China

CHINA

Information about travelling to China

China is located in Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

Facts about China
Population1,330,044,544 (July 2008
CapitalBeijing
Time zoneUTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: despite its size, all of C
Location Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam

General info about China
For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.
Disease threats
degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and
Languages spoken
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)
What about drugs?
major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia; growing domestic drug abuse problem; source country for chemical precursors, despite new regulations on its large chemical industry
Ethnic division
Han Chinese 91.5%, Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uyghur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Korean, and other nationalities 8.5% (2000 census)
HIV/AIDS prevalence rate
0.1% (2003 est.)
Climate
extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Resources
coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
Economy
China's economy during the past 30 years has changed from a centrally planned system that was largely closed to international trade to a more market-oriented economy that has a rapidly growing private sector and is a major player in the global economy. Reforms started in the late 1970s with the phasing out of collectivized agriculture, and expanded to include the gradual liberalization of prices, fiscal decentralization, increased autonomy for state enterprises, the foundation of a diversified banking system, the development of stock markets, the rapid growth of the non-state sector, and the opening to foreign trade and investment. China has generally implemented reforms in a gradualist or piecemeal fashion, including the sale of minority shares in four of China's largest state banks to foreign investors and refinements in foreign exchange and bond markets in 2005. After keeping its currency tightly linked to the US dollar for years, China in July 2005 revalued its currency by 2.1% against the US dollar and moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies. Cumulative appreciation of the renminbi against the US dollar since the end of the dollar peg was more than 20% by late 2008. The restructuring of the economy and resulting efficiency gains have contributed to a more than tenfold increase in GDP since 1978. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis that adjusts for price differences, China in 2008 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US, although in per capita terms the country is still lower middle-income. Annual inflows of foreign direct investment in 2007 rose to nearly $84 billion. By the end of 2007, nearly 7,000 domestic Chinese enterprises had made an aggregate $118 billion in direct investments in 173 countries and regions around the world. The Chinese government faces numerous economic development challenges, including: (a) sustaining adequate job growth for tens of millions of migrants, new entrants to the work force, and workers laid off from state-owned enterprises; (b) reducing corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) containing environmental damage and social strife related to the economy's rapid transformation. Economic development has been more rapid in coastal provinces than in the interior, and approximately 200 million rural laborers and their dependents have relocated to urban areas to find work. One demographic consequence of the "one child" policy is that China is now one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world. Deterioration in the environment - notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall of the water table, especially in the north - is another long-term problem. China continues to lose arable land because of erosion and economic development. In 2007 China intensified government efforts to improve environmental conditions, tying the evaluation of local officials to environmental targets, publishing a national climate change policy, and establishing a high level leading group on climate change, headed by Premier WEN Jiabao. The Chinese government seeks to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil. In late 2008, as China commemorated the 30th anniversary of its historic economic reforms, the global economic downturn began to slow foreign demand for Chinese exports for the first time in several years. The government vowed to continue reforming the economy and emphasized the need to increase domestic consumption in order to make China less dependent on foreign exports for GDP growth in the future.
Environment
air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification; trade in endangered species

