China is reputed as the single oldest uninterrupted civilization in the world. It has a recorded history of nearly 4,000 years. It is situated in eastern Asia, bounded by the Pacific in the east. The third largest country in the world, next to Canada and Russia, it has an area of 9.6 million square kilometers.
China general - Geography
Geographically, climatically and culturally diverse, it is a land of great beauty and rich heritage. Its landmass of 9,596 sq km holds a population of 1.3 billion (approximately 25 per cent of the world population) of which the vast majority are Han, or ethnic Chinese. There are 55 recognized minority groups, mostly scattered through the sparsely settled border areas.
China's 49 degrees of latitude encompasses a climate ranging from sub arctic to tropical, with altitudes ranging from the peak of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain (8,847m), to the Turpan Depression at 154m below sea level.
China General - Flora and Fauna
China supports a wide diversity of plants and animals reflecting the country's huge geographical disparities. A vast array of species is crowded into the tropical, forested regions of Yunnan Province, among them the snub-nosed monkey, the elephant, and the elusive Indochina tiger (Panthera Tigris corbetti). Hainan Island sustains shirking pockets of tropical rain forest.
At the other extreme, the rugged northeast is a sanctuary of the Manchurian tiger (Panthera Tigris Altaic), reindeer, bear, and other species suited to Siberian forest conditions. The northwest (former Chinese Turkistan) is a desiccated expanse of desert and hardy, drought-resistant plants, punctuated by green oases and pine-covered mountains. The region supports wild cats, leopards, camels, and hares, among others.
The plants and wildlife of China are suffering serious degradation, however, principally due to the country's rapid economic growth. The bird sanctuary at Mai Po Marsh in Hong Kong is an example of the mounting pressure ecosystems are under. Untreated sewage from the neighboring boomtown of Shenzhen threatens to wipe it from the map. Hong Kong's harassed pink dolphins (Sousa chinensis) battle pollution, over fishing, and collisions with surface vessels. In mainland China, strict new regulations on logging are battling o preserve he country's shrinking forests There is concern, however, that a shift to a more green consciousness in China will prove to be too little, too late.
Many rivers and lakes steam with pollution, chocking life. industry has scarred the land and the encroachment of agriculture into habitats ahs further reduced plant and animal numbers. China needs o feed itself and lacks the arable land to do so; wildlife is consequently driven into the forested, mountainous, and desert regions.
The other threat comes from superstition and Chinese medicine. Exotic animals are trapped for their tendons, organs, and skin. Tigers, bears, pangolins and deer are among the prized specimens.
Endangered animals include the giant salamander (wawayu), the colossal Manchurian tiger, and the giant panda (xiongMao), whose last refuge is in western Sichuan Province. China's cheerless zoos are generally not worth visiting except for a rare view of the giant panda.
There are a number of sanctuaries that are ideal for bird-watches and for those in search of wilder destinations, including Hong Kong's Mai Po marsh, he Zhalong Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province, and Qinghai lake in Qinghai province. TOP
China General - History
China, one of the world’s most ancient civilizations, has a recorded history of nearly 4,000 years.
A fossil anthropoid unearthed in Yuanmou in Yunnan Province, “Yuanmou Man,” who lived approximately 1.7 million years ago, is China’s earliest primitive man known so far. “Peking Man,” who lived in the Zhoukoudian area near Beijing 600,000 years ago, was able to walk upright, make and use simple tools, and knew how to make fire. The Neolithic Age started in China about 10,000 years ago, and relics from this period can be found all over the country. Artificially grown rice and millet as well as farming tools have been found in the remains of Hemudu in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, and Banpo, near Xi’an City, Shanxi Province, respectively. These relics date back some 6,000-7,000 years. TOP
China General - Language
The Chinese language has two written forms and the classical style is reserved for official documents. The official spoken language is Mandarin (Putonghua) although there are many other dialects throughout the country. In southern China and Hong Kong the dominant dialects is Cantonese and as such a person from the south, speaking Cantonese, may not be able to understand a northerner whose main language will be Mandarin, yet they will be able to write to each other and fully understand the written characters. This is because the Chinese written characters do not represent sounds or phonetics as English do. They are more like pictures, with each picture meaning the same to any Chinese, be he from the far north or in Hong Kong. These characters are referred to as ideographs, as they represent ideas, not names. There are over 40,000 characters but in ordinary everyday reading it is only necessary to know about 3,000. It is fascinating to watch office workers and secretaries using their computers, typing sometimes four characters which, with the benefit of modern computer software, converts those four characters into one understandable character, just like a form of shorthand. After 1949 simplified symbols were introduced in order to simplify the written language, although the traditional script is still used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Pinyin, the Latin transcription of Standard Chinese, is used in dictionaries and in street names, etc.
China General - Population
China is the most populous country in the world, with 1.27627 billion people at the end of 2001, one fifth of the world’s total. This figure does not include the Chinese living in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, and Taiwan Province.
Moreover, the population density is high, with 133 people per sq km. This population, however, is unevenly distributed. Along the densely populated east coast there are more than 400 people per sq km; in the central areas, over 200; and in the sparsely populated plateaus in the west there are less than 10 people per sq km. -TOP
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