China

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Officially named the People’s Republic of China (PR China, 中华人民共和国) and also known as ZHŌNGGUÓ, CHINA is a Communist country in Eastern Asia and has the largest population of any country in the world: approximately 1.4 billion (2017). The Chinese nation boasts a comprehensive, longstanding history involving the tenets of education, intense leadership, and innovation/inventions. Partially confirmed by historic records, Xia (Hsia) is the first dynasty ruling over ancient China — in existence from the years 2,100 to 1,600 BCE/BC. View the Timeline of Chinese History and Dynasty (↗) by Columbia University for a concise overview of China’s past. A total of 14 countries border China: Afghanistan (small border), Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. From north to south, the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea (a.k.a. South Sea or Nan Hai) are water bodies situated east and south of China. China’s currency is the Chinese Renminbi, and the ISO 4217 currency code is CNY. In the Renminbi currency, one yuan equals 10 jiao and 100 fen. PRC China’s founding officially began on September 21st, 1949, and citizens annually celebrate National Day on October 1st.

Chinese Calendar year: 4721
4721 is the Huángdì year for most of 2024 to early 2025

● ● ● ● ●  People and Places  ● ● ● ● ●  Boasting a metropolitan population greater than 21 million, Beijing is China’s capital but surprisingly not the country’s largest city. That designation belongs to Shanghai, which has about 3 million more residents than Beijing in its metropolitan area. Other major cities throughout China include Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Foshan, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Guilin, Hangzhou, Harbin, Jinan, Kunming, Nanjing, Nanning, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Shijiazhuang, Suzhou, Ürümqi, Wuhan, Xi’an, Xiamen, Yantai, Zhengzhou, and Zhongshan. Attractions, landmarks, and sites of interest in China — with city location(s) listed in parentheses — include but are certainly not limited to the Bund International Architecture Exhibition (Shanghai), City of Dreams (Macau), Great Wall of China (Datong, Huairou, Lanzhou, Yinchuan, etc.), Historic Center of Macau, Jingshan Park (Beijing), Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve (Jiuzhaigou), Jokhang Temple (Lhasa), Longmen Grottoes (Luoyang), Mogao Caves (Dunhuang), Potala Palace (Lhasa in Tibet), Shanghai Circus World (Shanghai), skyscrapers of Beijing and Hong Kong (among other modern cities), Summer Palace (Beijing), Temple of Heaven (Beijing), Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery (Hong Kong), terracotta warriors of the First Qin Emperor Mausoleum (Xi’an), Tiananmen Square (Beijing), Wuzhen Water Town (Tongxiang), and Xinjiang Regional Museum (Ürümqi).

Coastal provinces and other administrative regions from north to south are Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin (municipality), Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai (municipality), Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Hainan. China possesses two special administrative provinces (SARs): HONG KONG (↗) and MACAU (↗), both located in the South China Sea’s Pearl River Delta (Zhu Jiang Sanjiaozhou). Five autonomous regions with local governments sit within PR China. From smallest to largest, they are Ningxia, Guangxi, Nei Mongol (Inner Mongolia), Tibet (Xizang), and Xinjiang. Also known as the Republic of China (ROC), TAIWAN (↗) is a self-governing entity but has not achieved full independence from the mainland. About twenty countries recognize Taiwan as an independent state and maintain diplomatic relations with its government. Some countries are opposed to Taiwan’s sovereignty in fear of consequences brought on by PR China. For example, the One-China Policy states that the PR China’s diplomatic relations with countries recognizing Taiwan’s sovereignty could be halted.

The official language of national identity for China, Mandarin (Standard) Chinese is the world’s most used language for communication. As of 2017, over 1.1 billion people — that number could very well be higher — speak and write with Mandarin Chinese. Cantonese (Yue) is either considered a Mandarin dialect or an official language in Hong Kong and Macau. Another official language of Hong Kong is English; Portuguese is official in Macau. Other majorly communicated languages — and namesake ethnic groups pertaining to some languages — include Akha, Bai, Bouyei, Bunu (Bu-Nao), Gan Chinese, Hakka Chinese, Huizhou Chinese, Jinyu Chinese, Min Bei Chinese, Min Dong Chinese, Min Nan Chinese, Min Zhong Chinese, Pu-Xian Chinese, Wu Chinese, Xiang Chinese, Dong (Northern and Southern), Dongxiang, Hani, Hmong, Iu Mien, Kaduo, Kazakh, Kim Mun, Korean, Kyrgyz, Lahu, Central Lalo, Lingao, Lisu, Lolopo, Lü, Miao, Mongolian, Nasu (Wumeng and Wusa), Naxi, Nisu (especially Northern and Southern), Nuosu, Parauk Wa, Russian, Sinicized Miao, Sui, Tai Nüa, Tibetan (Amdo, Central, and Khams), Uyghur (Uighur), Waxianghua, Wuding-Luquan Yi, and various forms of Zhuang. About half of the Chinese population adheres to the tenets of religions. The relatively high rates of atheism is a vestige of religious bans during Mao Zedong’s dictatorial rule. Prominent religions worshiped today in China include Chinese Universism (almost 30% of China’s population), Buddhism (8.5%), Christianity (8.5%), ethnic religions (4.4%), and Islam (1.5%) — followed by Bahá’í Faith, Confucianism, Daoism (Taoism), Hinduism, Judaism, Sikhism, Spiritism, and Zoroastrianism.



● ● ● ● ●  Land and Water Features  ● ● ● ● ●  The Tien Shan mountains, Taklimakan Desert, Kunlun mountains, Tibetan Plateau, and the Himalaya mountains dominate Western China, from north to south. The Gobi Desert stretches vertically across northern China and southern Mongolia. Northeast China features the Greater Khingan volcanic mountain range and the Manchurian Plain. Hainan is the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s largest island. If the Republic of China was included in island-related statistics, then Taiwan would be the largest island of China. Taiwan encompasses an area of 35,980 km² and 13,892 mi² versus Hainan’s 33,210 km² and 12,822 mi².

Major lakes are mostly located in mountainous and glacial regions in southern China (especially in Tibet) but also interspersed among rivers in eastern China, near cities such as Nanjing, Suzhou, and Wuhan. The largest lake in China, Qinghai is situated south of the Gobi Desert in north-central China (Qinghai Province). Other large lakes include Aqqikkol, Ayakkum, Chao, Dagzê, Fuxian, Har, Hulun, Nam, Poyang, Shaobo, Siling, Tai, and Ulansu. China’s longest river, the Yangtze (Cháng Jiāng), originates from a glacier on the Tibetan Plateau and flows eastward past cities such as Lijiang, Chongqing, Yichiang, Yueyang, Wuhan, Huangshi, Wuhu, Ma’anshan, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Nantong, and Shanghai. Other rivers include Amur (Heilong Jiang), Huang He (Yellow), Mekong, Pearl River system (Bei, Dong, and Xi rivers), Salween, and Yarlung Zangbo (connected to Brahmaputra).

The China post was updated with more information on May 25th, 2017.