It is generally recognised that China, Australia and its peripheral terranes were at low palaeolatitudes, and allied to a large Ordovician Gondwana continent, which already included Africa, India, Antarctica and much of southern Europe (Cocks and Fortey, 1988). The south pole, and coolerwater faunas, lay in the west of Gondwana What is at issue is the relative positions of North and South China, and the various other terranes which were part of, or marginal to,