A Profile of China

Since China's opening-up to the outside world 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 the most populous country with vast territory and abundant resources -- some of them have already read some books on China. But to really know China, s/he 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 (or adage) goes: "Traveling ten thousand Li (or 5,000 kilometers) equals reading ten thousand volumes" Travel is one of the great sources of knowledge. Only by traveling in a country can s/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 is the most important subjects for archaeologists, historians, visitors, and tourists to explore.

For thousands of years, China's architecture, art, 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 forestry 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 museums, 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 21st 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 received 91.66 million overseas tourists by turnstile count (33 million were overnight overseas tourists (ranking the 5th in the world), generating 17.4 billion US dollars, ranking the 7th 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 Heilongjiang and Wusuli rivers (longitude 135'5' E) in the west of Wuqia County in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (longitude 73' 40' E) in the west, about 5,200 kilometers apart; and from the midstream of the Heilongjiang River north of Mohe (latitude 53'31' N) in the north to the southernmost island Zengmu's Ansha in the South China Sea (latitude 41' 5' N), over 5,500 kilometers apart. China's land borders more than 20,000 kilometers in length; its mainland coastline stretches for some 18,000 Kilometers; and its neighbors more than 20 countries, either contiguous or separated by stretches of sea. There are 6,536 islands exceeding over 500 square meters. Taiwan (an area of 35,774 square kilometers) and Hainan (encompassing 32,200 square kilometers) are the two largest islands in China.

China boasts a land boundary exceeding 20,000 kilometers 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 China 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 503.99 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 worm (Water Conservency), 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. China has gone over a long history of primitive society, slave-owning society, feudal society, semi-feudal and semi-colonial society and the present elementary stage of socialist society.

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

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

Guangxi Zhuang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia Hui, Xinjiang Uygur, and Tibet

The 4 Municipalities

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, 279 Sumu, 1,147 ethnic group townships, 2 ethnic group sumu and 5,751 neighbourhood committees on December 31, 2003 respectively, totalling 44,067.

The 2 Special Administrative Regions (SAR)

Hong Kong 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 has 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.

Economy

In a short span of 25 years between 1978 and 2003, China's economy grew by an average rate of 9.4 per cent, with its gross domestic product (GDP), foreign trade and foreign exchange reserves jumping from USS 147.3 billion, USS 20.6 billion and USS 167 million to USS 1.40595 trillion, USS 851.2 billion and USS 403.2 billion respectively. China now is the worM's 6th largest economy (the other five being USA, Japan, Germany, France, and England) and the 4th largest trader (the other three being USA, Germany, and Japan). China's per capita GDP, though reaching the record high of US $ 1,000 in 2003, still ranks behind the 100th place in the world. In 2003, China's GDP per capita surpassed US $1,000 for the first time, and the total foreign currency savings of Chinese residents topped USS 90 billion.

Nationalities

China has 56 ethnic groups. The Han nationality makes up approximately 91.59 per cent of the total population, mainly living in the eastern part of the country, while the 55 ethnic groups account for 8.41 per cent of the total population in China (according to 2000 census). According to the Chinese Constitution, all nationalities in China are equal. The state protects their lawful rights and interests and promotes equality, unity and mutual help among them.

Language

The Han nationality, which makes up the overwhelming majority of the population, uses the Han (Chinese) language, which is spoken in all parts of the country. Of the 55 ethnic groups, the Hui and Manchu use the same Han language while the other 53 ethnic groups use their own spoken languages. Of the minority languages, Han-Tibetan languages are used by 29 ethnic groups, including the Zhuang, Bouyi, Dai, Tibetan, Yi, Naxi, Miao, She, and Yao, who live mainly in central-south and southwest China; Altaic languages, by 17 ethnic groups, including the Uygur, Ozbek, Kazak, Mongol, Hezhen, and Yugur, who reside mainly in northeast and northwest China; South Asian languages by three ethnic groups; Indo-European languages, by two ethnic groups, and a South-Island language by the Gaoshan people. It is not uncommon for several ethnic groups to share a common language.

Religion

China is a multi-religious state. Various religions exert different influence on different ethnic groups. The Hui, Yugur, Kazak, Ozbek, Tajik, Kirgiz, Tatar, Dongxiang, Salar, and Bonan nationalities follow Islam; the Tibetan, Mongolian, Dai, and Yugur nationalities follow Buddhism and Lamaism; Christianity is followed by the Miao, Yao and Yi nationalities; Shamanism is followed by the Orogen, Ewenki and Daur nationalities; the majority Han nationality people believe in Buddhism, Christianity and Daoism (Taoism). The Chinese people enjoy the freedom of religion.

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 Qomolangrna (known to the West as Mount Everest), 8,848.13 metres (29,030.7 feet) above sea level, is the highest known mountain in the world and located on the China-Nepal border. The Bohai Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea and South China Sea embrace the east and southeast coast of China.

Rivers

China boasts 50,000 rivers, each having a drainage area of over 100 square kilometres or 38.6 square miles. Of the 50,000 rivers, 1,500 of them drain an area of more than 1,000 square kilometres or 386 square miles each. Most of them flow from west to east to empty into the Pacific Ocean. Major rivers include the Yangtze River (6,300 kilometres or 3,912.3 miles), the Yellow River ( 5,464 kilometres or 3,393.1 miles ), the Heilongjiang River (3,101 kilometres or 1,925.7 miles), the Pearl River (2,215.8 kilometres or 1,376 miles), the Liaohe River (1,390 kilometres or 863.19 miles), the Haihe River (1,090 kilometres or 676.9 miles), the Qiantang River (605 kilometres or 375.7 miles) and the Lancang River (4,688 kilometres or 2,911.25 miles; 2,354 kilometres or 1,461.8 miles within the boundaries of China). The 6,300-kilometre-long Yangtze River is the longest river in China. The second longest river is the Yellow River totalling 5,465 kilometres. The Grand Canal from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province to Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China, was a great water project in ancient China. It covers a distance of 1,794 kilometres (or 1,114 miles), making it the longest canal throughout the world.

