Geographical environment of Qingcheng district

Qingcheng District is located in the north-central part of Guangdong Province, where the Pearl River Delta Plain meets the mountainous area of northern Guangdong, and it is the transitional zone between continental air mass and marine air. Because it is located in the low latitude, the Tropic of Cancer passes through the southern margin, which is influenced by the atmospheric circulation in the low latitude and restricted by the atmospheric circulation in the middle and high latitudes. In winter, it is on the edge of Mongolian high pressure, and the northerly airflow prevails. Whenever strong cold air moves south, its cold front will sweep across the area, leading to widespread cooling, strong winds and rainy weather. After the cold front crossed the border, the weather was generally fine under the control of cold high pressure. In early summer, on the northern edge of the western Pacific subtropical high, the southwest monsoon pushed to South China, bringing abundant rainfall. In the early autumn of midsummer, with the northward withdrawal of the westerly belt and the northward jump of the subtropical high, intertropical convergence zone also moved northward, and the typhoon activity increased, which was often affected by the tropical depression and typhoon circulation. However, due to the inland area, the intensity of most tropical cyclones has been greatly weakened when landing. Generally speaking, landing tropical cyclones have little impact on the regional environment, but landing tropical cyclones near the Pearl River Estuary have great impact on the regional environment, regardless of wind power or precipitation intensity. Generally speaking, tropical cyclone activities do more harm than good to the weather in this area, which can not only bring abundant precipitation, but also alleviate the high temperature weather. Spring and autumn are monsoon alternation periods. In spring, cold air in the south and warm air in the north often confront each other in South China, which often leads to long-term low temperature and rainy weather and less sunshine. The rainy season begins at this time and enters the pre-flood season in April. In autumn, the Mongolian cold high gradually formed, and the northeast monsoon gradually occupied the ground layer, but the upper air was still occupied by the subtropical high, and the number of tropical cyclone activities began to decrease, forming a sunny and dry autumn weather with little rainfall, low humidity, warm days and cool nights. At the same time, due to the sunny weather, large evaporation and little precipitation, drought disaster weather is prone to occur.

Qingcheng District belongs to the humid monsoon climate dominated by the tropical climate in Central Asia. It is influenced by the monsoon all year round, and the climate is distinct: cold and warm air alternates frequently in spring, and it is often cold and rainy. Summer is hot and sultry, and there are many thunderstorms in midsummer afternoon. Autumn is crisp and the temperature difference between day and night is large. It's colder in winter, with low temperature every year and frost in some years. There are abundant climatic resources, abundant sunshine and precipitation, and the rain and heat are basically in the same season, which is beneficial to crop growth. The climatic conditions are superior, but there are also many meteorological disasters such as heavy rain, drought, low temperature and rainy weather, hail, cold dew wind, frost and strong wind. Qingcheng District is located in the Tropic of Cancer, where all plants suitable for growth in the south subtropical zone can grow and reproduce. Plant resources are rich and diverse, and it is difficult to list them one by one. There are more than 450 kinds of common native plants and introduced plants. Among them, food crops include rice, sweet potato, cassava, corn, sorghum and millet.

Qingcheng District, located in the middle and lower reaches of Beijiang River, has both plain river networks and mountainous hills, which is conducive to the growth and reproduction of all kinds of animals. Animal resources are rich and varied. It is the main producing area of Qingyuan chicken, Qingyuan five geese and Qingyuan Zaohe duck in the province. Livestock and poultry raised artificially are described in detail in Animal Husbandry and Aquaculture, but some kinds of wild animals are not fully understood. The proven minerals in this area include albite, potash feldspar, kaolin, porcelain sand, limestone, granite, river sand, crystal stone and iron ore. Among them, albite, potash feldspar, kaolin, porcelain sand, building granite and river sand have large reserves and high grade. In addition, there are metasilicate mineral water and underground hot water (hot springs). The total mining area of the approved mining area is 2.96 square kilometers, and the mining methods are all open-pit mining operations.

Among the mineral resources, the main minerals distributed in Yuantan Town and Gao Qiao Town are albite, potash feldspar, porcelain sand, kaolin, crystal stone, limestone, building granite and iron ore. At the same time, Gao Qiao Town contains metasilicate mineral water resources, and Yuantan Town contains clay (white and black). The main minerals distributed in Longtang Town are granite, porcelain sand, kaolin, albite, potash feldspar and iron ore. The main minerals distributed in Yinzhan Forest Farm are porcelain sand, kaolin, albite, potash feldspar, building granite and underground hot water. The main minerals distributed in Shijiao Town are kaolin, clay, limestone and river sand. There are a lot of clay and river sand in Zhou Xin Town, Henghe Town and affiliated towns.

There are abundant mineral resources and ceramic raw materials. There are 35 million tons of porcelain sand and kaolin in Yuantan Town alone, which can be mined for more than 50 years (1970). There are 5 million tons of albite in Cangkou, Gao Qiao Town (data of Wuhan Geological Survey 1975).