Introduction of China

China, one of the countries that can boast of an ancient civilization, has a long and mysterious history - almost 5,000 years of it! Like most other great civilizations of the world, China can trace her culture back to a blend of small original tribes which have expanded till they became the great country we have today.

It is recorded that Yuanmou man is the oldest hominoid in China and the oldest dynasty is Xia Dynasty. From the long history of China, there emerge many eminent people that have contributed a lot to the development of the whole country and to the enrichment of her history.

Among them, there are emperors like Li Shimin (emperor Taizong of the Tang), philosophers like Confucius, great patriotic poets like Qu Yuan and so on.

Chinese society has progressed through five major stages - Primitive Society, Slave Society, Feudal Society, Semi-feudal and Semi-colonial Society, and Socialist Society.

The rise and fall of the great dynasties forms a thread that runs through Chinese history, almost from the beginning. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949, China has become a socialist society and become stronger and stronger.

China is the most populous nation on earth. With more than 1.2 billion people, it contains one-fifth of the world's population. Approximately 93 percent of the people are Han Chinese; the remainder is made up of 350 minority groups -- 55 of them are commonly recognized -- which have their own language, culture, and religion.

China has the third largest landmass of any nation. Only Russia and Canada are larger. China is slightly larger than the United States. There are 31 provinces, autonomous regions and special municipalities. Hong Kong, which reverted to China in 1997, is referred to as a special administrative region. The four largest cities, Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin are administered directly by the central government. Approximately half the land is occupied by minority people groups such as Mongols, Tibetans, Yugur, and Bai. Only about 15 percent of China's land is farmable, so there is a great strain on the land to feed so many people.

Mandarin Chinese (also known as Putonghua) is the primary language, and is spoken by more than 70 percent of the population. Cantonese prevails in Hong Kong and in parts of the Guangdong Province. Many other dialects abound.

With its first recorded history dating back to 1500 BC, China claims the world's oldest existing civilization. During most of its history, China was ruled by a series of dynasties. The last dynasty ended in 1911 with the establishment of a republic by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. From 1911 until 1949 there was great turmoil in China as various factions fought for supremacy, ending with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.

Since 1949, the country has been under communist rule. China's governments claims that during that time there has been an eradication of opium, an increased life expectancy, and a reduction of the infant mortality rate. But, there have also been periods of great turmoil, the worst of which was the Cultural Revolution, officially lasting from 1966-1970, though many historians extend its effects until the death of Mao Ze-dong in 1976.

The Cultural Revolution was a period of unprecedented turmoil in which society was virtually turned upside down. Students, in the form of Red Guard, went on a rampage. Schools and universities were closed, intellectuals and artists of all kinds were dismissed, persecuted, sent to labor in the countryside, or killed. Temples, monuments, and works of art were defaced and destroyed. All religious institutions were closed and religious workers were sent to prison or to work in factories or in the countryside. This was a time of suffering for all the Chinese people. Its effects are still felt in society.

Except for a few minority groups and some rural dwellers, families are strongly discouraged from having more than one child. Those who ignore the admonitions can be severely penalized. The government takes pride in this intrusive manner of population control.

China's economy has been improving rapidly since 1979 when China opened the doors to foreign investment and opened the economy to more private initiative. This has resulted in a vast increase of consumer activity, so that upper middle class families have many symbols of middle class affluence: refrigerators, telephones, color televisions, video CD players, and more. Commercialism and materialism are increasingly popular in China. However, there is still terrible poverty as well.