Relief shown pictorially. Coordinates approximate and based on Greenwich meridian. Bar scale on map: Scala leucarum; quarum novemdecim, gradum efficiunt. Shows topogarphy, lakes, drainage, islands, political boundaries, cities. Features Great Wall of China. Decorative cartouches, including cherubs. Figurative illustrations of fauna (e.g. elephants), tents, wagons, ships, sea monster. Descriptive text. auctore Ludovico Georgio. Collector's note: The earliest printed map specifically of China; a richly embellished work based on Portuguese manuscripts that is one of Ortelius' most vigorous engravings. " ... this map remained the standard type for the interior of China for over sixty years." (Tooley) The Chinese characters found in the text on the verso of the map were the first introduction to Chinese language for most educated Europeans of the time. The map and text would have forced many Europeans to see China for the first time as a nation and culture distinct from the others of Asia. Graphically and psychologically, the map has the effect of subduing the vastness of China, first by setting its northern limit at the Great Wall which is clearly shown. Likewise, the country's east-west extent is extremely foreshortened. Also, the interior of the country is fragmented by a crisscrossing network of rivers that emanate from five large lakes. The map contains a most unusual depiction of Japan in which a part of Honshu is cut off by an arm of the sea. However, "Kyushu with "Facata" (Hakata) in the north is here depicted fairly accurately for the first time" (Walter).