egypt - china

Basic Information on China

HISTORY:
China, one of the four oldest civilizations in the world, has a written history of 4,000 years and boasts rich cultural relics and historical sites.

It is the inventor of compass, paper-making, gunpowder and printing. The Great Wall, Grand Canal and Karez irrigation system are three great ancient engineering projects built 2,000 years ago. Now they are the symbols of the rich culture of the Chinese nation.

China has gone over a long history of primitive society, slavery society, feudal society and semi-feudal semi-colonial society and the present socialist society. Chinese Dynasties and Chinese Historic Relics

CAPITAL: Beijing (Area: 16,800 square kilometers; Population: 12.59 million)

• CLIMATE: China lies mainly in the northern temperate zone under the influence of monsoon.

From September and October to March and April next year monsoon blow from Siberia and the Mongolia Plateau into China and decrease in force as it goes southward, causing dry and cold winter in the country and a temperature difference of 40 degree centigrade between the north and south. The temperature in China in the winter is 5 to 18 degree centigrade lower than that in other countries on the same latitude in winter.

Monsoon blows 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 Island 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 year round; the southern part of the Yunan-Guizhou Plateau is spring-like all the year; and the northwestern inland region sees a great drop of temperature in the day. Annual precipitation also varies greatly from region to region; it is as high as 1,500 millimeters along the southeastern coast. Decreasing landward, it is less than 50 millimeters in northwest China. Please click here for current weather report, weather forecast for major Chinese cities and weather analysis.

The National Flag, National Emblem and National Anthem of China
The national flag of China was adopted at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held in September 1949, shortly before the founding of the People's Republic of China. The flag of the People's Republic of China is red in color and it has five yellow stars. The color red symbolizes the spirit of the revolution, and the five stars signify the unity of the people of China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. The flag first went up in Tiananmen Square on October1, 1949, upon the formal announcement that People's Republic of China was founded.

National Emblem
The design of the national emblem of the People's Republic of China, published by the Central People's Government on September 20, 1950, shows Tiananmen under the light of five stars, and it is framed with ears of grain and cogwheel.
Tiananmen is the symbol of modern China because the May 4th Movement of 1919, which marked the beginning of the new-democratic revolution in China, was launched there. It is also the place where the inauguration of the People's Republic of China was held. The cogwheel and the ears of grain represent the working class and the peasantry respectively, and the five stars symbolize the solidarity of the various nationalities of China. The emblem clearly indicates that People's Republic of China is a socialist state led by the working class and based on the alliance of the workers and the peasants.

National Anthem
The words for the national anthem were written by Tian Han, and the music was set by Nie Er in 1935. Originally known as the March of the Volunteers, it was the theme song of The Sons and Daughters in Times of Turmoil, a film that depicted how Chinese intellectuals marched bravely to the front in the War of Resistance Against Japan during the Second World War.
Sonorous, militant and inspiring, the song describes the wrath of the Chinese people against imperialist aggression and their determination to protect their motherland against foreign, invaders. During the Second World War it was also sung by people of other countries who sympathized with the Chinese people in their anti-Japanese struggle. In 1949 it was appropriately chosen to be the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.

The lyrics of the national anthem are as follows:
Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves;
With our very flesh and blood
Let us build our new Great Wall!
The Peoples of China are in the most critical time,
Everybody must roar his defiance.
Arise! Arise! Arise!
Millions of hearts with one mind,
Brave the enemy's gunfire,
March on!
Brave the enemy's gunfire,
March on! March on! March on, on!

• Population hits 1.30756 bln by 2005: Survey The National Bureau of Statistics released Thursday the results of a 1 percent sample census conducted in 2005. At 0am Nov.1, 2005 China's population in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government and active army was 1.30628 billion (excluding those in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). Prediction based on the results shows that China's population would hit 1.30756 billion by the end of 2005 (excluding those in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan).

The survey shows that compared with the fifth census conducted at 0am Nov.1, 2000 China's population has increased by 40.45 million or 3.2 percent. The population grew at an annual rate of 8.09 million on average. The survey took the nation as a whole as the primary framework and provinces, regions and municipalities as the secondary framework, using stratified, multi-phased, cluster probability proportionate sampling as methodology.

Final sample units were used as survey districts. It took 17.05 million people as samples, which accounted for 1.31 percent of China's total population. The survey shows that China had a mobile population of 147.35 million, of which cross-province population accounted for 47.79 million. Compared with the fifth census mobile population increased by 2.96 million while cross-province mobile population grew by 5.37 million. Urban population stood at 561.57 million, about 42.99 percent of the total population and those living in rural areas totaled 744.71 million representing 57.01 percent of the total population. The Han nationality made up 90.56 percent of total population and the remaining 9.44 percent were minority nationalities. China had 395.19 million households with the average size of 3.13 persons per household. In the population those with university education (junior college or above) were 67.64 million, those with high school education (including technical secondary school) were150.83 million. 467.35 million people had middle school education while 407.06 million had primary school education.

• MAIN PORTS OF ENTRY
Air: Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Hohhot, Hong Kong, Kunming, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin, Urumqi, Xiamen and Xi'an. Land: Alataw, Baketu, Erenhot, Friendship Pass, Hunchun, Ji'an, Kunjirap, Manzhouli, Mohe, Nyalam (Zhangmu), Pingxiang, Ruili, Suifenhe, Tumen, Wanding, Xunke and Yadong.

