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China Culture - China Cities

The People's Republic of China

Area: 9,600,000sq km
Location: middle and east Asia, bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean
Climate: mainly continental monsson climate (Tibet: vertical climate zone)
Territorial seas: Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea
Population: 1.3 billion (in 2004)
Capital City: Beijing
People: Han Chinese (93.3 %), plus 55 ethnic groups like Miao, Li Mongolian
Language: Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) based on Beijing dialect, plus local dialects
Currency and monetary unit: Renminbi/Yuan
Form of government: systemof National People's Congress
Administrative demarcations: 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 Special Administrative Regions

Geography:
China ranges from mostly plateaus and mountains in the west to lower lands in the east. Principal rivers flow from west to east, including Yangtze (central), the Huang He (Yellow river, north-central), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south (including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

Culture:
Chinese Civilization is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. It has the world's longest continuously used written language system, and the source of such major inventions as what the British scholar and biochemist Joseph Needham called the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China: paper, the compass, gunpowder, and priniting. Festivals embody Chinese culture, main festivals including Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Seventh Festival, Mid-autumn Festival, Chongyang Festival, Laba Festival and so on.

2011 Year of the Rabbit

Economy:
The economy of the People's Republic of China is the second largest in the world after the US with a GDP of $10.21 trillion (2006) when measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis. It is the fourth largest in the world after the US, Japan and Germany, with a nominal GDP of US $ 3.42 trillion (2007) when measured in exchange-rate terms.

China Cities:

for more detailed information please refer to the special China City Portraits.

Chronology of dynasties

Dynasty	Period	Years
Three Sovereign Ones and the Five Emperors	before 2070 BC	628+
Xià Dynasty	2100 — 1600 BC	470
Shang Dynasty	1600 — 1046 BC	554
Western Zhou Dynasty	1046 — 771 BC	275
Spring and Autumn Period	722 — 476 BC	246
Warring States Period	475 — 221 BC	254
Qin Dynasty	221 — 206 BC	15
Western Han Dynasty	206 BC — 9 AD	215
Xin Dynasty	9 — 23	14
Eastern Han Dynasty	25 — 220	195
Three Kingdoms	220 — 265	45
Western Jin Dynasty	265 — 317	52
Eastern Jin Dynasty	317 — 420	103
Southern and Northern Dynasties	420 — 589	169
Sui Dynasty	581 - 618	37
Tang Dynasty	618 — 907	289
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms	907 — 960	53
Northern Song Dynasty	960 — 1127	167
Southern Song Dynasty	1127 — 1279	152
Liao Dynasty	916 — 1125	209
Jin Dynasty	1115 — 1234	119
Yuan Dynasty	1271 — 1368	97
Ming Dynasty	1368 — 1644	276
Shun Dynasty	1644	<1
Qing Dynasty	1644 — 1912	268