China Travel Guide

China (Zhongguó), officially known as the People's Republic of China (Zhonghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó) is a vast 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, in total it borders 14 nations.

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The first civilizations in China arose in the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys at about the same time as Mesopotamia, Egypt and India developed their first civilizations. For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. Paper, gunpowder, the compass and printing (both block and movable type) are Chinese inventions. Developments in astronomy, medicine, and other fields were also extensive. A Chinese tomb contains a heliocentric model of the solar system, about 1,700 years before Copernicus. In mathematics, "Pythagoras' theorem" and "Pascal's triangle" were known in China centuries before their Western discoverers even lived.

China was the first civilization to implement meritocracy of any form. This meant that unlike in other ancient cultures, official posts were not hereditary but instead had to be earned through a series of examinations, which were first conducted during the Han Dynasty, and further refined into the Imperial Examination System and opened to all regardless of family background during the Tang Dynasty. The vast historical influence of China is also evident in the traditional cultures of some of its neighbors, most notably Vietnam, Korea and Japan, with them even adopting the Chinese writing system at some point, some of which is still in use in the latter two today.

China also explored the world and traded extensively with other nations. By the 5th-6th centuries AD, voyages to India and the Arab countries were routine. In the 15th century the Ming Dynasty fleets under Admiral Zheng He reached as far as East Africa. The ships were technically very advanced, much larger than European ships of the day and with a system of watertight compartments that Europe was not to match for several centuries.

However, China has always been inward-looking. China is "zhong guo", literally "center land" often translated "middle kingdom;" all others are "wai guo ren", literally "outside land people", often translated "barbarians." The Emperor did not receive ambassadors, but only tribute bearers. Around 1425, China turned inward with a vengeance. Records of the great trading voyages were destroyed and the ships allowed to rot.

China is a very diverse place with large variations in culture, language, customs and economic levels. The economic landscape is particularly diverse. The major cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai are rich and modern. However, more than half the population, some 800 million rural residents, still live as peasants, farming with manual labor or draft animals. Many of these men and women live in severe poverty. A Chinese government estimate as of 2005 had 90 million living on under ¥924 (US$112) a year; 26 million were under the official poverty line, ¥668 (US$81) a year.

The cultural landscape is unsurprisingly very diverse following the huge size of the country. There are a total of 56 different ethnic groups recognized by the PRC government, and perhaps more unrecognized ones. The Han Chinese are by far the largest group, comprising about 91.5% of the population, though this single Han Chinese race is far from being homogeneous, and there is linguistic variation comparable to the Romance languages of Europe as well as a range of different local cultures and practices. Many travellers to China would notice that the same festival, such as the Chinese New Year, can be celebrated in different ways in different parts of the country. After the Han Chinese, the Zhuang, Manchu, Hui and Miao round out the top 5. Other notable ethnic minorities include: Koreans, Tibetans, Mongols and Uyghurs. In fact, China is home to the largest Korean population outside Korea and is also housing more ethnic Mongols than Mongolia.

Some foreigners who are not familiar with Chinese customs and habits may find certain Chinese manners to be strange or inappropriate. However, these behaviors are usually benign in nature. The lesson is this: keep an open mind; if you do this, you'll find that people tend to be warm and friendly.

Travel
China is a large country with endless travel opportunities. However, during holidays, millions of migrant workers return home and millions of other Chinese travel. So your trip should be planned well in advance. Every mode of transportation is crowded and tickets of any kind are hard to come by; it may be necessary to book well in advance (especially for those traveling from remote western China to the east coast or in the opposite direction). Train and other tickets are quite easy to buy in China. Some travelers who have been stranded at crowded times, unable to buy tickets have managed to get airplane tickets, which tend to sell out more slowly.

China guide