Explore China, officially known as the People’s Republic of China a huge country in Eastern Asia (about the same size as the United States of America) with the world’s largest population.

With coasts on the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, it borders 14 nations. This number of neighboring states is equalled only by China’s vast neighbor to the north, Russia.

“I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge. I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.” — Confucius

The roughly 5000-year-old Chinese civilization has endured through millennia of tumultuous upheaval and revolutions, periods of golden ages and anarchy alike. Through the recent economic boom initiated by the reforms of Deng Xiaoping, China is once again one of the leading nations in the world, buoyed by its large, industrious population and abundant natural resources. The depth and complexity of the Chinese civilization, with its rich heritage, has fascinated Westerners such as Marco Polo and Gottfried Leibniz through the Silk Road and more ways of culture exchange in centuries past, and will continue to excite – and bewilder – the traveler today.

History

The recorded history of Chinese civilization can be traced to the Yellow River valley, said to be the ‘cradle of Chinese civilization’. The Xia Dynasty was the first dynasty to be described in ancient historical chronicles, though to date, no concrete proof of its existence has been found. Nevertheless, archaeological evidence has shown that at the very least, an early-bronze-age Chinese civilization had developed by the period described.

Climate and Terrain

China’s climate varies from tropical in the south to subarctic in the north. Hainan Island is roughly at the same latitude as Jamaica, while Harbin, a large northern city, is at roughly the latitude of Montreal and has the climate to match. Northern China has four distinct seasons with intensely hot summers and bitterly cold winters. Southern China tends to be milder and wetter. The climate is more arid in the north and west. In the Tibetan highlands and the vast steppes and deserts of Gansu and Xinjiang, distances are great and the land is often barren.

Holidays

China has five major annual holidays:

• Chinese New Year or Spring Festival – late January/mid-February
• Qingming Festival — usually 4–6 Apr, or the tomb sweeping day, cemeteries are crowded with people who go to sweep the tombs of their ancestors and offer sacrifices. Traffic on the way to cemeteries can be heavy.
• Labor Day or May Day – 1 May
• Dragon Boat Festival – The fifth day of the fifth lunar month, usually May-Jun. Boat races and eating zongzi, steamed pouches of sticky rice) are a traditional parts of the celebration.
• Mid-Autumn Day- The 15th day of the eighth lunar month, usually in October. Also called the Moon Cake Festival after its signature treats, moon cakes. People meet outside, putting food on tables and gazing at the full harvest moon while talking about life.
• National Day – 1 October

Regions of China

• Northeast China (Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang)
• dōngběi, “rust-belt” cities, vast forests, Russian, Korean, and Japanese influence, and long, snowy winters
• North China (Shandong, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin)
• The Yellow River Basin, cradle of China’s civilization and historic heartland
• Northwest China (Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and Xinjiang)
• Site of China’s capital for 1000 years, grasslands, deserts, mountains, nomadic people and Islam
• Southwest China (Tibet, Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou)
• The exotic part, minority peoples, spectacular scenery and backpacker havens
• South-central China (Anhui, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi)
• Farming areas, mountains, river gorges, temperate and sub-tropical forests
• Southeast China (Guangdong, Hainan and Fujian)
• Traditional trading center, manufacturing powerhouse, and ancestral homeland of most overseas Chinese
• East China (Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang)
• The “land of fish and rice” (China’s equivalent of the “land of milk and honey”), traditional water towns, and cosmopolitan, prosperous boomtowns

Cities

• Beijing — the capital and cultural centre
• Guangzhou — one of the most prosperous and liberal cities in the south, near Hong Kong
• Guilin — popular destination for both Chinese and foreign tourists with sensational mountain and river scenery
• Hangzhou — famously beautiful city and major centre for the silk industry
• Kunming — capital of Yunnan and gateway to a rainbow of ethnic minority areas
• Nanjing — a renowned historical and cultural city with many historic sites
• Shanghai — famous for its riverside cityscape, China’s largest city is a major commercial center with many shopping opportunities
• Suzhou — “Venice of the East,” an ancient city famous for canals and gardens just west of Shanghai
• Xi’an — the oldest city and ancient capital of China, home to ten dynasties including the Han and the Tang, terminus of the ancient Silk Road, and home of the terracotta warriors
• Yangzhou — “Epitome of China” with a history of over 2,500 years, Marco Polo served as the city’s governor for three years in the late 13th century.
• Chengdu — “The home of giant pandas”. It was established before Xi’an. It is the capital city of Sichuan Province and offers the best and the most spicy food.

You can travel to many of these cities using the new fast trains. In particular, the Hangzhou – Shanghai – Suzhou – Nanjing line is a convenient way to see these historic areas.

Other destinations

• Great Wall of China — longer than 8,000 km, this ancient wall is the most iconic landmark of China
• Hainan — a tropical paradise island undergoing heavy tourist-oriented development
• Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve — known as the habitat of giant pandas and for its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes
• Leshan — most famous for its huge riverside cliff-carving of Buddha and nearby Mount Emei
• Mount Everest — straddling the border between Nepal and Tibet, this is the world’s highest mountain
• Mount Tai — one of the five Taoist sacred mountains in China, and because of its history, the most-climbed mountain in China
• Tibet — the Tibetan Buddhist majority and their traditional culture make it distinct
• Turpan — in the Islamic area of Xinjiang, this area is known for its grapes, harsh climate and Uighur culture
• Yungang Grottoes — more than 50 mountain-side caves and recesses number are filled with 51,000 Buddhist statues

Talk

The official language of China is Standard Mandarin, which is mostly based on the Beijing dialect, known in Chinese as Putonghua. Mandarin has been the only language used in education on the mainland since the 1950s, so most people speak it.

Chinese students learn English as a compulsory subject starting from late elementary or middle school. Passing an English exam is a requirement to earn a four-year university degree, regardless of major. However, the focus of the instruction at all levels is formal grammar and, to a lesser degree, writing rather than speaking or listening. As a result, most young people in the country can read some English, but might not be able to have a conversation in the language.