|
Climate
 China is characterized by
a continental climate. The latitudes span nearly 50 degrees, its southern
part is in the tropical and subtropical zones, and its northern part near
the frigid zones. The northern part of Heilongjiang
province has long winters but no summers; while Hainan Island
has long summers but no winters. The Huaihe River
valley is marked by distinctive seasonal changes, but it is spring all
year round in the south of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. China's
high tundra zone is situated in Qinghai-Tibet, where the temperature is
low in all four seasons.
History
 China, with a recorded
history of 5,000 years, was one of the world's earliest civilizations.
In the 21st
century B.C., China
established a slave society with the founding of the Xia Dynasty, thereby
writing a finale to long years of primitive society.
In 221 B.C.,
Qin Shihuang established China's
first centralized autocracy, the Qin Dynasty, thereby ushering Chinese
history into feudalism, which endured in a succession of dynasties until
the Opium War of 1840.
The
Bourgeois Democratic Revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-sen toppled the
rule of the Qing Dynasty, putting an end to more than 2,000 years of
feudal monarchical system.
The People's
Republic of China
was founded on October 1st, 1949. Today, China is
implementing reform and open polices, and has established a socialist
market economy.
Population
China,
as the world's most populous country, has a population exceeding 1.2
billion, which makes up almost a fifth of the world's total. To bring
population growth under control, the country has followed a family
planning policy since the 1970s.
Ethnic
Groups
 China is a multi-racial
country with 56 ethnic groups. In the long course of its development, all
the nationalities have joined in the effort to create the great culture
that China
represents.
Apart from the Han nationality, the other 55 ethnic groups, with a total
of more than 96.5 million people, constitute roughly 8.04% of the total
population. Those with more than one million people are: Zhuang, Hui,
Uyghur, Yi, Miao, Manchu, Tibetan, Mongolian, Tujia, Bouyei, Korean,
Dong, Yao,
Bai and Hani.
The constitution guarantees all non-Han groups certain national rights
and privileges, such as the exemption from the one-child-policy, lower
academic requirements for entering colleges and universities, tax breaks
and government subsidies.
Religion
China
is a multi-religious country, where Taoism, Buddhism, Islam and
Christianity are practised. Freedom of belief is a government policy, and
normal religious activities are protected by the constitution.
Language
Mandarin is commonly used in the modern China. It is one of the five
working languages designated by the United Nations. The majority of the
55 other ethnic groups have their own languages. There are also many
dialects around the country. As a written language, Chinese has been used
for 6,000 years.
Family Names
Chinese family names came into being some 5,000 years ago. There are more
than 5,000 family names in China, of which 200 or 300
are popular. The order of Chinese names is family name first. For
example, the family name of a person called Li Ming is Li.
Administration
Unit
China
is divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four
municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Government,
and two special administrative regions. The Capital of the People's
Republic of China is Beijing.
The 23
provinces are Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang,
Shaanxi, Gansu,
Qinghai, Shandong,
Jiangsu, Zhejiang,
Anhui, Jiangxi,
Fujian, Taiwan,
Henan, Hubei,
Hunan, Guangdong,
Sichuan, Guizhou,
Yunnan and Hainan.
The five
autonomous regions are Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Guangxi
and Tibet.
The four
municipalities are Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin
and Chongqing.
Hong Kong and Macao are
special administrative regions.
|
