With a land area of 9.6 million square kilometers,
China is the third largest country in the world. It is a
land of great cultural and ethnic diversities
China can be visited through out the year because of
the stretch of its territories and sites and activities
it can offer. Deciding when to visit China depends on
which places you wish to visit, what type of weather
you enjoy, and how much a bargain you want. China is a
huge country with many different climates and types of
landscape. Think of it in terms of the United States,
which China resembles in size and shape. Traveling
along the Golden Route (Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Guilin)
is like visiting New York, Chicago, Santa Fe, and
Jacksonville, Florida all in one trip.
China offers many attractions, and due to its size
these are best appreciate by touring a particular area or
theme. The Silk Road tour follows the famous trade
route which crossed Asia and Europe. The Chinese part of
the route covers over 4000 miles, and takes in
provinces including Gansu and Qinghai. You can see historic
sites such as the terracotta army, monasteries, temples
and cultural relics along the way.
The Great Wall of China is a magnificent feat of
architecture and building, which dates back to the 5 th
century BC and runs from East to West China over
thousands of miles. Badaling, 70km north of Beiking, is a
popular place to see the wall and enjoy the spectacular
mountain views from its top. China boasts many beautiful
lakes, rivers and mountains, and the North East corner
of the country has snow covered pastures and mountains
where you can skate, ski, hunt and ride
April, May, September and October are the peak tourist
months at China’s most popular destinations when the
weather is the most comfortable. Prices drop a bit in
the shoulder season, which runs from November through
March and from June through August. However, the winter
months are peak season for trips to China’s Hainan
Island and to the Northeast Harbin for its world-famous
ice-lantern festival. This months are also packed with
New Year holidays, Chinese Spring Festival and other
national or local happy fairs. Summer months are great
time to explore China’s Far East-Manchuria.
China has a continental and seasonal climate. Most
parts are in the temperate zone but southern areas are in
the tropical or subtropical zone while northern areas
are in the frigid zone. Climates in different areas
are complicated. For instance, northern Heilongjiang
Province has a winter climate the year round without
summer, while Hainan Island has a summer climate the year
round without winter.
Economy
In late 1978 the Chinese leadership began moving the
economy from a sluggish, inefficient, Soviet-style
centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented
system. Whereas the system operates within a political
framework of strict Communist control, the economic
influence of non-state organizations and individual citizens
has been steadily increasing. The authorities switched
to a system of household and village responsibility in
agriculture in place of the old collectivization,
increased the authority of local officials and plant
managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of
small-scale enterprises in services and light manufacturing,
and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and
investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP
since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP)
basis, China in 2004 stood as the second-largest
economy in the world after the US, although in per capita
terms the country is still poor. Agriculture and
industry have posted major gains especially in coastal areas
near Hong Kong and opposite Taiwan and in Shanghai,
where foreign investment has helped spur output of both
domestic and export goods. The leadership, however,
often has experienced - as a result of its hybrid system
- the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and
lassitude) and of capitalism (growing income disparities
and rising unemployment). China thus has periodically
backtracked, retightening central controls at
intervals. The government has struggled to (a) sustain adequate
jobs growth for tens of millions of workers laid off
from state-owned enterprises, migrants, and new
entrants to the work force; (b) reduce corruption and other
economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large
state-owned enterprises, many of which had been shielded from
competition by subsidies and had been losing the
ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 100 to 150
million surplus rural workers are adrift between the
villages and the cities, many subsisting through
part-time, low-paying jobs. Popular resistance, changes in
central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have
weakened China's population control program, which is
essential to maintaining long-term growth in living
standards. At the same time, one demographic consequence
of the "one child" policy is that China is now one of
the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Another
long-term threat to growth is the deterioration in the
environment - notably air pollution, soil erosion, and
the steady fall of the water table especially in the
north. China continues to lose arable land because of
erosion and economic development. As part of its effort
to gradually slow the rapid economic growth seen in
2004, Beijing says it will reduce somewhat its spending
on infrastructure in 2005, while continuing to focus
on poverty relief and through rural tax reform.
