China In General:
Since China's opening-up to the outside eorld in 1978,particularly with China's accession to the World Trade Organization(WTO)in 2001 and the Beijing's successful bid for 2008 Olympic Games,more and more overseas visitors have been becoming increasingly interested in China's Ancient culture,beautiful scenery,people's lifestyle and various aspects of the society.Before visiting China¡ªthe most populous country with vast territory and abundant resources¡ªsome of them have already read some books on China.But to really know China,she has to travel in China in person to acquire knowledge firsthand,as a Chinese saying goes:¡±A picture is worth a thousand words,but being there is worth a thousand pictures¡±.An old Chinese maxim goes:¡±Travelling ten thousand Li(equals 5,000 kilometres) equals reading ten thousand volumes¡±.Travel is one of the great sources of knowledge.Only by traveling in a country can he have an overall knowledge of its past,present,and future,and of its folk customs as well.
Among the world's four most famous ancient civilizations(the other three ancient civilizations being ancient Egypt,Babylon,and India),Chinese civilization is the only one in the world that has been developing for more than 5,000 years without interruption.The origin,development process,context and mechanism of this ancient Chinese civilization are the most important subjects for archaeologists,historians,visitors,and tourists to explore.
For thousands of years,China's architecture,are,religions,human studies,social sciences and people's lifestyles have undergone tremendous changes.China boasts 101 famous cultural and historical cities,1,271 national key cultural relics under protection,177 state-level scenic spots,153 state-level nature reserves,44 national geological parks and 342 national foresty parks,of which UNESCO had inscribed 30 historical sites or scenic spots on the World Heritage List by July 2, 2004.China now ranks the third,behind Italy and Spain,on the list.The world famous Old Silk Road,3,000-year-old capital cities,well-preserved imperial palaces and gardens,Suzhou and Hangzhou-the two cities famed for their wonderful and exquisite gardens-vast grasslands,northern scenery featuring ice and snow,tropical sea beaches,Buddhist temples,imperial musemums,memorial halls,grotto arts,sculptures,palaces,and pagodas,which are of high historic value reflecting Chinese national architectural styles.
Calligraphy,paintings,sculptures,and various kinds of arts and crafts show the artistic talents of the people of all 56 ethnic groups of the great Chinese nation.
Historical sites stud all over China just like stars in the sky,and museums of various sizes bring visitors and tourists both home and abroad to the ancient Chinese civilization.China's modernization drive,high-tech equipment,its national economy with a high annual growth rate and a huge domestic market-all these indicate the orientation of development of one fifth of the mankind in the 21 st century,providing a reminder for the people in countries with economic slump.
In a short span of more than two decades since 1978,the number of people from overseas coming to China to invest,to do business,to travel or to spend holidays has been increasing year by year.This has not only promoted the economic relations and trade between China and foreign countries and regions,but has also furthered mutual understanding and friendship between the Chinese people and the peoples in the rest of the world.In 2003,China reveived 91.66 million overseas tourists by turnstile count(33 million were overnight overseas tourists(ranking the 5 th in the world),only after the United States,Spain,France,Italy,Germany and England.
China is situated in the eastern part of Asia,on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean.Its land territory of 9.6 million square kilometers begins from the confluence of the Helongjiang and Wusuli rivers(longitude 13 5 ¡ã 5' E )in the west of Wuqia Country in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(Longitude 73 ¡ã 40' E )in the west,about 5,200 kilometres apart,and from the midstream of the Heilongjiang River north of Mohe (latitude 5 3 ¡ã 31' N )in the north to the southernmost island Zengmu's Ansha in the South China Sea(latitude 4 1 ¡ã 5' N ),over 5,500 kilometres apart.China's land borders more than 20,000 kilometres in length,its mainland coastline stretches for some 18,000 kilometres,and its neighbours more than 20 countries,either contiguous or separated by stretches of sea.There are 6,536 islands exceeding over 500 square metres.Taiwan(an area of 35,774 square kilometres)and Hainan(encompassin 32,200 square kilometres) are the two largest islands in China.
