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China in Brief

Location and Area

China, situated in the eastern part of Asia and on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, faces the sea with the land for a background Its sea and landlocation is beneficial to its relations with many neighboring countries and also advantageous to its exchanges with foreign countries Meanwhile, the annual moist air from the sea with plenty of rainfall is an important source for China's freshwater resources and is an indispensable condition for the growth of its maritime industry China has a vast territory. Its northernmost part is located on the central line of the main course of the Heilong River,north of the Mohe River, in Heilongjiang Province; its southernmost tip is m Zengmu Reef of the Nansha Is of the South China Sea,The two prates are 5,500 km apart. Its easternmost part isat the confluence of the Heilong and Wusuli rivers; its westernmost tip is on the Pamirs in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region The east and west span is 5,OOO km (about 62 Latitudinal degrees). China covers a tota[ land area of 96 million square km, third only to Russia and Canada, or the third largest country in the world China's land area accounts for 1/15 of the worrd total, or the entire area of Europe.

Climate

With a vast territory, most regions in China are located in the temperate zone and some regions in the south are located in the subtropical and tropical zones Its northern part is close to the frigid zone. Ice and snow can be found all the year round in some alpine regions China is located in the noted monsoon zone m the world. Most regions are cold and dry in winter and have a warm and rainy climate in summer, Plus its varied topography and terrain conditions, its climate is complicated and diversified. There is a long winter but no summer in the northern part of Heilongjiang Province, while there is a long summer but no winter in Hainan Province. There are four distinct seasons in the Huaihe River valley. It is like spring all the year round south of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The climate in the hinterland of northwest China varies greatly in winter and summer. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in southwest China is a paramos with a Iow temperature throughout the year There is an arid climate and has less rain throughout the year in some desert regions.

Time Zones

The land area of China is 6g-degree Longitude from west to east. According to the demarcation of the world time zoning standard, the land area of China lies between the eastern fifth to ninth time zones. Currently, all the places in China have adopted the eastern eighth time zone for the sake ofconvenience. That is the "Beijing Time."

Language and Written Characters

Minority nationalities in Chma have the freedom to use and develop their own languages and written characters Chinese and its written characters are in common use in China and also one of the five working languages designated by the United Nations, Because of historical and geographical reasons, there are many dialects in the Chinese language, such at Wu, Guangdong and Fujian dialects The government has defined that the common speech of the Hah nationality is used as the common language. Chinese characters are used to record the Chinese language. Since the discovery of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th-11th century B.C), the Cheese language has a history of about 6, 000 years. Most of the 55 ethnic groups in China have their own languages, 30 of them have their own written languages.

Administrative Divisions

The current administrative divisions of China are province, county (city) and township

The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions, municipabties directly under the central government, and special administrative regions;
Provinces and autonomous regions are divided into autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties, and cities; and
Counties and autonomous counties are divided into townships, ethnic townships and towns. Autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties are autonomous places of various ethnic groups. At present there are 23 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities directly under the central government and two special administrative regions in China, Twenty-three provinces: Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jiiin, Heilongjiang, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hainan; Fwe autonomous regions: Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Tibet; Four muncipalites: Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongging; Two special administrative regions: Hongkong, Macao Bering, the capital of the People's Republic of China, is also the political, economic and cultural center of the country.

China quick facts
Capital city	Beijing
National flag	Five-star red flag, length and width proportion: 3:2.	National emblem
National anthem	March of the Volunteers (lines: Arise, those who do not want to be slaves! We will use our flesh and blood to build another Great Wall. China has reached the brink of national collapse. All the people have been making their last outcry. Arise! Arise! Arise! All our hearts become one. Let us face the angry guns. March on! Let us face the angry guns. March on! March on! March on! On!)
National Day	October 1, the country was founded in 1949.
Top legislature	National People's Congress (NPC).
Location	In East Asia, by the west Pacific Ocean.
Territory area	9.6 million square km, second to Russia and Canada.
Largest city	Shanghai.
Currency	Renminbi (RMB) yuan.
Weights and measures	metric system.
Topography	High in its west and low in its east: mountain areas 33.3%, plateaus 26%, basins 18.8%, plains 12% and hills 9.9%.
Islands	Among the 5,400 islands, Taiwan Island (about 36,000 square km) is the largest, Hainan Island (about 34,000 square km) the second.
Mountains	Among the 19 mountains over 7,000 meters high in the world, seven are in China. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as "the roof of the world", has many high mountains. The Himalayas, with an average elevation of 6,000 meters, have the world's highest peak Mount Qomolangma, 8,848 meters above sea level.
Rivers	The Yangtze River, 6,300 km long, the third longest in the world after the Nile and the Amazon. The Yellow River, the second longest in China, stretching 5,464 km.
Canyon	The canyon on the Yalu Tsangpo River, the world's largest, 504.6 km in length and 6,009 meters in depth.
Man-made river	The Grand Canal, 1,801 km long, the longest man-made river in the world. Its cutting began in the fifth century BC.
Lakes	The Poyang Lake on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is China's largest freshwater lake; the Qinghai Lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the country's largest salt lake.
Climate	Most of the country in the temperate zone, although geographically the country stretches from the tropical and subtropical zones in the south to the frigid zone in the north.
Wild animals	China has a great variety of wildlife, over 4,400 vertebrates, more than 100 rare species of the world: the giant panda, the golden monkey, the white-lipped deer, the South China Tiger, Crossoplilon mantchuricum, the white-flag dolphin, the Chinese alligator, and the crowned crane.
Plants	China has a great variety of plants, 32,000 species of higher plants, including nearly all the major kinds of vegetation found in the frigid and temperate zones of the northern hemisphere.
Popular flowers	Peony, azalea, primrose and felwort.
Population	China carried out its fifth national population census on November 1, 2000. It has a population of 1,295.33 million. Of which: the total population of the 32 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities (excluding Jinmen and Mazu islands of Fujian Province hereafter) and of servicemen on the mainland of China was 1,265.83 million; the population of Hong Kong SAR was 6.78 million; the population of Macao SAR was 440 thousand; the population of Taiwan Province and of Jinmen, Mazu and a few other islands of Fujian Province was 22.28 million.
Ethnic groups	China has 56 ethnic groups. Of the people enumerated in the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and servicemen of the mainland of China, 1,159.40 million persons or 91.59 percent were of Han nationality, and 106.43 million persons or 8.41 percent were of various national minorities.
Languages	Of the 56 ethnic groups in China, the Hui and Manchu use the same languages as Han people, while the rest of groups have their own spoken and written languages.
Public holidays	New Year's Day (January 1), the Spring Festival (the New Year's Day by Chinese lunar calendar), International Labor Day (May 1), and the National Day (October 1).

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