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Welcome to China
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China, one of the four oldest
civilizations in the world. has a written history
of 4,000 years and boasts rich cultural relics and historical sites. For centuries China
stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the
arts and sciences
. It is the inventor of compass, paper, gunpowder and
printing.
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The Great Wall, the Grand Canal and the Karez irrigation systems are three great ancient
engineering projects built 2,000 years ago.
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China is a country of
great contrasts, with picturesque rural landscapes and congested
cityscapes, and natural beauty that ranges from the untamed to the idyllic
- from the windswept plains of the Gobi Desert
and Mt Everest's notorious northern face to Yangshuo's gorgeous karst
scenery.
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China is huge and wild
enough to satisfy your explorer instinct, and is a great rollercoaster ride
for anyone with a little time and an instinct for travel.
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Official name:
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People's
Republic of China
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Area :
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9,596,960
sq km
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Capital :
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Beijing
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Administration:
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23 provinces , 5
autonomous regions , 4 municipalities , 2 special administrative regiond
(Hong Kong , Macau)
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Population :
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1,284,303,000
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Government:
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Communist
republic
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Ethnic groups:
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Han
Chinese (92%), plus 55 ethnic minorities (Zhuang ,
Uygur , Hui , Yi , Tibetan, Miao , Manch , Mongol , Buyi ….)
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Location :
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Eastern Asia ,
bordering the East China Sea , Korea Bay , Yellow Sea and South China Sea.
Sharing border with Russia to the
North , North Korea to the East , with Mongolia , Kazaktan , Kyrgyztan ,
Tajikistan , Pakistan , India , Nepal … to the West , with Burma
(Myanmar) , Lao and Viet Nam to the South
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Language
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Standard
Chinese , Cantonese, Mandarin and plus minority languages
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Climate :
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Extremely diverse ;
Tropical in South to subartic in North
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Local Time
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GMT+6
Although the land from East to West spreads up
to 3 time-zones but China
has only one time zone, the standard time is Beijing time. China does follow the
daylight saving time system from mid-April to mid-September.
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Religion
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Confucianism,
Buddhism, Taoism (no stats available); Islam (14 million), Christianity
(7 million)
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Currency
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Yuan (CNY)
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Business Hours
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The working days are Monday through Friday.
Official hours are from 8:00am to 17:00pm with one hour for lunch
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Electricity supply
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AC 220 V, 50 Hz
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Public Holidays
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1 Jan
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New Year's Day
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Feb
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Chinese New
Year/Spring Festival
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8 Mar
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International
Women's Day
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1 May
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International
Labour Day
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4 May
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Youth Day
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1 Jun
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International
Children's Day
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1 Jul
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Birthday of the
Chinese Communist Party
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1 Aug
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Anniversary of
the founding of the PLA
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1 Oct
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National Day
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Festivals
and events
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FESTIVAL
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TIME
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WHAT’S
ON
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Chinese New Year
(or Spring Festival)
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1st. day of
the lunar calendar
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starts on the first day of the lunar
calendar, which usually falls in February. Although it officially lasts
only three days, many people take a week off. Ear plugs are handy at this
time to dull the firecracker assaults, and prices of hotel rooms tend to
go through the roof.
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Lantern Festival
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15th day of the 1st lunar month
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This isn't a public holiday, but it's big and it's
colourful. It falls on the 15th day of the 1st moon (around mid-February
to mid-March) and marks the end of the New Year celebrations. The famous
lion dances occur throughout this period.
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Harbin Ice and Snow Festival
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January 5-February 5 every year in
Harbin, Heilongjiang Province.
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With 190-day freezing
season, the northeastern city of Harbin is
known as a “City of Ice”
and a cradle of the ice-and-snow culture in the world. During festival is
the Ice lantern show, snow sculpture display, and international ice and
snow sculpture competitions; winter swimming, ice hockey, speed-skating,
alpine skiing, and cross-country skiing competitions; and ice and snow
film festival exhibitions of paintings, calligraphy and photograph,
folklore shows, ethnic song and dance parties, weddings on an ice-covered
river. A participation in the ice-snow festival can be compared to a
visit to a fairyland of crystal palace.
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Zigong Lantern Show
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Early February – Early March. in
Zigong, Sichuan Province.
