Shaanxi is informally split into three belts:
陕北 (loess plateau, dry, Yellow River culture),
关中 (Wei River plain, Xi'an, wheat-noodle culture), and
陕南 (Qinling-Bashan mountains, rice paddies, Yangtze tributaries). Geographically and culturally Shannan is closer to Sichuan than to the rest of Shaanxi.
