About China

China is one of the world?s oldest, continuing civilizations dating back more than 6,000 years. Its artists, scientists, and scholars have gifted the world with many of its major inventions and discoveries. Paper, compass, gunpowder, and printing are just some of the greatest contributions of China to world civilization.

After the last Chinese Civil war, two political entities emerged using the name China: The People?s Republic of China or China which has control over the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau (since 1999); and the Republic of China or Taiwan, that has control over the islands of Taiwan, Pescadores, Kinmen, & Matsu. China has 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 special administrative regions (Hong Kong & Macau).

With a vast area, China?s topography is very diverse. Mountains and hilly land take up 65% of the total area. China is bounded by 5 mountain ranges. The Bohai Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea embrace the east and southeast coast.

The majority of the Chinese people speak Mandarin, with Cantonese as the second widely spoken language. Most of China?s 55 ethnic minorities speak their own dialect. As a written language, Chinese has been used for more than 6,000 years.

China is home to various religious denominations. Buddhism, Taoism, and Islam are the most widely spread. Catholicism and Protestantism, and Shamanism have active followers as well.

The ruling party of China is The Communist Party of China (CPC).It is the party that founded the People?s Republic of China and the world?s largest political party. The party?s 70 million members constitute 5.5% of the population of the country.

Chinese currency is called Renminbi (RMB) which means ?People?s Currency?. The popular unit of RMB is the Yuan. The official exchange rate between the U.S dollar an the Rmb Yuan is currently at 1:8.3 ($1= 8.30 yuan).

History of China

China has one of the world?s oldest civilizations. It dates back 6,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest humans in China date from 2.24 million to 250,000 years ago. As a nation, ancient China was ruled by Dynasties. Chinese tradition names Xia as its first dynasty but it was during the reign of the Q?in emperor. This was the first unified Chinese state established in 221 BCE when the office of the Emperor was established and the Chinese language was forcibly standardized. Despite its short reign, this is a significant period in China as it its from this dynasty that China got its name. The dynasty that succeeded the Q?in Emperor is even more important as it created a lasting cultural identity that is still evident in China?s populace to this day. This was known as the Han dynasty. After the reign of the Han emperors, a succession of dynasties ruled China, plunging it into violence and unrest.

Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, Chinese technology and culture reached its zenith. The Song dynasty was the first government in world history to issue paper money and the first Chinese polity to establish a permanent standing navy. This was an economically sound period in China, resulting in a culturally rich era that promoted the arts, philosophy and social life.

In this period of China?s history, it is important to note that the country was invaded and ruled by foreign rulers. The first to do so was Kublai Khan from Mongolia who established the Yuan dynasty in 1279. The second foreign ruler and incidentally also the last of China?s dynasties were the Manchus who established the Q?ing Dynasty in 1644 and lasted until 1912.
The end of Manchurian rule was brought about as China opened up to foreign trade and missionary activity. As opium was forced into China by British India, the Chinese became addicted to it and their clamor raised the prices of opium in world trade. The subsequent Opium wars greatly weakened the Emperor?s control. With the death of Emperor Guangxu, empress Dowager Cixi declared her 2-year old nephew Puyi as the Xuantong Emperor. He became the last emperor of China when the abdication decree was signed in 1912.

Republic of China (1912?1949)

The end of the Q?ing dynasty marked the start of a new era in China?s history. On January 1, 1912, the Republic of Chinas was established with Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang Party proclaimed as provisional president of the republic. However, he was soon replaced by Yuan Shikai who became wildly unpopular after he proclaimed himself Emperor of China just three years after China was relishing its newfound victory as a republic. He was forced to abdicate and return the state back into a republic. After Yuan Shikai?s death in 1916, the new republic went through birthing pains with a politically fragmented China taken over by warlords. It wasn?t until the leadership of Chiang Kai Shek that the Kuomintang was able to reunify the country under its control.
Meanwhile, a growing opposition was forming against the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang). They were called the Communist Party of China under the able leadership of Mao Zedong. At the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War (part of WWII), these two opposing factions were forced to form an uneasy alliance to win against Japan. With Japan?s surrender, China emerged victorious but poor. Soon, the mistrust that festered between the Kuomintang and the Communists erupted into the Chinese Civil war ushering in another era of China?s history?the People?s Republic of China.

People?s Republic of China

On October 1, 1949 the Communist Party of China (CCP) led by Mao Zedong gained control of most of Mainland China after winning the Chinese Civil War. The CCP established the People?s Republic of China as a socialist state to be headed by a ?Democratic Dictatorship? with the CCP as the only legal political party. This development made Chiang Kai Shek, leader of the Kuomintang, an outlaw in China. He was forced to retreat to the island of Taiwan and moved the Republic of China (ROC) government there.

This is the reason why we have two Chinas at present. The People?s Republic of China (PROC) which administers Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau; and we have the Republic of China (ROC) which controls the islands of Taiwan, Quemoy, and Matsu.

China?s People

China earns the distinction of having the world?s largest and most populous country. In the latest census (middle of 2008) there are 1,330,044.605 people living in China alone. As the world?s population is estimated at 6.7 billion, China holds a full 20% of the world?s population. This means that one in every five people on the planet is a resident of China. Isn?t that amazing?

China’s population growth has been somewhat slowed by the one-child policy, in effect since 1979. Consider that in 1949, China?s population growth rate was a staggering 11% when the average rate is 2-3%. They needed drastic measures to contain this rapid growth of their population. By 1980, it was down to 6% and this rate has steadily decreased to a growth rate of 1.7% if you compare the population census of 2005 and 2008. Today, the basic requirements of family planning in China are late marriages, late child-bearing especially one child per couple. However, the government is flexible in implementing this policy for rural people and ethnic minorities. In areas inhabited by minority peoples, each ethnic group may work out different regulations in accordance with its population, natural resources, economy, culture and customs. In areas with extremely small populations, a couple is allowed to have as many children as they please.

China is a united but a multi-ethnic nation that is home to 56 ethnic groups. The majority of the Chinese belong to the Han ethnic group. They comprise 91.96% of the country?s total population while the other 55 make up the remaining 8.04% (1990 National Census). This group, however, is internally diverse as it consists of many smaller ethnic groups that have been ?Sinocized? into a Han identity. Because the assimilations were incomplete, some vestiges of their ?old? indigenous language and culture still remain. It won?t be unusual for you to see a group people all claiming to be Han and yet speak different dialects and practice different cultural traditions. To promote unity among its various people, the modern term ?Chinese Nation? or ?Zhonghua Minzu? is now used to describe a notion of a Chinese nationality that transcend ethnic divisions.