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North China (北方 Hanyu pinyin: Běifāng) and South China (南方 Hanyu pinyin: Nánfāng) are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions has never been precisely defined. Nevertheless, the self-perception of Chinese people, especially regional stereotypes, has often been dominated by these two concepts.

The boundary between North China and South China is usually defined to be the Qinling Mountains and Huai He River; there is an ambiguous area, the region around Nanyang, Henan, that lies in the gap where the Qinling has ended and the Huai He does not yet begin. As such, the boundary between North and South China does not follow provincial boundaries; it cuts through Shaanxi, Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, and creates areas such as Hanzhong (Shaanxi), Xinyang (Henan), and Xuzhou (Jiangsu) that lie on an opposite half of China from the rest of their respective provinces. This may have been deliberate; the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and Han Chinese Ming Dynasty established many of these boundaries intentionally to discourage regionalist separatism.

The concepts of North China and South China extend beyond China proper. Manchuria and Inner Mongolia are usually conceived as being part of North China. Xinjiang and Tibet are, however, not usually conceived of being part of either north or south.

The concepts of North China and South China originate from several episodes of actual political division into North and South, as well as the genetic and cultural differences that continue to exist. There are also major climate and geographical differences. North China is too cold for rice and consists largely of a flat plain, while South China allows for rice and consists of mountains cut by rivers.

Episodes of division into North and South include:

• Three Kingdoms (220-280)
• Sixteen Kingdoms (317-420) and Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589)
• Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907-960)
• Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) and Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)

The Northern and Southern Dynasties showed such a high level of polarization between North and South that northerners and southerners referred to each other as barbarians; the Mongol Yuan Dynasty also made use of the concept by dividing Han Chinese into two castes: a higher caste of northerners and a lower caste of southerners. (These were the second-lowest and lowest castes of the Yuan Dynasty.)

In modern times, the divide between North and South China is no longer as politically significant, and has been overridden by a unified Chinese nationalism. In addition, North and South are only one of the ways that Chinese identify themselves. Few Chinese people (with the notable exception of Taiwanese politician Lee Teng-hui) would consider the difference between North and South sufficient reason for political division. Nevertheless, the concepts of North and South continue to play an important role in regional stereotypes.

The stereotypical northerner:

• Is taller, plumper, has fairer skin
• Speaks a northern Mandarin-based Chinese dialect, which is legato
• Eats wheat-based food rather than rice-based food
• Is loud, boisterous, open, and prone to "thunderbolt" displays of emotion, such as anger
• Might make a good emperor

The stereotypical southerner:

• Is shorter, lankier, has darker skin
• Speaks a southern Chinese dialect, which is staccato
• Eats rice-based food rather than wheat-based food
• Is clever, calculating, hardworking, and prone to "mincemeat" displays of emotion, such as melancholy
• Might make a good tycoon

During the Deng Xiaoping reforms of the 1980's, southern China initially developed much more quickly than northern China leading some scholars to wonder whether the economic fault line would create political tension between north and south. This has not occurred in part because the economic faultlines eventually created a division between coastal China and the interior which runs in a different direction than the north-south division.

Note that these are very rough stereotypes, and are greatly complicated both by further stereotypes by province (or even county) and by real life.

In geology, North China and South China are two ancient landmasses that correspond to modern northern and southern China.