Do tall Chinese come from North China?

Yes — on average, taller Chinese people are more commonly found in northern China, though this is a population‑level trend, not a rule for individuals. 

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🧬 Why northern Chinese tend to be taller

Multiple studies and historical analyses show that average height increases with geographic latitude in China — meaning people from northern provinces tend to be taller than those from southern provinces. 

Key factors include:

- Genetics:  

  Northern populations historically mixed with groups such as Turkic, Mongolic, and Tungusic peoples, who tended to have larger body frames. This long-term genetic influence contributes to taller average stature. 

- Diet:  

  Northern diets traditionally rely on wheat-based foods (noodles, buns) and historically included more dairy and meat, providing higher protein intake than rice-based southern diets. Nutrition strongly affects childhood growth. 

- Climate:  

  Colder northern climates historically favored larger body size for heat conservation, a pattern seen in many human populations. 

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📍 Where the tallest Chinese populations are found

Research consistently identifies several northern provinces as having the tallest averages:

- Shandong  

- Liaoning  

- Heilongjiang

These regions repeatedly rank at the top in national height surveys. 

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📊 What the data shows

A 2010 study and later surveys confirm:

- Northern Chinese men average around 172–175 cm in some regions.  

- Southern Chinese men average closer to 168–170 cm, though this varies by province. 

Large-scale survey data also shows that height increases with latitude, even after accounting for age, gender, and urban/rural differences. 

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🌱 Important nuance

While the trend is real, it does not mean:

- All northern Chinese are tall  

- All southern Chinese are short  

- Height can be predicted reliably from region alone  

Urbanization, improved nutrition, and migration have narrowed regional differences in recent decades. Some wealthy southern provinces (e.g., Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong) now approach northern averages due to better childhood nutrition and large-scale migration. 

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✔️ Bottom line

Yes — tall Chinese people are statistically more likely to come from northern China, due to a mix of genetics, diet, climate, and historical migration patterns. But individual height varies widely, and regional differences are gradually shrinking.

If you want, I can also break down height by specific provinces or ethnic groups.

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I at one time wanted to write a story as part of my comic where I'm telling bedtime stories to my kids that get very creative and ends with "Well it COULD have happened!"

They are half Norse and the Norse were effectively giants and we talked and hypothesized that if North Europeans had traveled to China or Asia across the artic some especially warm year, perhaps verbal descriptions of Asians ethnicities would account for the trope we have of elves.

And perhaps intermixing would account for or contribute to the occasional especially large Asian.