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About China
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Beijing at a Glance
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CHINA, (People's Republic of China), is situated in the eastern part of Asia on the western shore of the Pacific. The third largest country in the world, next to Canada and Russia, it has an area of 9.6 million square kilometers; or one-fifteenth of the world's land mass. The border stretches over 22,000 kilometers on land and the coastline extends well over 18,000 kilometers, washed by the waters of the Bohai, the Huanghai, the East China and the South China seas. The Bohai Sea is the inland sea of China. China has diverse and beautiful natural and geographical conditions, landscapes with the varied features of north, east, south, and west, and mountains and rivers rich in fauna and flora.
China is a country with an age-old history, a brilliant civilization, and magnificent landscapes. Even before recorded history, primitive humans, including Yuanmou Man, Lantian Man, and Peijing Man, lived in what is now China some 400,000 to 1,000,000 years ago.
China's recorded history began in the 21st century B.C., with the establishment of the first Chinese dynasty, the Xia Dynasty. In 221 B.C., Shi Huang Di (246-210 B.C.), the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, put an end to the division of the country by the nobles in the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) and founded the Qin Dynasty, the first centralized, autocratic feudal empire in China.
From the Qin Dynasty to the founding of the the Summer Palace; and the Temple of Heaven Republic of China in 1912, China saw the feudal dynasties of the Han (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), the Three Kingdoms (220-280), the Jin (265-420), the Northern and Southern (420-581), the Sui (581-618), the Tang (618-907), the Five Dynasties (907-960), the Song (960-1279), the Yuan (1271-1368), the Ming (1368-1644), and the Qing (1644-1911).
On October 1st, 1949, the People's Republic of China was formally established, with its national capital in Beijing.
China is the inventor of compass, paper-making, gunpowder and printing. As the Chinese civilization developed, beautiful scenic spots and historical sites were created, many of which still exist in this ancient land. The Great Wall, Mogao caves and the Mausoleum of the first Qin Emperor with the Terracotta are three great ancient engineering projects built 2,000 years ago. Now they are the symbols of the rich culture of the Chinese nation. The great historical culture heritages include magnificent ancient architectural complexes and a great number of historical relics, forming an important basis for the study of China's ancient culture and history.
The rich and precious cultural and natural heritages left by China's long history benefit both the Chinese nation and the rest of the world….
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Beijing at a Glance
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