CAPITAL: Beijing (Area: 16,800 square kilometers; Population: 12.59 million)

• CLIMATE: China lies mainly in the northern temperate zone under the influence of monsoon. From September
  and October to March and April next year monsoon blow from Siberia and the Mongolia Plateau into China and
  decrease in force as it goes southward, causing dry and cold winter in the country and a temperature difference
  of 40 degree centigrade between the north and south. The temperature in China in the winter is 5 to 18 degree
  centigrade lower than that in other countries on the same latitude in winter. Monsoon blows into China from the
  ocean in summer, bringing with them warm and wet currents, thus rain. Great differences in climate are found
  from region to region owing to China's extensive territory and complex topography. The northern part of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China has no summer, Hainan Island has a long summer but no winter; the Huaihe River
  valley features four distinct seasons; the western part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is covered by snow all year
  round; the southern part of the Yunan-Guizhou Plateau is spring-like all the year; and the northwestern inland
  region sees a great drop of temperature in the day. Annual precipitation also varies greatly from region to region;
  it is as high as 1,500 millimeters along the southeastern coast. Decreasing landward, it is less than 50 mm in
  northwest China. Please click here for current weather report, weather forecast for major Chinese cities.
• DATE OF ESTABLISHMENT (PRC): October 1, 1949
• POPULATION: Total Population 1.2591 billion (1999) about 22% of total population in the world.

The year of 1998 saw19.91 million births, 8.07 million deaths of the population, with a net growth population of 11.84
million (compared with 12.37 million in 1997);  More than 10% of total population is over 60 years old (1999 data).

China population is distributed unevenly with more in the east (more than 300 persons per square kilometer) and fewer
in the west (about 40 persons per square kilometer. The national average density of population is 119 per square
kilometer (1990 census). For basic urban population data, please visit "ChinaToday.com" Provinces and Cities page.
The average size of household was 3.7 persons. The proportion of population aged at 0-14 was 26.4 percent, those
aged 15-64 was 67.2 percent, and that of the people aged 65 and over was 6.4 percent. The Average Chinese
Life-Span of the population was 70.8 years, that for male was 68.71, and female, 73.04. (Some of the above data are
based on the report from China National Statistics Bureau, FOR YOUR REFERENCE ONLY).

• GDP (1999): 8205.4 billion yuan RMB (about $980.6 billion USD)
•   MAP OF CHINA

(Back to the Top)

•   NATIONAL FLAG, NATIONAL EMBLEM and NATIONAL ANTHEM
   
•   ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS (Provinces, Autonomous Regions and Municipalities) (China has 23 provinces,
  5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities and 2 Special Administrative Regions - Hong Kong and Macao). For the
  locations of these administrative divisions, please click MAP OF CHINA.
•   ECONOMIC GROWTH (1995-2000)

•   MAIN PORTS OF ENTRY
  
  Air: Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Hohhot, Hong Kong, Kunming, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin, Urumqi, Xiamen and Xi'an.

Land: Alataw, Baketu, Erenhot, Friendship Pass, Hunchun, Ji'an, Kunjirap, Manzhouli, Mohe, Nyalam (Zhangmu),
Pingxiang, Ruili, Suifenhe, Tumen, Wanding, Xunke and Yadong.

Water: Beihai, Dalian, Dangdong, Guangzhou, Haikou, Hankou, Huangpu, Jiujiang, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Ningbo,
Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Sanya, Shanghai, Shantou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Weihai, Yangzhou, Yantai, Zhangjiang and
Zhenjiang.

• HISTORY: 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. It is the inventor of compass, paper-making, gunpowder and
  printing. The Great Wall, Grand Canal and Karez irrigation system are three great ancient engineering projects
  built 2,000 years ago. Now they are the symbols of the rich culture of the Chinese nation. China has gone over
  a long history of primitive society, slavery society, feudal society and semi-feudal semi-colonial society and the
  present socialist society.
•   STATE ORGANS:

The National People's Congress (NPC)
The President of the People's Republic of China
The State Council
The Central Military Commission
The Supreme People's Court
The Supreme People's Procuratorate

More government agencies....

• ARMED FORCE: The People's Liberation Army (PLA) (click here for more information.)

• THE RULING PARTY: The Communist Party of China (CPC)

• THE PRESIDENT: Hu Jintao

• OFFICIAL HOLIDAYS:

•  

China Calendar 2005

New Year's Day: January 1
Chinese Lunar New Year's Day: (Between January and February (The exact date varies, depends on the Lunar
Calendar, Chinese New Year's Day in 2005 is on February 9th. The year of 2005 is the Year of Rooster in Chinese
calendar. For further information: click for Chinese Zodiac page.); 
Labor Day: May 1; 
National Day: October 1

The working days are from Monday to Friday. Most people do not work on weekend. Official hours are from 8:00am to
17:00pm with one hour for lunch.

