Topography
The coastline of Liaoning Province is 2,178 kilometers long - nearly 12 percent of China's total. The hilly regions in east Liaoning are the main area for forest. Adjoining the long, narrow costal plains (usually called the Liaoxi Corridor) is the main road for Northeast China, linking with North China. Liaohe Plain in Central Liaoning, as a part of the Northeastern China Plain, has sedimentary deposits from the Liaohe River and other tributaries. The plain has abundant water and fertile soil, and is the main farming area and commodity grain base in Liaoning Province.
Climate
Liaoning Province has a continental monsoon climate with distinct seasonal variations. It has an annual rainfall of 714.9 mm, annual average temperature of 40C - 100C with a frost-free period of 140-200 days.
Water resources
There are 392 rivers of a total length of 160,000 kilometers with a drainage area of 145,000 sq. km in Liaoning Province. Liaohe River, one of the seven longest rivers in China, is 512 kilometers long and has a drainage area of 69,000 sq.km in the province. The average runoff of rivers in Liaoning has reached 32.5 billion cubic meters, or a 223 mm runoff depth. The province has a total water resource of 36.3 billion cubic meters.
Liaoning has plentiful fishing resources with its marine life area ranking second in China.
Minerals
Nearly 115 minerals have been found in Liaoning, and reserves of 64 minerals have been located. Its reserves of minerals such as iron, boron, magnesite, diamonds and talcum are some of the largest deposits in China.
Liaohe Oil Field is the third largest oil and natural gas field in China. Its reserves of oil and natural gas account for 15 percent and 10 percent of the country's total.
Biological resources
Liaoning Province has a total forestry area of 4.185 million hectares, with 28.7 percent forest cover. It also has a lot of fruit trees. It has the third largest total area of fruit in the defoliated zone and the second largest production in the area.
Tourist resources
Liaoning has over 11,300 cultural remains, including 19 national-level key protection units and 159 provincial-level key protection units. There are 7 state-class natural reserves and 7 provincial-class natural reserves.
Recently, the province put forward many cultural tourism items e.g. steam engine tours, recovery tours, ancient tours and business tours. Some of the folk festivals now attract the attention of both domestic and foreign visitors such as the Dalian Costume Festival.
Environmental protection
In 2003, among the 14 cities under the environment monitoring program, the air quality of seven cities met the standard of Grade 2, six cities met the standard of Grade 3, and only one city failed to meet Grade 3 standard. Among the 14 cities under the road noise monitoring program, the cities suffering severe noise pollution accounted for 7.1 percent, or down by 7.1 percentage points over the previous year.
By the end of 2003, there were 20 national eco-demonstration zones in the province. The 81 nature reserves cover a total area of 2.85 million hectares, accounting for 9.7 percent of the total provincial land area.
