About China

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what's your opinion about China?

wonderful
5
63%
generally good
1
13%
just so so
0
No votes
no feel
0
No votes
I don't like it
2
25%
 
Total votes: 8

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justinlan
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Location: CHINA

About China

Post by justinlan »

China is one of the biggest countries in the world. It has an area of about 9.6 million square kilometers which comprises about 6.5 per cent of the world total land area. Its population of more than one billion accounts for 23 per cent of the world's population. China is the world's oldest continuous civilization. World Travel Organization predicts that by year 2020, China will become the number one travel destination in the world.
China is situated in the eastern part of Asia on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is the third largest country in the world (after Canada and Russia). The distance from east to west measures over 5,200 kilometers and from north to south, over 5,500 kilometers. When the sun shines brightly over the Wusuli River in the east, the Pamire Plateau in the west is in the very early morning. When blizzards wrap the north along the Heilongjiang River in the winter, spring sowing is underway on Hainan Island in the south.

China has a land border of 22,143.34 kilometers long and is bordered by twelve countries: Korea in the east; Russian in the northeast and the northwest; Mongolia in the north; India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal in part of the west and southwest; Burma, Laos and Vietnam in the south.

Beside a vast land area, there are also extensive neighboring seas and numerous islands. The coastline extends more than 14,500 kilometers. Across the East China Sea to the east and South China Sea to the southeast are Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. More than 5,000 islands are scattered over China's vast territorial seas; the largest being Taiwan and the second largest, Hainan. One territorial sea and three neighboring seas altogether constitute 4.73 million square kilometers.
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justinlan
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Post by justinlan »

Chinese History Summary


China is one of the areas where civilization developed earliest. It has a recorded history of nearly 5,000 years.

More than a million years ago, primitive human beings lived on the land now called China. About 400,000 to 500,000 years ago, the Peking Man, a primitive man that lived in Zhoukoudian southwest of Beijing, was able to walk with the body erect, to make and use simple tools, and use fire. Six to seven thousand years ago, the people living in the Yellow River valley supported themselves primarily with agriculture, while also raising livestock. More than 3,000 years ago these people began smelting bronze and using ironware.

In China, slave society began around the 21st century B.C. Over the next 1,700 years, agriculture and animal husbandry developed greatly and the skills of silkworm-raising, raw-silk reeling and silk-weaving spread widely. Bronze smelting and casting skills reached a relatively high level, and iron smelting became increasingly sophisticated. The Chinese culture flourished, as a great number of thinkers and philosophers emerged, most famously Confucius.

In 221 B.C., Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, established a centralized, unified, multi-national feudal state. This period of feudal society continued until after the Opium War in 1840. During these 2,000 years, China's economy and culture continued to develop, bequeathing a rich heritage of science and technology, literature and the arts. The four great inventions of ancient China - paper-making, printing, the compass and gunpowder - have proved an enormous contribution to world civilization.

Chinese civilization peaked at Tang Dynasty (618-907) when Tang people traded with people all over the world. This is why Chinese residing overseas often call themselves Tang Ren, or the People of Tang.

In 1840, anxious to continue its opium trade in China, Britain started the Opium War against China. After the war, the big foreign powers forcibly occupied "concessions" and divided China into "spheres of influence"; thus, China was transformed into a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society.

In 1911, the bourgeois democratic revolution (the Xinhai Revolution) led by Sun Yat-sen abolished the feudal monarchy, and established the Republic of China, therefore starting the modern history of China.

In 1949, Chinese Communist Party established the People's Republic of China, driving Kumingtang Party to Taiwan Island.

In 1978, China adopted the Open Door policy, ending the 5000 thousand's history of self seclusion.
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justinlan
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Post by justinlan »

China Culture
Calligraphy has traditionally been regarded as China's highest form of visual art - to the point that a person's character was judged by the elegance of their handwriting! Decorative calligraphy is found all over China, in temples and adorning the walls of caves and the sides of mountains and monuments. The basic tools of calligraphy - brush and ink - are also the tools of Chinese painting, with linework and tone the all-important components.
Despite the ravages of time, war and ideology, there's still a lot to see architecturally. Traces of the past include the imperial structures of Beijing, the colonial buildings of Shanghai, the occasional rural village and Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist temples. Funerary art was already a feature of Chinese culture in Neolithic times (9000-6000 BC), ranging from ritual vessels and weapons to pottery figures, jade and sacrificial vessels made of bronze. Earthenware production is almost as ancient, with the world's first proto-porcelain being produced in China in the 6th century AD, reaching its artistic peak under the Song rulers.