• LANGUAGES: The national language is Putonghua (the common speech) or Mandarin, which is one of the
  five working languages at the United Nations. Most of the 55 minority nationalities have their own languages.
  Cantonese is one of the local dialects of southern China. As a written language, Chinese has been used for
  6,000 years.

• NATIONALITIES: The People's Republic of China is a unified, multi-national country, comprising 56
  nationalities. The Han people make up 91.02 percent of the total population, leaving 8.98 percent for the other
  55 ethnic minorities. They are Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Korean, Manchu, Dong,
  Yao, Bai, Tujia, Hani, Kazak, Dai, Li, Lisu, Va, She, Gaoshan, Lahu, Shui, Dongxiang, Naxi, Jingpo, Kirgiz, Tu,
  Daur, Mulam, Qiang, Blang, Salar, Maonan, Gelo, Xibe, Achang, Pumi, Tajik, Nu, Ozbek, Russian, Ewenki,
  Benglong, Bonan, Yugur, Jing, Tatar, Drung, Oroqen, Hezhen, Moinba, Lhoba and Gelo. All nationalities in China
  are equal according to the law. The State protects their lawful rights and interests and promotes equality, unity
  and mutual help among them.

• FAMILY NAMES: Chinese family names came into being some 5,000 years ago. There are more than 5,000
  family names, of which 200 to 300 are polular. The order of Chinese names is family name goes first, following
  by given name. For instance, the family name of a person is Wang, given name is Dong, his/her full name
  would be Wang Dong . The most popular Chinese family names are LI, ZHANG, WANG, LI, ZHAO, LIU, CHEN.
  According to the most recent official statistics, the three most popular family names are: LI, WANG and ZHANG,
  occupied 7.9% (97million), 7.4 and 7.1  of total population in China respectively.

• RIVERS: China has 50,000 rivers each covering a catchment area of more than 100 square kilometers, and
  1,500 of them cover a catchment area exceeding 1,000 square kilometers. Most of them flow from west to east
  to empty into the Pacific Ocean. Main rivers include the Yangtze (Changjiang), Yellow (Huanghe), Heilong, Pearl,
  Liaohe, Haihe, Qiangtang and Lancang. The Yangtze of 6,300 kilometers is the longest river in China. The
  second longest Yellow River is 5,464 kilometers. The Grand Canal from Hangzhou to Beijing is a great water
  project in ancient China. It is of 1,794 kilometers, making it the longest canal in the world.

• RELIGIONS: China is a multi-religious country. Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism,
  with the first three being more wide spread.Various religions exert different influence on different ethnic groups.
  Islam is followed by the Hui, Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tatar, Dongxiang, Salar and Bonan nationalities; Buddhism
  and Lamaism are followed by the Tibetan, Mongolian, Dai and Yugur nationalities; Christianity is followed by
  the Miao, Yao and Yi nationalities; Shamanism is followed by the Oroqen, Ewenki and Daur nationalities; the
  majority Han nationality believes in Buddhism, Christianity and Taoism.

• TOPOGRAPHY: With a broad area, China's topography is very complex. The outline descends step by step
  from the west to the east. Mountains and hilly land take up 65 percent of the total area. There are five main
  mountain ranges. Seven mountain peaks are higher than 8,000 meters above sea level. The Bohai Sea, East
  China Sea, Yellow Sea and South China Sea embrace the east and southeast coast.

• MONEY: Chinese Money is called Renminbi (RMB) (means "People's Currency"). The popular unit of RMB
  is Yuan. The official exchange rate between U.S. Dollar and Renminbi Yuan currently is about 1 : 8.3
  (1.00 Dollar = 8.30 Yuan). 1 Yuan to 10 Jiao, 1 Jiao to 10 Fen (There are parts of China the Yuan is also known
  as Kuai and Jiao is known as Mao. Chinese currency is issued in the following denominations: one, two, five,
  ten, fifty and a hundred Yuan; one, two and five Jiao; and one, two and five Fen.

• CIVIL ELECTRICAL POWER: AC 220 V, 50 Hz (bathrooms of many luxury and medium-grade hotels may
  have 110-volt sockets).

• TELEVISION SYSTEM: PAL (In addition to Chinese language TV broadcast, English and Japanese TV
  programs are available in many hotel via satellite relay. China Central Television Station (CCTV) and some local
  TV stations also provide English news and other programs in English.)

• TELEPHONE AREA CODE: Mainland China 86; Hong Kong 852; Taiwan 886. (Special Telephone Numbers:
  Police 110; Fire 119; Emergency 120.)

(For the telephone code of major Chinese cities, please click HERE).

• ROAD DRIVE SIDE: 

·         Mainland China: on the right

·         Hong Kong: on the left

·         Taiwan: on the right

•   INTERNET DOMAIN CODE: cn

Note: According to http://www.chinatoday.com