Lakes

China has more than 370 large lakes. The five major freshwater lakes include the Poyang (the largest freshwater lake; area: 3,583 square kilometres or 1,383 square miles.; lake surface elevation: 21 metres; deepest: 16 metres), Tongting (the second largest freshwater lake; area: 2,820 square kilometres or 1,088.52 square miles.; lake surface elevation: 34.5 metres; deepest: 30.8 metres), Taihu or Lake Tai (the third largest freshwater lake; area: 2,420 square kilometres or 934.12 square miles.; lake surface elevation: 3 metres; deepest: 4.8 metres), Hongze (the fourth largest freshwater lake, area: 2,069 square kilometres or 798.63 square miles; lake surface elevation: 12.5 metres; deepest: 5.5 metres), and Chaohu (the fifth largest freshwater lake, area: 820 square kilometres or 316.52 square miles.; lake surface elevation: 10 metres; deepest: 5 metres. ) Among China's salt lakes the Qinghai Lake (area: 4,583 square kilometres; lake surface elevation: 3,195 metres; deepest: 32.8 metres) is the largest.

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 4513 between the north and south. The temperature in China in winter is 5 to 1813 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 spring-like all the year round; and 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.

Tourism (Inbound, Outbound and Domestic)

With the improvement of living standards of the Chinese people, Chinese citizens have been able to go abroad as tourists since 1997. China has now approved 52 countries and 2 regions as tourism destinations. China received 91.66 million overseas tourists in 2003; Foreign exchange from international tourism reached USS 17.4 billion. A total of 20.22 million Chinese citizens went abroad in 2003. Of this total, 14.81 million were on private visits, accounting for 73.2 per cent of all out-going visitors. According to the World Tourism Organization, China is among the top 10 nations in terms of outbound tourism. Travelling abroad was only a dream for most Chinese 25 years ago. But it is coming true for many more today thanks to a booming economy and more freedom and rights. Enhancing mutual understanding through opening up more countries to Chinese vistors will create benfit for all. The year 2003 saw 870 million domestic tourists. Income from domestic tourism stood at 344.2 billion yuan (US$41.47 billion). The total international and domestic tourism chalked up to 488.2 billion yuan (USS 58.87 billion), accounting for 4 per cent of China's GDP in 2003. China's direct employees in tourism industry reached 6.4874 million; while indirect employees topped 32.44 million. Star-rating hotels in China reached 9,751 with 992,800 guest rooms by the end of 2003. Of those hotels, 198 are five-star hotels; 727 four-star hotels, 3,166 three-star hotels, 4,864 two-star hotels, and 796 one-star hotels. China boosted 13,361 travel agencies, of which 1,364 were international travel agencies (of 1,364 international travel agencies, over 500 such travel agencies are authorized to organize Chinese citizens to travel abroad), and 11,997 were domestic travel agencies in 2003.

Transportation

Aviation

Since 1978, China's air network has witnessed an improvement year by year. It now has more than 140 airports. According to the statistics of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), by the end of 2003, a total of 1,176 domestic and international airlines were operated in China. According to a landmark pact signed by between China and the United States on June 18,2004, the number of weekly flights between the two countries will increase nearly five times from the current limit of 54 weekly round trip flights to 249 within six years. The more open the market, the more advantaged the stronger power becomes.

Railway

Railway By the end of 2002, China had 71,500 kilometres of railways, among them 15,000 kilometres were electrified. As railway is safe, punctual, and of low cost, and unaffected by weather, overseas tourists usually take soft seats or berth for short distance trips. By 2003, China had more than 2,000 pairs of regular passenger trains. The fifth massive speed-up of China's railways started on April 18, 2004, and a sixth massive acceleration of railways will be carried out in 2005 to improve the railway's transport efficiency, when trains on some major trunk lines will be running at the speed of 200 kilometres per hour. By the end of 2020, the total railways in China available for transport will be increased to 100,000 kilometres from the carrent 73,000 kilometres.

Highway

Wealth comes from building roads.

By the end of 2002, China had 1.76 million kilometres of highways, of which 25,200 kilometres were expressways, and the length of China's expressways ranks second after the USA in the world. All China's tourism cities have good transportation and communication facilities. Apart from the public bus, there is the tourist coach, mini-bus, and taxi.

Money

The official currency in China is the renminbi (RMB) or "people's currency. ' The basic unit is the yuan (also known as "kuai"), which equals 10 jiao (or "mao"), which is then divided into 10 fen. Paper currency comes in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 yuan notes. Paper jiao comes in denominations of 1, 2, and 5. There are also 1 and 2 fen notes. As for coins, there are 1 yuan, and 5 jiao, and 1, 2, and 5 fens.

Commemorative Currency

Commemorative Currency China's central bank has issued commemorative currency to celebrate the year 2000. A 100-yuan (USS 12) bill and the 10-yuan (USS 1.2) coin are circulated with the existing currency of the same denominations. The face of the gold-yellow note bears a dragon design, representing the year 2000 of the Dragon. The flip side features the China Millennium Monument, a structure in west Beijing, which symbolizes China's 5,000-year-old civilization and its people's wishes for the new millennium. Advanced anti-counterfeiting technologies are used to make the note.

Electricity

Most luxury hotels (above three-star hotels) in China have built-in converters in bathrooms for shavers, hair dryers, etc. Otherwise, come equipped, because an amazing variety of plug types is in use. The voltage is 22O volts.