Although China lacks modern volcanic eruptions, it still has more than 10 active volcanoes, such as the Wudalianchi Volcano in Heilongjiang, the Jingpo Lake Volcano, the Alshan Volcano in Inner Mongolia, the Changbai Mountain Volcano and Longgang Volcano in Jilin, the Datun Volcano in Taiwan, the Qiongbei Volcano in Hainan Island, the Tengchong Volcano in Yunnan, and the Ash Volcano in the Ashkuli Basin of the Western Kunlun Mountains. The Changbai Mountain Volcano is the largest layered composite active volcano in China, and the Ash Volcano is the latest volcano on the Chinese mainland, which erupted on May 27, 1951.
In addition, volcanoes are also distributed in Yitong and Shuangliao in Jilin Province, Kuandian in Liaoning Province, Xilinghot in Inner Mongolia, Hannobaba in Hebei Province, Datong in Shanxi Province, Penglai and Changle in Shandong Province, Liuzhou in Jiangsu Province, Mingguang in Anhui Province, Mingxi in Fujian Province, the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong Province, and Ashkuli, Heishibeihu, Quanshuigou, Dahongliutan, Kangsiwa, Kekesiri, Qiangbadai, Yongbo Cuo, Muzitag, Eagle Platform, Whale Lake, Dogueren, Bamoxiong, and Shiquanhe in the Tibetan Plateau.
Throughout the Cenozoic era, volcanic activity occurred frequently and never ceased. From the Miocene to the Pleistocene, over a geological period of more than 20 million years, mainland China was also a land of many volcanoes. At that time, volcanic eruptions in China, especially in the northeastern region, were no less than those on the Japanese archipelago at that time. Later, due to the subduction of the Pacific plate into the Eurasian continent, the continental margin cracked and stretched, forming an island arc chain and a back-arc basin on the periphery of the continental margin. The subduction zone moved away from the mainland, and the subduction process weakened, resulting in a decrease in volcanic activity. Therefore, modern volcanic activity in China is not very active.