the modern administrative divisions of China), and it was said that the climate was so different along this river that crossing it to the south would make you three years younger. There is a saying that a tangerine becomes a tangerine when it crosses Huaihe.
(“귤이 회수를 건너면 탱자가 된다”는 귤화위지, 橘化爲枳 )
In China, the Yangtze River is commonly called the Long River or Chang Jiang. The area below this river is called Gangnam. The three kingdoms of Wei, Quan, and Wu were located in Jiangnan. Shanghai, the economic center of China, is located just below where the Yangtze meets the sea.
1. Zhongyuan (Middle Kingdom)
In the western part of Shandong Province is Mount Tai. This Mount Tai literally means Big Mountain, a mere speck in the sky. To the east of Mount Tai is Shandong Province, and to the west of Mount Tai is Shaanxi Province. North of the Yellow River is Hebei Province, and south of the Yellow River is Henan Province. To the west of Hebei is another province, Shanxi, and when you read the name in Chinese pronunciation without the tones, the two provinces sound the same. This is what used to be called the Middle Kingdom, including Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi, and another Shaanxi province.
2. Northeast
In Liaoning, there is a river called the Yohara. The eastern part of this river is Yodong, and the western part is Yixi. This is the land of Yodong, which is often mentioned in Goguryeo history. The Geiran people started in this area, and the name of the country they created was also "Yo". Jilin province is home to the well-known Yanbian Korean Autonomous Region.
3. Southwest
In the southwestern region is Sichuan, a province famous for its Sichuan cuisine. Many herbs have a name starting with 'Chuan', like Chuan Nan Xing, or Chuan Bei Mu, which means that the herb is from the Sichuan region. Sichuan, has a humid subtropical climate with four distinct seasons. The summers are hot and humid, with an average temperature of around 25-30°C (77-86°F). The winters are cold and damp, with an average temperature of around 5-10°C (41-50°F). Sichuan also experiences a monsoon climate, with the majority of its rainfall occurring between May and October. The rainy season is characterized by heavy downpours and occasional flooding. Southeast of Sichuan is the world's largest city, Chongqing, which was formerly part of Sichuan and became independent under Deng Xiaoping. Together with Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, Chongqing is one of China's four most powerful cities.
5. Development of Jiangnan
Jiangnan literally means the south of the river, which means the Long River. A prosperous region of China since the Song Dynasty, the so-called Jiangnan region refers to the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai areas, and is often equated with Jiangdong. The inland provinces of Jiangxi and Anhui could also be considered Gangnam, but they are relatively poorer. Suzhou and Hangzhou are famous for being the most livable cities in China, and have been praised by countless writers and artists for their beauty and richness. Medicine developed in a unique way in the Song dynasty, based on Jiangnan. They are more focused on tonifying with warming medicines and restoring vital energy.
Originally, since the Shang Dynasty, the main center of Chinese history was the Middle Kingdom, represented by Luoyang in present-day Henan and Chang'an in Shanxi, but as the region became less powerful and the climate changed, the political center of gravity naturally shifted to Hebei, also known as Yan'an. Until the Han Dynasty, the Jiangnan area was heterogeneous, with many Southeast Asian languages being spoken, but as was the case in North China, Jiangnan's development was slow, until Sun Quan established the Five Kingdoms here, and it began to develop in earnest during the Sixth Dynasty, when a large number of Huaibei people came down to escape the invasion. Thanks to the abundance of goods in the Yangtze River(Long River) basin, economic prosperity overtook North China by the Middle Ages and created a culture with a different atmosphere from that of North China. While the Hubei region is heavily infused with nomadic culture due to the fact that it was often ruled by northern nomadic peoples, the Jiangnan region has a history of conflict between the Han Chinese and northerners along the Yangtze River, so traditional Han culture is relatively well preserved compared to the Hubei. The region has also had a long history of trade with other cultures, including the West, so much of the Chinese culture that has spread to other parts of the world can be traced back to Jiangnan.
also check the following site;
http://www.csun.edu/~bavarian/ancient_chinese_metallurgy_files/China_report_2005.pdf