Travel Articles About China  by Jovencio Serdeniola
 

Geography

Cradle of civilization started in China long time ago. The large part of the country is mountainous and the three principal ranges are: Tien Shan, Kunlun Chain and Tans-Himalaya. In the southwest is Tibet, which China took over in 1950. The Gobi Desert located in the northern part. The three great river  sytems in China: The Huang He River  known as Yellow River about five thousand four hundred sixty four (5,464) kilometers long; the Yangtze River, six thousand three hundred (6,300) kilometers long - the third longest river in the world; and Pearl River, two thousand one hundred ninety seven (2,197) kilometers long. The Central part is Plain Region and in Northern part is Alps or cold Region.

Government

Peoples Republic of China (PROC)  is a communist state.

History

The earliest settlement recorded in China were discovered in Huang He basin way back 5000 B.C. During the Shang Dynasty (1500-1000 B.C), the precursor of modern China's ideographic writing system developed, allowing the feudal states of the era to achieve an advanced stage of civilization found at the time in Europe, the Middle East or the Americas. It was following this initial flourishing of civilization,  in a period of Chou Dynasty (1122-249 B.C.), that Lao Tse, Confucious,  and Mencious laid the foundation of Chinese philosophical though.

The feudal states, often at war with one another, were first united under Emperor Chin Shih Huang Ti during whose reign  (246-210 B.C.) work was begun on the Great Wall of China, a monumental bulwark against the invasion  from the West. Although the Great Wall symbolized China's desire to protect itself from the outside world, under the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), the civilization conducted extensive commercial trading with the West.

In the Tang Dynasty (618-907) often called the golden age of Chinese history - painting, sculpture, and poetry flourished. Woodblock printing which enable the mass production of books, made its earliest known appearance. The Ming Dynasty, last of the native rulers (1368-1644) overthrew the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) established by Kublai Khan.  The Mings in turn were overthrown in 1644  by Manchus,  invaders from the North.

China remained isolated from the rest of the world's civilizations, closely restricting foreign activities. By the end of the 18th century only Canton (modern day Hong Kong) and the Portuguese port of Macao were open to European Merchants. European powers took advantage of the disastrous Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 to gain further trading concessions from China.

The death of Empress Tsu His in 1908 and the accession of the infant emperor Hsuan Tung were followed  by a nationwide rebellion led by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, who overthrew the Manchus and became the first president of the Provisional Chinese Republic in 1911 Dr. Sun resigned in favor of Yuan Shih-Kai, who suppressed the Republicans in a bid to consolidate his power. Yuan's death in June 1916 was followed by years of civil war between rival militarists and Dr. Sun's Republicans. Nationalist forces, led by General Chiang Kai-Shek and with the advice of Communist experts, soon occupied most of China, setting up the Kuomintang regime in 1928. Internal strife continued, however, and Chiang eventually broke with the communists.

Japan's surrender to the Western Allies in 1945 touched off civil war between the Kuominang forces under Chiang and Communists led by Mao Zedong, who had been battling sine the 1930s for control of China. Despite U.S. aid, the Kuomintang were overcome by the Soviet supported communists, and Chiang and his followers were forced to flee the mainland, establishing a government-in-exile on the island of Formosa (modern day Taiwan). The Mao regime proclaimed the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, with Beijing as the new capital and Zhou En Lai as premier.

In an attempt to restructure China's  primarily agrarian economy, Mao undertook the "Great Leap Forward" campaign in 1958,  a disastrous program that aimed the establishment of rural communes with a crash program of village industrialization. The Great Leap force the abandonment of farming activities, leading to widespread famine in which more than 20 million people died of malnutrition.

In 1959, a failed uprising  against China's invasion and occupation of Tiber forced Tibetan Buddhism's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama and 100,000 of his followers to flee to India. The invasion of Tibet and a perceived rivalry for the leadership of the world Communist movement caused a serious souring of relations between China and the USSR, a former allies. In 1965 Tibet was formally made autonomous region of China's harsh religious and cultural persecution of Tibetans, which  continues to this day, has spawned growing international protest.

The failure of the Great Leap Forward touch off a power struggle with the Chinese Communist Party between Mao and his supporters and a reformist faction  including future premier Deng Xiaoping. Mao moved to Shanghai, and from that base he and his supporters waged  what the called the Cultural Revolution. Beginning in 1966, Mao ordered the closing of schools and the formation of ideologically pure Red Guard units, dominated by youths and students. The Red Guards campaigned against "old ideas, old culture, old habits, and old customs. "Millions died as a series of purges were carried out. By early 1967, the Cultural Revolution had succeeded in bolstering Mao's position as China's paramount leader.

Beijing and Washington announced full diplomatic relations on January 1, 1979, and the Carter administration abrogated the Taiwan defense treaty. Deputy Premier Deng sealed the agreement with a  visit to the U.S. that coincided with the opening of embassies in both capitals on Mach 1. On Deng's return from the U.S., Chinese troops invaded and briefly occupied an area along Vietnam's  northern border. The action was seen as a response to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia and ouster of the Khmer Rouge government, which China had supported.