China's language is officially Mandarin, as spoken in Beijing. The Chinese call it Putonghua. About 70% of the population speak Mandarin, but that's just the tip of the lingusitic iceberg. The country is awash with dialects, and dialects within dialects - and few of them are mutually intelligible. Of the seven major strains, Cantonese is the one most likely to be spoken in your local Chinese takeaway. It's the lingua franca of Guangdong, southern Guangxi, Hong Kong and (to an extent) Macau.

China's literary heritage is huge, but unfortunately its untranslatability makes much of it inaccessible to Western readers. Traditionally there are two forms, the classical (largely Confucian) and the vernacular (such as the prose epics of the Ming dynasty). Chinese theatre is also known as opera because of the important role played by music, and has spawned such diverse arts as acrobatics, martial arts and stylised dance. Many Western film-lovers are fans of Chinese cinema, with releases enjoying success at film festivals and art-house cinemas. Recently there has been an emergence of talented 'fifth-generation' post-Cultural Revolution directors, including Zhang Yimou (Red Sorghum, Chen Kaige (Farewell, My Concubine), Wu Ziniu and Tian Zhuangzhuang. Add to them Hong Kong's East-meets-West action directors John Woo (Hard Boiled) and Ringo Lam (Full Contact) and you have a full-fledged, extremely successful film industry.

Chinese cuisine is justifiably famous, memorably diverse - and generally not for the squeamish. The Chinese themselves like to say they'll eat anything with four legs except a table. For the most part, however, it's a case of doing ingenious things with a limited number of basic ingredients. The cuisine can be divided into four regional categories: Beijing/Mandarin and Shandong (with steamed bread and noodles as staples), Cantonese and Chaozhou (lightly cooked meats and vegetables), Shanghainese (the home of 'red cooking' and wuxi spare ribs) and Sichuan (spicy, with lots of chilli). Tea is the most common nonalcoholic beverage on sale, although Coca-Cola (both original and bogus) is making inroads, while beer is by far the most popular alcoholic drink. 'Wine' is a loose term which can cover oxidised and herb-soaked concoctions, rice wine and wine containing lizards, bees or pickled snakes. Another favourite is maotai, a spirit made from sorghum which smells like rubbing alcohol and makes a good substitute for petrol or paint thinner.
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justinlan
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Post by justinlan »

so...... do you wanna visit China? :wink:
Elba
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Post by Elba »

I said "generally good", but it is because I need to know China in deepest. I hope some day go to that misterious country.
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justinlan
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Post by justinlan »

Elba wrote:I said "generally good", but it is because I need to know China in deepest. I hope some day go to that misterious country.
:D I hope that your wish will come true swiftly.And welcome to China!.
Each coin has its two sides.Of course,China has some shortages excepting strongpoints.However,I like like this country not only for it is my motherland but also for its imposing rivers and mountains,colorful culture and old-line history. :idea:
sky888walker
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Post by sky888walker »

Hi Justinlan,

I have no other word than to agree with you. China has indeed many beautiful landscapes with mountains, hills, rice fields, river, etc. I came there in Dec (last year) and stayed for almost 1 month; tried many delicious foods and visited a lot of interesting places.

To be honest, i dont like to travel in big cities in china as i feel that those cities are similar to other big cities in the world. Like others, in those cities i could only see tall concrete buildings, roads and cars (buses, etc). Nothing impressed me much. However, it's indeed very interesting to travel deeper into the western part of china where i could see a "true" china. People are more friendly there and foods have more reasonable prices. I could feel a wonderful atmosphere and culture. I was really impressed.

Indeed a remarkable country.
A simple answer using simple words from a simple and humble man
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justinlan
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Post by justinlan »

sky888walker wrote:Hi Justinlan,

I have no other word than to agree with you. China has indeed many beautiful landscapes with mountains, hills, rice fields, river, etc. I came there in Dec (last year) and stayed for almost 1 month; tried many delicious foods and visited a lot of interesting places.

To be honest, i dont like to travel in big cities in china as i feel that those cities are similar to other big cities in the world. Like others, in those cities i could only see tall concrete buildings, roads and cars (buses, etc). Nothing impressed me much. However, it's indeed very interesting to travel deeper into the western part of china where i could see a "true" china. People are more friendly there and foods have more reasonable prices. I could feel a wonderful atmosphere and culture. I was really impressed.

Indeed a remarkable country.
Exactly~~!
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Annaa
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Re: About China

Post by Annaa »

I never have been in China so I don`t know where to vote but I saw many pictures of it and I think it`s a nice country ;-) .
If you don`t like me remember it's mind over matter..I don't mind and you don't matter..
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