Accession to the World Trade Organization helps strengthen
its ability to maintain strong growth rates but at the
same time puts additional pressure on the hybrid system
of strong political controls and growing market
influences. China has benefited from a huge expansion in
computer Internet use, with 94 million users at the end
of 2004. Foreign investment remains a strong element in
China's remarkable economic growth. Shortages of
electric power and raw materials may affect industrial
output in 2005. More power generating capacity is
scheduled to come on line in 2006. In its rivalry with India
as an economic power, China has a lead in the
absorption of technology, the rising prominence in world trade,
and the alleviation of poverty; India has one
important advantage in its relative mastery of the English
language, but the number of competent Chinese
English-speakers is growing rapidly.
Industries
mining and ore processing, iron, steel,
aluminum, and other metals; coal; machine building;
armaments; textiles and apparel; petroleum; cement;
chemicals; fertilizers; consumer products, including
footwear, toys, and electronics; food processing;
transportation equipment, including automobiles, rail cars and
locomotives, ships, and aircraft; telecommunications
equipment, commercial space launch vehicles and
satellites
Currency
Chinese money is called Renminbi (RMB) means "The
People's Currency". The popular unit of RMB is yuan" The
official exchange rate between U.S. dollar and Renminbi
yuan currently is about 1:8 (1 dollar = 8 yuan.
1 yuan equals 10 jiao, 1 jiao equals 10 fen. There are
parts of China where the yuan is also known as Kuai
and Jiao is known as mao. Chinese currency is issued in
the following denominations: one, two, five, ten,
twenty, fifty and one hundred yuan; one, two and five
jiao; and one, two and five fen.
Population
The population of china is 1,284,303,705 according to
July 2002 estimates.
|
Place | Administrative Division |
| Shanghai | Shanghai |
| Beijing | Beijing |
| Tianjin | Tianjin |
| Wuhan | Hubei |
| Shenyang | Liaoning |
| Guangzhou | Guangdong |
| Harbin | Heilongjiang |
| Xian | Shaanxi |
| Chongqing | Chongqing |
| Jiulong | Xianggang |
| Chengdu | Sichuan |
| Changchun | Jilin |
| Nanjing | Jiangsu |
| Taiyuan | Shanxi |
| Jinan | Shandong |
| Dalian | Liaoning |
| Qingdao | Shandong |
| Fushun | Liaoning |
| Lanzhou | Gansu |
| Xianggang | Xianggang |
China's Educational System
With a history of over 5, 000 years, China has a
tradition of respecting teachers and honoring the teaching
profession since ancient times, Ancient Chinese
education not only played a significant role in passing down
and developing Chinese civilization, but also made
tremendous contributions to the civilization of the
world. Modern Chinese education was initiated about one
hundred years ago when the country was undergoing drastic
changes and it developed quite slowly in general and
lagged far behind modern education of the world due to
the semi-colonial and semi-feudal nature of Chinese
society.
Generally , education in China can be divided into the
following stages:
Pre-school education for the 3-5 years old children in
kindergartens.
Primary education for 6-11 years old children. Primary
schools are usually run by local educational
authorities, and in some cases, by enterprises and individuals.
Secondary school provided to 12-17 years old children.
Education of this kind is conducted by local
governments and various business authorities are classified as
secondary schools or vocational high schools whose
graduates hold the same degree studying as graduates
senior middle schools and sorts of secondary professional
schools whose graduates enjoy some privileges as from
colleges. In particular, public secondary schools
include junior middle schools and senior middle schools,
both for three years of study. Students graduating from
junior schools usually go to common senior middle
schools, and parts of them go to vocational high schools
or secondary professional schools for 3-5 years of
studying.
Higher education constituted by those for vocational
college students, undergraduates, postgraduates and
doctorial students. Higher education is performed by
universities, colleges, institutes and vocational
colleges. These institutions bear the three major tasks of
raising courses, doing scientific researches and
providing social services.
Languages:
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the
Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese),
Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang,
Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic
groups entry)
The Chinese zodiac
The twelve animals in the cycle derive from a legend
about Buddha who invited all the animals to join him
for New Year's Day. Only twelve animals went to see
Buddha. As a reward he promised to name a year for each
one in order of their arrival, these were the rat, ox,
tiger, hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cock,
dog and boar.
Actually the ox would have been the first to arrive
but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before
they arrived and therefore was first. This also
explains why e.g. the dragon appears only in the fifth place.
Another legend has it that Buddha invited the animals
on the day he was to leave the earth and only 12
animals showed up.
The doctrine of the twelve signs of the zodiac emerged
during the Han dynasty which makes it more than 2000
years old. The signs of the zodiac are also widespread
in China's neighbouring countries
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