Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is the fourth largest plateau in China, located in the southwest of China, east of Ailao Mountain in Yunnan Province and west of southeast hills, including the eastern part of Yunnan Province, the whole territory of Guizhou Province, the northwest of Guangxi and the borders of Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei. The topography of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau can be divided into three terraces, of which the first terrace is generally between 3000 and 4000 meters above sea level, and the third terrace is mountains and hills with an altitude of 1200~ 1400 meters and basins and valleys below 1000 meters above sea level.

Geographical characteristics of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau

The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is about 1000 km long from east to west and 400-800 km wide from north to south, with a total area of about 500,000 square kilometers. It reaches Hengduan Mountains in the west, Xuefeng Mountain in the east, Dalou Mountain and Sichuan Basin in the north, Yunnan and Guangxi border areas in the south, and is connected with the northern plateau of Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia.

Due to the erosion of flowing water, the surface roughness of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is aggravated. In Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the topsoil is usually thin because of the large surface fluctuation. Once the vegetation is destroyed, it will easily lead to soil erosion, thus exposing the underground limestone, thus forming a "rocky desertification" phenomenon.

For a long period of history, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau was very inconvenient for external traffic because of its rugged terrain. With the progress of science and technology, we have adopted a large proportion of bridges and tunnels, which greatly improved the traffic in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and promoted the social and economic development.