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China is one of the world's oldest civilizations and is regarded as the oldest continuous civilization.In 1100, China had the most advanced economy in the world. It subsequently missed the industrial revolution and began to decline. In the 19th and 20th century, imperialism, wars and civil wars damaged the country and its economy. In the 1950s, change to economic policies in the Republic of China (Taiwan) transformed the island into a technology-oriented industrialized developed economy. It became known as one of the Four Asian Tigers along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. In mainland China, in the 1970s, reforms known as the Four Modernizations modernized the agriculture, industry, technology and defense, eventually making the PRC one of the major powers. China is viewed as the source of many major inventions. It has also one of the world's oldest written language systems. Historically, China's cultural sphere has extended across East Asia as a whole, with Chinese religion, customs, and writing systems being adopted to varying degrees by neighbors such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The first evidence of human presence in the region was found at the Zhoukoudian cave. It is one of the earliest known specimens of Homo erectus, now commonly known as the Peking Man, estimated to have lived from 300,000 to 780,000 years ago.
Georgraphy China ranges from mostly plateaus and mountains in the west to lower lands in the east. Principal rivers flow from west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (Yellow river, north-central), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south (including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean. In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains. On the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, grasslands can be seen. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Huang He and Yangtze River. Most of China's arable lands lie along these rivers, and they were the centers of China's major ancient civilizations. Other major rivers include the Pearl River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. Yunnan Province is considered a part of the Greater Mekong Subregion, which also includes Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and the Himalayas, containing Earth's highest point, Mount Everest. The northwest also has high plateaus with more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from Burma, Laos and Vietnam. The Paleozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the Carboniferous system, are marine, while the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits are estuarine and freshwater, or else of terrestrial origin. Groups of volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north China. In the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaus.
Climate The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has summer daytime temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius and winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate continental climate with very hot summers and cold winters. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical climate with very hot summers and mild winters. Due to a prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become usual in the spring in China.[49] Dust has blown to southern Mainland China and Taiwan, and has reached the West Coast of the United States. Water, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries.
Tourism Visitors are often surprised to find out how modern China really is. Since the early 90's China has been in the middle of a building boom and infrastructure upgrade that has brought its tourism industry up to Western standards almost overnight. Tourist facilities and transportation in large cities are almost on the same level as of the United States. All major cities and tourism centers have undergone a total metamorphosis in visitor comfort and transportation facilities. Complaints of poor facilities, service or transportation have all become memories of the past. Today you can tour China with ease and safety (the crime rate is very low there), stay in comfortable 4 & 5-star hotels, try new Chinese delicacies, enjoy familiar Western cuisine, shop in modern designer boutiques, or explore centuries-old markets and shopping arcades. You can tour the countryside in modern motor coaches, relax in first class train compartments, or speed to the next destination by jet while exploring one of the oldest cultures of the world, and seeing some of the most extraordinary sights any where and there is much to see in this vast country of 1.3 billion people.
Currency The renminbi or the Chinese yuan (sign: ¥; code: CNY) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China (PRC), with the exception of Hong Kong and Macau. The Chinese yuan is normally abbreviated as ¥ or CNY. Renminbi (simplified Chinese: 人民币; traditional Chinese: 人民幣; pinyin: rénmínbì) translates as people's currency. The renminbi is issued by the People's Bank of China, the monetary authority of the PRC.[1] A yuán (元) is also known colloquially as a kuài (块 - "piece"). One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo (角) or colloquially máo (毛 - "feather"). One jiǎo is divided into 10 fēn (分). In Cantonese, widely spoken in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, kuài, jiǎo, and fēn are called mān (蚊), hòuh (毫), and sīn (仙), respectively. Sīn is a word borrowed into Cantonese from the English cent.
Languages Most languages in China belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family, spoken by 29 ethnicities. There are also several major linguistic groups within the Chinese language itself. The most spoken varieties are Mandarin (spoken by over 70% of the population), Wu, Yue (Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic minorities include Zhuang (Thai), Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur (Turkic), Hmong and Korean. Classical Chinese was the written standard in China for thousands of years, and allowed for written communication between speakers of various unintelligible languages and dialects in China. Vernacular Chinese or baihua is the written standard based on the Mandarin dialect first popularized in Ming dynasty novels, and was adopted (with significant modifications) during the early 20th century as the national vernacular. Classical Chinese is still part of the high school curriculum and is thus intelligible to some degree to many Chinese.
Culture Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy. China's traditional values were derived from various versions of Confucianism. A number of more authoritarian strains of thought have also been influential, such as Legalism. There was often conflict between the philosophies, e.g. the Song Dynasty Neo-Confucians believed Legalism departed from the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of New Confucians (not to be confused with Neo-Confucianism) have advocated that democratic ideals and human rights are quite compatible with traditional Confucian "Asian values". With the rise of European economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political organization gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers totally rejected China's cultural legacy, while others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and European cultures. In essence, the history of 20th-century China is one of experimentation with new systems of social, political, and economic organization that would allow for the reintegration of the nation in the wake of dynastic collapse.
Cuisine No other people take their food as seriously as Chinese. Authentic Chinese food is delectable in flavor and astounding in its sheer variety. With 56 ethnic minority groups contributing recipes cultivated over centuries from the farthest corners of the country, China is justifiably famous for its claim as home to the most popular cuisine in the world.
Sports & Recreation Many historians believe that association football originated in China, where a form of the sport may have appeared around 1000 AD.[59] Other popular sports include martial arts, table tennis, badminton, and more recently, golf. Basketball is now popular among young people in urban centers. There are also many traditional sports. Chinese dragon boat racing occurs during the Duan Wu festival. In Inner Mongolia, Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery and equestrian sports are part of traditional festivals.[60] Physical fitness is highly regarded. It is common for the elderly to practice Tai Chi Chuan and qigong in parks. Board games such as International Chess, Go (Weiqi), and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) are also common and have organized formal competitions. The capital city of the People's Republic of China, Beijing, hosted the 2008 Olympic Games, a major international sporting event
Transport During the last few years, China has modernized its domestic air, train, and highway systems to meet the influx and demands of foreign travelers. There has been a vast improvement in ease of travel throughout the country. Virtually all of China is linked by one of the new domestic airlines since the de-regulation of the national carrier system, and the creation of these new regional carriers has greatly improved domestic airline service. Modernization of the airlines and airport facilities is a boon for travelers, creating a more efficient and competitive airline system. New Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Airbus aircraft are used on almost all routes within the country.
Tourism China National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China
Source: Wikepedia. The Free Enyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China; National Tourism Administration PRC. http://www.cnto.org/; http://en.cnta.gov.cn/ |
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