Prefectures of China

In the People's Republic of China, provinces are broken into areas called prefectures. They are a kind of administrative division.
Prefectures are the "second-level divisions" of China. First, the country is broken into provinces and autonomous regions. Second, provinces and autonomous regions are broken into prefectures of various kinds. Third, prefectures are broken into counties. Fourth, counties are broken into towns and subdistricts.
Any second-level division of China can be called a prefecture. However, prefecture also means a particular kind of second-level division. For this reason, second-level divisions are also called prefecture-level divisions.
The kinds of prefecture-level divisions include: