Szechwan Basin, Wade–Giles romanization Sichuan BasinChinese
(Pinyin) Sichuan Pendi or (Wade-Giles romanization) Ssu-ch’uan
P’en-ti, Pinyin Sichuan Pendii, also called Red Basin,
conventional Szechwan Basinbasin comprising the greater part of
eastern Szechwan Province (sheng), southwest Sichuan province
and the western portion of Chongqing municipality, southwestern
China. It is surrounded by high mountains, including the
Tsinghai–Tibet Plateau on the south, the Yunnan–Kweichow the
highlands of the Plateau of Tibet on the west and the Yunnan-
Guizhou Plateau on the south , Wu Shan (mountains) and the Wu
Mountains on the east , and the Ta-pa Shan Daba Mountains on the
north, all of which protect the interior from temperature
extremes. The basin covers 88,600 sq mi square miles (229,500 sq
square km) of red-brick sandstone, deeply dissected in the south
by the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) and in the centre by three of
its tributaries. Its floor is just under 800 ft feet (244 m240
metres) in elevation, and its out