Cities in China

acheng     aksu     alihe     altay     anbu     anda     angangxi     anjiang     anju     ankang     anlu     anqing     anqiu     anshan     anshun     anyang     babu     badaojiang     baicheng     baijiantan     baiquan     baishishan     baiyin     bamiantong     baoding     baoji     baoning     baoqing     baoshan     baoying     bayan     beian     beibei     beidao     beihai     beipiao     bengbu     benxi     bianzhuang     bijie     binzhou     boli     bose     boshan     botou     bozhou     buhe     caidian     cangzhou     caohai     caohe     chaihe     changchun     changde     changji     changli     changping     changqing     changsha     changtu     changying     changzhou     chaohu     chaoyang     chaozhou     chengde     chengdu     chenghai     chengmai     chengzihe     chenzhou     chifeng     chizhou     chongqing     choucheng     chuncheng     chuzhou     cuiluan     daan     dafeng     dali     dalian     daliang     dalianwan     dalinghe     dancheng     dandong     dangtu     danjiangkou     danshui     daokou     dashiqiao     dashitou     datong     dawukou     daxian     daye     dayong     dehui     dengfeng     dengzhou     deqing     deyang     dezhou     didao     dinghai     dingtao     dingzhou     dongdu     dongfeng     dongguan     donghai     dongkan     dongli     dongling     dongning     dongsheng     dongtai     dongying     dongzhen     ducheng     dunhua     duyun     encheng     enshi     erdaojiang     erenhot     ezhou     fangshan     feicheng     fengcheng     fengkou     fengrun     fengxian     fengzhen     fenyi     foshan     fujin     fuli     fuling     fulitun     fushan     fushun     fuxin     fuyang     fuyu     fuzhou     gannan     ganzhou     gaogou     gaomi     gaoyou     gaozhou     gejiu     genhe     gongzhuling     guangshui     guangyuan     guangzhou     gucheng     guicheng     guilin     guiren     guiyang     guozhen     gushi     guye     haian     haicheng     haikou     hailar     hailin     hailun     haimen     haizhou     hami     hanchuan     handan     hangu     hangzhou     hanting     hanyang     hanzhong     harbin     hebi     hecun     hede     hefei     hegang     heihe     heishan     helong     hengshan     hengshui     hengyang     heshan     heyang     heze     hohhot     hongan     honggang     honghu     hongjiang     houma     huadian     huaibei     huaicheng     huaidian     huaihua     huainan     huaiyin     huaiyuan     huanan     huangchuan     huangcun     huangmei     huangnihe     huangpi     huangpu     huangyan     huangzhai     huangzhou     huanren     huazhou     huicheng     huilong     huinan     huizhou     hulan     hulan ergi     humen     hunchun     huoqiu     hushitai     hutang     huzhou     jiamusi     jian     jiangdu     jiangkou     jiangmen     jiangyan     jiangyin     jiangyou     jianhu     jiaocheng     jiaohe     jiaojiang     jiaonan     jiaozhou     jiaozuo     jiaxing     jiayuguan     jiazi     jidong     jiehu     jieshi     jieshou     jiexiu     jijiang     jilin     jimo     jinan     jinchang     jincheng     jinchengjiang     jingdezhen     jingmen     jingzhou     jinhua     jining     jinji     jinsha     jinxi     jinxiang     jinzhou     jishou     jishu     jishui     jiujiang     jiupu     jiuquan     jiutai     jixi     juxian     juye     kaifeng     kaihua     kaili     kaitong     kaiyuan     karamay     kashi     keshan     korla     kouqian     kuandian     kuche     kunming     kunyang     kuytun     laibin     laiwu     laiyang     laizhou     langfang     langxiang     lanxi     lanzhou     laohekou     lasa     leiyang     lengshuijiang     lengshuitan     leshan     liancheng     liangxiang     lianran     lianyuan     lianzhou     liaocheng     liaoyang     liaozhong     licheng     lichuan     liling     linchuan     linfen     lingao     lingdong     lingyuan     linhai     linjiang     linkou     linping     linqing     linqiong     linqu     linshu     linshui     linxi     linxia     lishan     lishu     liuhe     liusha     liuzhou     liyang     longfeng     longjiang     longjing     longkou     longyan     loudi     luan     luancheng     lubu     lujiang     luocheng     luohe     luorong     luoyang     luqiao     lushunkou     luzhou     maanshan     maba     mabai     macheng     manzhouli     maoming     mata     meihekou     meilu     meizhou     mengcheng     mengyin     mentougou     mianyang     minggang     mingguang     mingshui     mingyue     mishan     miyang     mudanjiang     