China boasts a land boundary exceeding 20,000 kilometres in length and is bordered by Korea in the northeast,Russia and Mongolia in the north,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Afghanistan,and Pakistan in the northwest,India,Nepal,Sikkim,and Bhutan in the southwest,Myanmar,Laos,and Vietnam in the south.Across the seas to the east and southeast Chna faces Japan,the Philippines,Malaysia,Brunei,and Indonesia.
Urbanization:
China's urbanization process is taking place at a very fast rate.By the end of 2003,the country had established 662 cities and 20,358 towns,with a total population of 503.9 million.The urbanization level has increased from 26.4 per cent in 1990 to 39 per cent in 2003.The Chinese Government is planning to boost its urbanization rate to at least 50 per cent by 2020,from 39 per cent in 2003.
History:
China,one of the four oldest civilizations in the world,has a written history of over 5,000 years and boasts rich cultural relics and historical sites.China is the inventor of compass,papermaking,gunpowder and printing.The Great Wall,Dujiangyan Water Conservency Project,Grand Canal and Karez(an irrigation system of wells connected by underground channels used in Xinjiang)irrigation system are the four great ancient engineering projects built over 2,000 years ago.Nowadays,they are the symbols of the rich culture of the Chinese nation.
Administrative Division:
China is divided into 23 provinces,5 autonomous regions,4 municipalities,and 2 special administrative regions directly under the central government.
The 23 Provinces are: Anhui,Fujian,Gansu,Guangdong,Guizhou,Hainan,Hebei,Heilongjiang,Henan,Hubei,Hunan, Jiangsu,Jiangxi,Jilin,Liaoning,Qinghai,Shaanxi,Shandong,Shanxi,Sichuan,Taiwan,Yunnan,and Zhejiang.
The 5 Autonomous Regions are:
Guangxi Zhuang,Inner Mongolia,Ningxia Hui,Xinjiang Uygur,and Tibet .
The four Municipalities are:
Beijing , Chongqing , Shanghai ,and Tianjin .
China boasts 2,861 counties and county-level districts,which are sub-divided into 26 Qugongsuo,20,226 towns,16,636 townships¡¡
The 2 Special Administrative Regions are:
Hongkong SAR and Macao SAR.
Population and Cultivated Land:
China is the most populous country in the world.By the end of 2003 the population on China's mainland reached 1,292.27 million.But the population is distributed unevenly with more in the east and fewer in the west.In order to curb the fast growing population,China has made birth control the national policy,which encourages a couple to have only one child.The average life expectancy of Chinese people had increased from 35 years before the birth of the new China in 1949 to the present 71.8 years.By the end of 2003,China had 1.851 billion mu(123.4 million hectares or 308.5 million acres)of cultivated land and produced 430.67 million tons of grain in 2003.
Topography:
China's terrain descends from west to east.The topography is varied and complicated,with mountains making up 33 per cent,hilly areas 10 per cent, plateaus about 26 per cent,plains 12 per cent,and basins 19 per cent of the total land area.Because of the diverse terrain,China's climate is highly variable.Among the famous mountain ranges are the Himalayas,the Altais,the Tianshan and the Kunlun.Mount Qomolangma(known to the West as Mount Everest),8,848.13(29,030.7 feet)above the sea level,is the highest known mountain in the world and located on the China-Nepal border.The Bohai Sea,Yellow Sea and Sounth China Sea embrace the east and southeast coast of China.
Climate:
China lies mainly in the northern temperate zone under the influence of monsoon winds.From September and October to March and April the following year,monsoon winds blow from Siberia and the Mongolia Plateau into China and decrease in force as they go southward,causing dry and cold winter in China and a temperature difference of about 40 to 45 ¡æ between the north and south.The temperature in China in winter is 5 -18 ¡æ lower than that in other countries on the same latitude in winter.Monsoon winds blow into China from the ocean in summer,bringing with them warm and wet currents,thus rain.
Great differences in climate are found from region to region owing to China 's
extensive territory and complex topography.The northern part of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China has no summer,Hainan Province has a long summer but no winter.The Huaihe River valley features four distinct seasons.The western part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is covered by snow all the year round.The southern part of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is sping-like all the year round.The north-western inland region witnesses a great drop of temperature in the day.Annual precipitation also varies greatly from region to region.It is as high as 1,500 millimetres along the southeastern coast.Decreasing landward,it is less than 50 millimetres in Northwest China.
