The plateau is one of the most widely distributed and largest terrains on the mainland, mainly distributed in the southwest and northwest regions. The plateau provinces of the mainland are Tibet, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, etc., of which Inner Mongolia is more "standard". The plateau is generally above 500 meters above sea level, the relative height difference is less than 200 meters, and its main characteristics are higher altitude and relatively gentle terrain.
Compared with the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the Inner Mongolia Plateau has a lower altitude and terrain. The main body of the Inner Mongolia Plateau is in Inner Mongolia, with an average altitude of 1,000 meters, less undulating terrain, and lack of large mountain ranges, which can be said to be the most "standard" plateau in China. Located in the southwest region, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is located in the mountains and valleys, which is one of the most rugged areas of the mainland, in addition to the high altitude, the terrain of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is not flat.
It is not so much a plateau as it is a mountainous plateau. The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, which is located between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the southeast hills, can be divided into two parts: the Yunnan Plateau and the Guizhou Plateau, of which the terrain and terrain of the Guizhou Plateau are very different from those of the Yunnan Plateau. The Guizhou Plateau includes the whole territory of Guizhou, with an average altitude of 1,000 meters, the terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast, the Weining area at the border of Yunnan in the northwest is more than 2,000 meters above sea level, and the marginal altitude of the southeast provincial border is mostly below 800 meters.
In addition to the low altitude of Yunnan, the scarcity of flat land is also a major feature of the Guizhou Plateau. Guizhou is known as "the only province without plain support", lacking contiguous flat areas, the largest dam in the province is the Huishui Dam, with an area of less than 100 square kilometers, while Yunnan has an area of more than 100 square kilometers of 49 dams. Most of guizhou has rugged terrain, significant karst landforms, and sparse arable land, which is "contrary to the geographical characteristics of the plateau's gentle terrain", so it can be said that Guizhou is a "pseudo-plateau" province, so why is the Guizhou Plateau tied together with the Yunnan Plateau and called the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau?
The internal topography of the Guizhou Plateau is dominated by mountains and hills, but from a larger perspective, Guizhou has some characteristics of the plateau. The guizhou plateau is an extension of the Yunnan plateau, and the overall terrain is hundreds of meters higher than the surrounding Chongqing, Hunan and Guangxi. Most of the continent's plateaus are above 1,000 meters above sea level, and the hills are below 1,000 meters above sea level. Except for the border area, most of Guizhou is 800 meters to 1500 meters above sea level. Secondly, the Guizhou Plateau is "entangled" with the Yunnan Plateau in terms of causes, and in history, Guizhou has often been regarded as a whole with Yunnan, and called the Yunnan-Guizhou region.
The lack of large natural lakes is also a major "divide" between the Guizhou Plateau and the Yunnan Plateau. Among the four major plateaus on the mainland, in addition to the climatic reasons for the high loess, the other three plateaus all have natural lakes with an area of 100 square kilometers, or even more than 1,000 square kilometers. The large lakes of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau are mainly distributed in the Yunnan Plateau, such as Dianchi Lake, Erhai Lake, Fuxian Lake, etc., and their area is mostly more than 50 square kilometers. Guizhou not only has few lakes, but also has a small area of these lakes, of which the grass sea area is about 31 square kilometers, about one-tenth of dianchi Lake, which is the largest natural lake on the Guizhou Plateau.