Country Information on China

Terrain China encompasses a great diversity of landscapes. The country features towering mountains, e.g. the Himalaya in Tibet, as well as seemingly endless plains, such as the Inner Mongolian Plateau or the plains of the Yangtze River valley. In the south-west, the Yunnan-Guizhbou Plateau has a lacerated terrain shaped by the power of water over countless years, with numerous gorge rapids, waterfalls, and limestone pinnacles, making it one of the country's most spectacular regions. Deserts characterize China's interior, e.g. the Taklamakan Desert featuring salt lakes, and the Turpan Depression, China's hottest region. Melting snow from the mountains of Western China and the Tibetan Plateau provides the headwaters for the country's major rivers: the Yangtze, Huang He (Yellow River), and Mekong. The highest point is Mount Everest (8,848 m). Climate China's climate ranges from bitterly cold to unbearably hot. In the south, the hot and humid summer lasts from April to September. The rainy season in this region coincides with the one in northern China. Typhoons may hit the south-east coast, mostly between July and September. The north-west experiences dry, hot summers, with China's hottest place - Turpan - receiving maximum temperatures of around 47°C. Winters here are as formidably cold as in the rest of northern China. Fauna/Flora Unfortunately, much of the country's rich natural heritage has become endangered or extinct, largely owing to the destruction of habitat caused by agriculture, a steady increase in population, and industrial pollution. Magnificent animals indigenous to China - but found in increasingly low numbers - include pandas, snow leopards, elephants, wild yaks, reindeer, moose, musk-oxen, bears, sables and tigers. Bird species are multifarious, as well; some of the most common species are cranes, ducks, pheasants, peacocks, parrots, herons, and swans. China's original flora is also enormously endangered by overgrazing, extensive deforestation, and over-development. The last great tracts of forest are in the sub-arctic north-eastern region near the Russian border, while the tropical south is home to the country's most diverse plant life, including rainforest. Various plants indigenous to China, such as bamboo or ginseng, are used in traditional Chinese medicine. There are altogether 300 nature reserves in China. History/Politics The Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 BC) is the first documented era of ancient China. The Chou Dynasty (1122-221 BC) saw the full flowering of ancient civilization in China. After nearly 900 years, the Chou Dynasty came to an end when the state of Ch'in, the strongest of the seven surviving states, unified China and established the first empire in 221 BC. After a short civil war, a new dynasty, called Han (206 BC-AD 220), emerged with its capital at Chang'an. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Chinese control was recognized by Tibet and Central Asia west to Mongolia, by Manchuria and Korea in the north, and by Annam in the south. Kublai Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan, established the first non-Chinese dynasty (Yuan/Mongol Dynasty) to rule all of China (1279-1368). The first European ships to anchor off the coast of China in 1516 were Portuguese. A trading station was established in Macao by 1517, but it was not until 1760 that other European powers gained secure access to Chinese markets via a base in Guangzhou. The first half of the 20th century was a period of political chaos, with various forces competing for power during the Qing dynasty, in particular a group of intellectuals seeking to break the old Confucian order. Sun Yatsen's Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) conquered southern China and began training a revolutionary army with which to challenge the northern warlords. Soviet advice and Communist aid finally led to control of all of China by the Kuomintang in 1928. The Communist Party under Mao Zedong proclaimed The People's Republic of China in 1949. After Mao's death Deng Xiaoping became the new political leader of China, and the nation started to open up to the West and to sign the first economic treaties. When Deng Xiaoping died, Jiang Zemin succeeded him as president. Economy Since 1978 the Chinese leadership has been trying to shift the economy from a centrally planned one to a more market-oriented one, but still within a rigid political framework of Communist Party control. To this end the authorities have switched to a system of household responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivisation, the administration of the collectives was modernised, and more and more foreign enterprises were established. After 1980 Chinese economy recovered, both in the agricultural and in the industrial sector. The enormous economic growth of Hong Kong is another factor that Chinese economy can profit by now that Hong Kong has been incorporated into China. Culture China's literary heritage is huge, but its language makes much of it inaccessible to Western readers. Chinese opera is famous all over the world and has made such diverse arts as acrobatics, and Asian martial arts and dance known to a large public. Traces of the past include the imperial palaces of Beijing, the colonial buildings of Shanghai, and Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist temples in many towns. The world's first porcelain was produced in China in the 6th century AD, reaching its artistic peak under the Song rulers.