mudu     mujiayingzi     nancha     nanchang     nanchong     nanding     nandu     nanfeng     nangong     nanjing     nanlong     nanma     nanning     nanpiao     nantai     nantong     nanyang     nanzhang     nanzhou     nehe     neijiang     nenjiang     nianzishan     ningan     ningbo     ninghai     ningxiang     ningyang     nongan     panshi     panzhihua     peking     pengcheng     pingdingshan     pingdu     pingliang     pingshan     pingxiang     pingyi     pingyin     pingzhuang     pulandian     pumiao     puqi     putian     puyang     qianan     qianguo     qianjiang     qidong     qingan     qingdao     qinggang     qingquan     qingyuan     qinhuangdao     qinnan     qinzhou     qiongshan     qiqihar     qitaihe     qixia     qiyang     quanzhou     qufu     qujing     quzhou     ranghulu     renqiu     rizhao     rongcheng     ruian     sanbu     sanchazi     sanmenxia     sanming     shache     shahe     shancheng     shanghai     shangqiu     shangrao     shangzhi     shanhetun     shanting     shantou     shaoguan     shaowu     shaoxing     shaoyang     shaping     shashi     shenjiamen     shenxian     shenyang     shenzhen     shihezi     shilong     shima     shishou     shitanjing     shiyan     shizilu     shizuishan     shouguang     shuangcheng     shuangyang     shuangyashan     shuiji     shuizhai     shulan     shunyi     simao     sishui     songjianghe     songling     suicheng     suifenhe     suihua     suileng     suining     suixi     suizhou     sujiatun     suozhen     suzhou     tahe     taian     taicheng     taihe     taikang     tailai     taixing     taiyuan     taizhou     tancheng     tanggu     tangjiazhuang     tangping     tangshan     tangzhai     taonan     taozhuang     tengzhou     tianjin     tianmen     tianpeng     tieli     tieling     tongchuan     tongliao     tongling     tongren     tongshan     tongzhou     tongzi     tumen     tunxi     urumqi     wangkui     wangou     wangqing     wanning     wanxian     weifang     weihai     weihe     weinan     wencheng     wenling     wenshang     wenzhou     wuan     wuchang     wucheng     wuda     wuhan     wuhu     wulanhaote     wuning     wuwei     wuxi     wuxue     wuzhou     xiamen     xian     xiangdong     xiangfan     xiangxiang     xianning     xianshuigu     xiantao     xianyang     xiaogan     xiaolan     xiaolingwei     xiaoshan     xiaoshi     xiaoweizhai     xiaoyi     xiashi     xiazhen     xichang     xifeng     xihe     xihua     ximei     xinan     xingcheng     xinglongshan     xingtai     xingyi     xining     xinmin     xinpu     xinqing     xintai     xinxiang     xinyang     xinye     xinyu     xinzhi     xinzhou     xiongshi     xiongyue     xiongzhou     xiuyan     xixiang     xuanhua     xuanwu     xuanzhou     xuchang     xucheng     xunchang     xuzhou     yaan     yakeshi     yanan     yancheng     yangcun     yanggu     yangjiang     yangliuqing     yangshan     yangshe     yangzhou     yanji     yanliang     yantai     yantongshan     yanzhou     yashan     yatou     yebaishou     yian     yibin     yichang     yicheng     yichun     yidu     yigou     yilan     yima     yinchuan     yingcheng     yingkou     yingshang     yingzhong     yining     yishui     yiyang     yizheng     yongan     yongchang     yongfeng     yongzhou     youhao     yuancheng     yuanping     yuci     yudong     yueyang     yulin     yumen     yuncheng     yunhe     yunjinghong     yunyang     yushan     yushu     yuxia     yuyao     yuzhou     zalantun     zaoyang     zaozhuang     zhangdian     zhangjiakou     zhangye     zhangzhou     zhanjiang     zhaocheng     zhaodong     zhaoqing     zhaotong     zhaoyang     zhaoyuan     zhaozhou     zhengjiatun     zhenhai     zhenjiang     zhenlai     zhicheng     zhifang     zhongshu     zhongxing     zhoucheng     zhoucun     zhoukou     zhuanghe     zhucheng     zhuhai     zhuji     zhumadian     zhuozhou     zhuzhou     zigong     ziyang     zouxian     zunyi    

National airlines
Air Chinaairline website
China Airlinesairline website
Englishairline website
China Southern Airlinesairline website
Englishairline website



Beer in China (0.33l)
Beijing~ 0.6 EUR
BEIJING~ 0.6 EUR
Beijing~ 0.6 EUR
Changchun~ 0.1 EUR
Chengdu~ 0.8 EUR
Chongqing~ 0.1 EUR
Foshan~ 1.3 EUR
Guangzhou~ 1.7 EUR
Hainan~ 0.2 EUR
Jinan~ 1 EUR
Nanning~ 0.2 EUR
Shanghai~ 2.5 EUR
Shanghai~ 2.5 EUR
Shenzhen~ 1 EUR
Suzhou~ 1.1 EUR
Suzhou~ 1.1 EUR
Tianjin~ 2.3 EUR
Wuhu~ 0.1 EUR
Yangshou~ 0.5 EUR
Yantai~ 0.3 EUR

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