There are four kinds of landforms in China, namely, plains, hills, plateaus, and mountains. Mountain is an essential factor in the formation and distribution of zona,soils over a great part of the territory of China. It is a decisive factor in the formation of vertical soil zonalitv of mountainous regions, and the ring-like form soil distribution in intermountainous basins. It is also a factor which facilitates, modifies, and destroy the formation and regularity of horizontal soil zones in plains and hilly regions.The general rule of soil distribution in China is that the horizontal zonality and vertical zona lity are closely interrelated, the one must distinctly affect the other.