and regions. First we will deal with the provinces. Of the 22 provinces, I have divided them into 3 groups based on geographical region - Above the Yellow River, Between the rivers and below the Yangtze river. There is nothing scientific about this, nor is it a common way of dividing the provinces. It has always been how I have categorized them in my head and it is useful to some degree because the two rivers are the dominant features of China's topography. Then we will look at the Autonomous regions, and finally at the SARS, municipalities and Taiwan.