ABOUT CHINA
China is amazing and mysterious country with unique culture and unusual history, a history of one of the oldest civilization. China is a country of contrasts: you’ll see here huge supermarkets and tiny shops, luxurious skyscrapers and decrepit hovels, splendid and capacious restaurants and modest snack bars just for no more than 2 men. Even the nature has laid in biting frost and unbearably hot weather, floods and droughts for this country.
China is situated in eastern Asia on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean. It consists from continental part and more than 5000 islands, Hainan and Taiwan are the largest islands.
China is a land of scenic beauty, with mountains and ranges, highlands, plains, basins and hills. The highlands and hills cover about 70% of the country. Everest (Qomolangma), the highest mountain all over the world is here, in China. It’s 8 848 meters above sea level. The lowest point of the country is the Turpan Basin. It’s 155 meters below sea level. Relief of China is mountain in the West and goes down step by step to the East, towards the sea. That’s why the majority of the rivers flow from the west to the east, to the ocean. And you’ve heard about two of them for sure, they are Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. There are more than 2000 lakes in China. China is so vast and its climate is so various in different regions of the country. The great part of China is in the Temperate Zone, its southern part is in the Tropical and Subtropical Zones. There are long winters and no summers in the north, while there are long summers and no winters on Hainan Island in the south. Some desert areas are dry the whole year round but high tundra zone situated in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is in low temperature during all four seasons! The wild life in China is the richest all over the world. You can meet some kinds of animals and plants only here nowhere else! They are dawn redwood and Cathaya Argyrophylla known as the living fossils of ancient plants; giant panda, snub-nosed golden monkey and Chinese alligator. More over, giant panda is declared to be a state relic of China. The government has established more than 700 nature reserves to protect native animals and plants, especially endangered species.
One of the earliest civilizations in the world: just have a look, please, at some historical moments of this country. We have records of history of China dated to 5 000 years back. There were long time of primitive society. But in the 2200 BC the Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty in history of China, was founded and China became a more developed country. People lived in the shacks and shelters dug in the ground with an earth roof along Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. The Xia Dynasty was followed by the Shang Dynasty in 1750 BC. The society was divided into classes of rich and poor people. Buildings were made mainly from wood and very seldom from stone. People started cattle breeding, hunting and land cultivating. They mastered the art of bronze metallurgy and invented iron implements. Then there was time of Western Zhou Dynasties encompassed the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. The first empire of China controlled by a strong central government was established by Qin Shinhuang in 221 BC. It moved China into feudalism under a succession of dynasties, such as the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing 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, put an end to more than 2000 years of feudal monarchical system and culminated in the establishment of the provisional government of the Republic of China. On the first of October of 1949 the People’s Republic of China was founded. Today China is a country of socialist market economy. The country consists of 23
provinces (Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Zhejiang,
Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Hainan, Sichuan,
Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai and Taiwan), 5 autonomous regions (Inner Mongolia,
Guangxi, Tibet, Ningxia and Xinjiang), 4 municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing)
and 2 special administrative regions: Hong Kong and Macao. The main contribution of Chinese to the world civilization was four inventions such as papermaking, printing, powder and compass. There were also a number of remarkable achievements in the mathematics, medicine, astronomy, agriculture and architecture. Many distinguished thinkers, scientists, artists and writers lived in this very country. You can follow the traces of Confucius, Qin Shihuang and Genghis Khan here. The folklore of China is colorful in its special way. More than 40 annual festivals take place here. Evry ethnic minority group has its own festivals. Peking Opera, acrobatics, songs and dances are worth seeing.
China is a multi-religious country. Taoism, Buddhism, Islamism, Catholicism and Christianity take place here. It’s the most populous country in the world and the government has to follow a family planning policy since 1970s to control the growth of the population.
China has many tourist attractions thanks to its vast territory, beautiful landscapes, long history and rich culture. There are 99 state-class historical and cultural cities, 750 key units of cultural relics under the state protection and 119 major scenic spots, 28 of which are listed as World Natural and Cultural Heritages.
You are welcome to China! |