Under Deng  Xiaping's leadership, meanwhile, China Communist ideology went through massive reinterpretation, and sweeping economic changes were set in motion in the early eighties. The Chinese scrapped the personality cult that idolized Mao Zedong, muted Mao's call for class struggle  and exportation of the Communist revolution, and imported Western technology and management techniques to replace the Marxist  tenets had slowed modernization.

At the session in 1993, Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin was elected president, while hard liner Li Peng was reelected to another five-year term as prime minister. Since 1993, the Chinese economy  has continued to grow rapidly. Deng Xiaoping's death in Feb.  1997 left a younger generation in charge of managing the enormous country. In  1998, Prime Minister Zhu Rongji introduced a sweeping  program to privatize state-run businesses and further liberalize the nation's economy, a move lauded by Western economists.

On July 1, 1997, when Great Britain lease on the New Territories expired, Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty and in 1999, the Portuguese colony of Macau was returned t Chinese rule.

China was admitted to the World Trade Organization in November 2001. It's entry ended a 15-year debate over whether China is entitled to the full trading rights of capitalist countries.

Tension between China and Taiwan intensified in March 2005, when China passed an  antisecession law  that said country could use force if Taiwan move toward achieving independence. "The state shall employ non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity." the legislation said. Taiwanese president Chen Xhui-Bian called the bill a  "law of aggression"

After months of pressure from the Bush administration, China announced in July 2005  that it will no longer peg the yuan to the dollar. Instead, the yuan is linked to a fluctuating group of foreign currencies. Government officials in December that China's economy had grown by 9% in 2005. China is poised to have the world's fourth-largest economy, after the United States, Japan, and Germany.

In May 2006, China completed the construction of Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. More than a million people will be displaced when the area is flooded. In July 2006, China opened the 710 mile long railway from Qinghai Province to the Tibetan Capital of Lhasa. The highest railway in the world, it ascends as high as 15,500 feet requiring all compartments to have regulated oxygen levels. The railway  will increase ethnic Chinese migration into Tibet, which may see as a deliberate  attempt to dilute Tibetan culture.

China tested its first anti-satellite weapon in January 2007, successfully destroying one of its own weather satellites. Analysts deemed the move a provocative challenge to the United States supremacy in spaced-based technology. Others speculated that China is seeking to push the U.S. toward signing a treaty to ban space-based weapons.

Land Area 

The total land area of China is Three thousand seven hundred five thousands four hundred seven square miles (3,705,407 sq mi) (9,596,960 sq km)

Population

The estimated population (2007) 1,321851,888
Growth Rate: 0.6%
Birth Rate: 13.5/1,000 
Infant Mortality Rate: 22.1.1/1,000
Life Expectancy: 72.9 years
Literacy Rate: 86% (2003 est.)
Population Density: 367/sq. miles
Metropolitan Beijing Population: 10,849,000

Largest cities (2003) estimated population

Shanghai: 12,665,000
Tanjin: 9,346,000
Wuhan: 3,959,700
Shenyang: 3,574,100
Guangzhou: 3,473,800
Haerbin:  2,904,900
Xian: 2,642,199
Chungking: 2,370,100
Chengdu: 2,011,000
Hong Kong: 1,361,200

Languages

Standard Chinese (Mandarin/Putonghua), Cantonese, Shanghaiese, Minbei, Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages

Ethnic/Race 

Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean,and other nationalities 8.1%

Religions

Taoist, Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim    1%-2% (2002 est.)

Economic Summary

GDP  (2006 est.) $10.17 trillion; per capita $7,700
Real Growth Rate: 10.7%
Inflaton: 1.5%
Unemployment: 4.2%
Arable land: 15%
Agriculture: rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea,  millet,  barley, apples, cotton, oilseed, pork, fish
Labor Force: 798 million (2006 est.); agriculture 45%, industry 24%, services 31%
Industries: mining and ore processing, iron, steel, aluminum and other metals, coal, machine building, armaments, textiles and apparels petroleum, cement, chemicals, fertilizers, consumer products, footwear, toys and electronics, food processing, transportation equipment, automobiles, rail cars and locomotives, ships, aircraft, telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch satellites.
Natural Resources: coal, iron, ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnesium, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential.
Exports: $974 billion (2006 est.)  machinery and equipment, plastics, optical and medial equipment, iron and steel.
Imports: $777.9 billion (2006 est.) machinery and equipment, oil and mineral fuels, plastics, optical and medical equipment, organic chemicals, iron and steel.
Major trading partners: United States, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Taiwan
Communications: Telephones main line in use: 350.43 million (2005), mobile cellular:437.48 million (2006) Radio broadcast stations: AM  369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)
Television broadcast stations: 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly 3,000 are local city stations) (1997)
Internet hosts: 232,780 (2006)
Internet Users: 123 million (2006)

Transportation

Railways: 71, 898 km. (2002 est.)
Highways: 1,870,661 km (2004 est.)
Waterways: 123,964  km. (2003  est.)
Ports and Harbor: Dalian, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai
Airports: 486 (2006  est.)
 

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Keywords : educational programs