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During the show, a “dragon”
pieced together with porcelain dinner-sets, and a “peacock” fashioned out
of glass drug bottles strung together, are displayed along with thousands
of lanterns. The lanterns, which as a rule are marked by superb
craftsmanship, are woven of thin bamboo strips and covered with colorful
silk fabrics or paper; they are grouped into several hundred clusters to
form a spectacular show of forms, colors, lights, movements and sounds
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Hainan Int’l Coconut Festival
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3rd day of 3rd lunar month , in Hainan
Province: Haikou,
Wenchang County, Tongshi, and Sanya .
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The coconut tree is the
emblem of the Hainan
Island, known also
as “Coconut Island.” , ,
during which time the island province’s coconut-associated cultural
heritage and ethnic habits and customs are displayed. Lantern display in
the Coconut
City, the Coconut Street, gala
celebrations among ethnic Li and Miao people, international dragon boat
racing, ethnic martial contest, variety shows, weddings in Li and Miao
traditions, and sacrifices to ancestors
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Luoyang Peony Festival
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April 15-25 every year in Luoyang, Henan
Province.
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“The peony of Luoyang is the most
beautiful under heaven”, as the saying goes. The peony, the emblem flower
of Luoyang,
is lauded as “queen of flowers with ethereal color and celestial
fragrance.” .
Full-length variety shows, flower watching, lantern show, exhibitions of
traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting and photography, symposiums,
and business talks. At the Wangcheng
Park and the
Botanical Garden, banquets are arranged for peony admirers, and all kinds
of snacks and refreshments are served as well
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Qintong Boat Festival in Yangzhou
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April 4-6 every year in Qintong Town,
Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province.
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This is a typical folklore
activity. During the festival boats from nearby fishing villages converge
at Qintong Town for a few days of rejoicing.
Theatrical performances, dragon and lion dances, and other folk dances
are staged right on board the boats. Boat races are also part of the
festivity
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Water Splashing Festival
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April 13-15 every year in
Jinghong, Xishuangbanna Dai
Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan
Province.
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Dragon boat races, the
firing of indigenous missiles, dances to the accompaniment of the beating
of drums on a pedestal shaped like an elephant’s legs, peacock dances,
sightseeing, country fairs, and water-splashing festivities. During the
festival pouches are tossed between unmarried men and women as tokens of
love
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Tomb Sweeping Day
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in April,
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sees Chinese families spend the day
tending the graves of departed loved ones. Hong Kong
hosts one of the liveliest annual Chinese celebrations
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Dragon Boat Festival
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Usually held in June (5th day of the 5th lunar month),
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the festival honours the poet Qu
Yuan and features races between teams in long ornate canoes. Many
Westerners take part in the races, but plenty of practice is needed to
get all the paddles working as one.
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Yunnan Yi Torch Festival
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24th –26th days of the 6th lunar
month in Shucun Town , Lunan Yi County, and the city of Chuxiong ,
Chuxiong Yi, Yunnan Province.
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According to a legend among
the Yi people in Lunan, once upon a time there lived a demon king who terrorized the local people. During an uprising the
local people bound torches to the horns and hind legs of a herd of goats
and eliminated the demon king by lighting the torches and driving the
goats into its lair. On the 24th day of the 6th lunar month the local
people lit torches for an entire night’s merry-making in celebration of
the victory. Archery,
horse racing, bull fights, and wrestling. Torch-holding dances around a bonfire at night.
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Qingdao Int’l Beer Festival
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Mid-August every year in Qingdao, Shandong
Province.
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Full-length variety shows,
parades of artistic floats, fashion shows, fireworks display at the
beach, sports competitions, a symposium on beer-making technology, and
business talks
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Shaolin Int’l Martial Arts Festival
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September 10-15 every year in Zhengzhou, Henan
Province.
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The worldwide fame of the
1,500-year-old Shaolin
Temple is attributed
to its consummate martial arts dating back more than a thousand years to
the Tang Dynasty. The city of Dengfeng,
where the temple is situated, has become a center of martial arts. A good
variety of Shaolin martial arts performances and contests, and exchanges
between martial arts from around the world. A cruise on the Yellow River gives some idea about the landscape
and folklore along this mighty river
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Special prayers are held at Buddhist and Taoist
temples on full-moon and sliver-moon days. Temple and moon-based festivities
include Guanyin's Birthday (late March to late April), Mazu's
Birthday (May or June), Ghost Month (late August to late
September), Mid-Autumn Festival (September or October) and the Birthday
of Confucius (28 September).
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