Water: Beihai, Dalian, Dangdong, Guangzhou, Haikou, Hankou, Huangpu, Jiujiang, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Sanya, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Weihai, Yangzhou, Yantai, Zhangjiang and Zhenjiang.

• STATE ORGANS:
The National People's Congress (NPC)
The President of the People's Republic of China
The State Council
The Central Military Commission
The Supreme People's Court
The Supreme People's Procuratorate
More government agencies....

• LANGUAGES: The national language is Putonghua (the common speech) or Mandarin, which is one of the five working languages at the United Nations. Most of the 55 minority nationalities have their own languages. Cantonese is one of the local dialects of southern China. As a written language, Chinese has been used for 6,000 years.

• NATIONALITIES:
The People's Republic of China is a unified, multi-national country, comprising 56 nationalities. The Han people make up 91.02 percent of the total population, leaving 8.98 percent for the other 55 ethnic minorities. They are Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Korean, Manchu, Dong, Yao, Bai, Tujia, Hani, Kazak, Dai, Li, Lisu, Va, She, Gaoshan, Lahu, Shui, Dongxiang, Naxi, Jingpo, Kirgiz, Tu, Daur, Mulam, Qiang, Blang, Salar, Maonan, Gelo, Xibe, Achang, Pumi, Tajik, Nu, Ozbek, Russian, Ewenki, Benglong, Bonan, Yugur, Jing, Tatar, Drung, Oroqen, Hezhen, Moinba, Lhoba and Gelo. All nationalities in China are equal according to the law. The State protects their lawful rights and interests and promotes equality, unity and mutual help among them.

• FAMILY NAMES: Chinese family names came into being some 5,000 years ago. There are more than 5,000 family names, of which 200 to 300 are polular. The order of Chinese names is family name goes first, following by given name. For instance, the family name of a person is Wang, given name is Dong, his/her full name would be Wang Dong .

The most popular Chinese family names are LI, ZHANG, WANG, LI, ZHAO, LIU, CHEN.
According to the most recent official statistics, the three most popular family names are: LI, WANG and ZHANG, occupied 7.9% (97million), 7.4 and 7.1 of total population in China respectively.

• RIVERS: China has 50,000 rivers each covering a catchment area of more than 100 square kilometers, and 1,500 of them cover a catchment area exceeding 1,000 square kilometers. Most of them flow from west to east to empty into the Pacific Ocean. Main rivers include the Yangtze (Changjiang), Yellow (Huanghe), Heilong, Pearl, Liaohe, Haihe, Qiangtang and Lancang. The Yangtze of 6,300 kilometers is the longest river in China. The second longest Yellow River is 5,464 kilometers. The Grand Canal from Hangzhou to Beijing is a great water project in ancient China. It is of 1,794 kilometers, making it the longest canal in the world.

• RELIGIONS: China is a multi-religious country. Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, with the first three being more wide spread.Various religions exert different influence on different ethnic groups.
Islam is followed by the Hui, Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tatar, Dongxiang, Salar and Bonan nationalities; Buddhism and Lamaism are followed by the Tibetan, Mongolian, Dai and Yugur nationalities; Christianity is followed by the Miao, Yao and Yi nationalities; Shamanism is followed by the Oroqen, Ewenki and Daur nationalities; the majority Han nationality believes in Buddhism, Christianity and Taoism.

• TOPOGRAPHY:
With a broad area, China's topography is very complex.
The outline descends step by step from the west to the east. Mountains and hilly land take up 65 percent of the total area. There are five main mountain ranges.
Seven mountain peaks are higher than 8,000 meters above sea level. The Bohai Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea and South China Sea embrace the east and southeast coast.

• MONEY: Chinese Money is called Renminbi (RMB) (means "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 : 8.3 (1.00 Dollar = 8.30 Yuan).
1 Yuan to 10 Jiao, 1 Jiao to 10 Fen (There are parts of China 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, fifty and a hundred Yuan; one, two and five Jiao; and one, two and five Fen.

• CIVIL ELECTRICAL POWER: AC 220 V, 50 Hz (bathrooms of many luxury and medium-grade hotels may have 110-volt sockets).

• TELEVISION SYSTEM:
PAL (In addition to Chinese language TV broadcast, English and Japanese TV programs are available in many hotel via satellite relay. China Central Television Station (CCTV) and some local TV stations also provide English news and other programs in English.)
• TELEPHONE AREA CODE: Mainland China 86; Hong Kong 852; Taiwan 886.
(Special Telephone Numbers: Police 110; Fire 119; Emergency 120.)

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.
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.
The following is a reference table for tourists to prepare clothing on their trips.

-Spring: 10-22°C, Western suits, jackets, sports coats, woolen jackets, long sleeve shirts and travel shoes.

-Summer: 22°C and above, T-shirts, short sleeve shirts, skirts, sandals, caps, rain wear.

-Autumn: 10-22°C, Western suits, jackets, sports coats, light woolen sweaters, rain wear and travel shoes.

-Winter: 10°C or lower, overcoat, cotton clothes, lined coats. In very cold areas a cap, gloves and cotton-padded shoes are required.