China
I have lived in China since March of 2007. I came here with a two year contract to work for a local Chinese flight school. I never really expected to stay here longer than those two years, but due to many unforeseen circumstances I ended up staying here all this time, and I have started to call China my home. I will share more about those circumstances in “My Story” blog posts.
On this page I will share my stories and thoughts about different cities and provinces of China. Here I will also share information about my experiences with the Chinese culture and customs. If you are planning a trip to China you might find this site useful.
Introduction to China
China, officially the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the world’s most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres (3.7 million square miles), it is one of the top four largest countries by area.
Click on the map above for more information about the regions I have visited.
In addition to my website it is good to check out TripAdvisor recommendations if you are planning to visit China.
For more information about China please check out this Wikipedia China article.
China emerged as one of the world’s earliest civilizations in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, China’s political system was based on hereditary monarchies, or dynasties, beginning with the semi-legendary Xia dynasty. Since then, China has expanded, fractured, and re-unified numerous times. In 1912, the Republic of China (ROC) replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist People’s Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the People’s Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, while the ROC government retreated to Taiwan with its present de facto capital in Taipei. Both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory.
Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1978, China’s economy has been one of the world’s fastest-growing. As of 2016, it is the world’s second-largest economy by nominal GDP and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). China is also the world’s largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has the world’s largest standing army and second-largest defense budget. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the BCIM and the G20.
The People’s Republic of China is divided into 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, each with a designated minority group; four municipalities; and two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) which enjoy a degree of political autonomy. These 31 provincial-level divisions can be collectively referred to as “mainland China”, a term which usually excludes two SARs of Hong Kong and Macau. Geographically, all 31 provincial divisions can be grouped into six regions, including North China, Northeast China, East China, South Central China, Southwest China and Northwest China.
Provinces in China:
- Anhui (安徽省)
- Fujian (福建省)
- Gansu (甘肃省)
- Guangdong (广东省)
- Guizhou (贵州省)
- Hainan (海南省)
- Hebei (河北省)
- Heilongjiang (黑龙江省)
- Henan (河南省)
- Hubei (湖北省)
- Hunan (湖南省)
- Jiangsu (江苏省)
- Jiangxi (江西省)
- Jilin (吉林省)
- Liaoning (辽宁省)
- Qinghai (青海省)
- Shaanxi (陕西省)
- Shandong (山东省)
- Shanxi (山西省)
- Sichuan (四川省)
- Yunnan (云南省)
- Zhejiang (浙江省)
Special Administrative Regions:
- Hong Kong / Xianggang (香港特别行政区)
- Macau / Aomen (澳门特别行政区)
- Taiwan (台湾省)
governed by R.O.China
Autonomous Regions:
- Guangxi (广西壮族自治区)
- Inner Mongolia / Nei Menggu (内蒙古自治区)
- Ningxia (宁夏回族自治区)
- Xinjiang (新疆维吾尔自治区)
- Tibet / Xizang (西藏自治区)
Municipalities:
- Beijing (北京市)
- Chongqing (重庆市)
- Shanghai (上海市)
- Tianjin (天津市)
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