Qiongzhou Strait
Encyclopedia
Leizhou Peninsula
The Leizhou Peninsula or Leizhou Bandao is a peninsula in the southernmost part of Guangdong province in southern China.-Geography:Leizhou Peninsula is the third largest peninsula in China with an area of of circa 8,500 square kilometer located on the southwestern end of Guangdong, with the Gulf...
in Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, to the north from Hainan Island
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
to its south. The strait
Strait
A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not...
connects the Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin is an arm of the South China Sea, lying off the coast of northeastern Vietnam.-Etymology:The name Tonkin, written "東京" in Hán tự and Đông Kinh in romanised Vietnamese, means "Eastern Capital", and is the former toponym for Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam...
in the west to the James Shoal
James Shoal
James Shoal is a small bank in the South China Sea, with a depth of 20 metres.- Location :It is located about northwest of Bintulu, on the Continental shelf of Borneo...
on the eastern edge of the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
.
The strait is on average 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) wide and centered at 20°09′N 110°16′E with a maximum water depth of approximately 120 metres (393.7 ft).
A 140 billion RMB
Chinese yuan
The yuan is the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The yuan is the primary unit of account of the Renminbi.A yuán is also known colloquially as a kuài . One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo or colloquially máo...
($21 billion USD) bridge across the strait is planned to begin construction in 2012. The bridge is currently designed to have levels for both trains and cars, and is expected to be 26.3 kilometres (16.3 mi) long. Currently the strait is susceptible to closure during strong typhoon activity.