With nearly 4,000 years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations. Before 19th century, China was of the most advanced societies and had one of the biggest and successful economies in the world; but it then missed the industrial revolution and began to decline. 19th and 20th century had brought imperialism, internal weakness and civil wars to China which has damaged the country and its economy, and led to the overthrow of imperial rule. After stagnating communist rule under its late leader, Chairman Mao, China now has the world's fastest-growing economy and is undergoing what has been described as a second industrial revolution.

Many of the modern world elements originated in China, including paper, gunpowder, credit banking, the compass and paper money and many of our everyday items are produced in China.

Now in 21 century China still remains a country of contradictions. It has the world’s fastest train, the world's largest electricity-generating plant of any kind - the enormous and ambitious Three Gorges Dam, successful space programme, 2008 Olympics. But at the same time millions of China’s workers and peasants live in poverty, human rights are violated and country lacks of religious freedom.

Ancient and ultra modern, multi cultural and diverse - China is an epic adventure and waits you to discover its treasures!

FACTS
Population: 1.35 billion (UN, 2010)
Capital: Beijing
Largest city: Shanghai
Area: 9.6 million sq km (3.7 million sq miles)
Major language: Mandarin Chinese
Major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Judaism
Monetary unit: 1 Renminbi (yuan) (Y) = 10 jiao = 100 fen;
International dialing code: +86

POPULATION

CHINESE ETHNIC GROUPS
China is the most populous country in the world and also a multi-national country. There are 56 ethnic groups in the country. The largest population among them is Han Chinese making up nearly 92% of the population. Major ethnic minorities are Zhuang, Mongolian, Hui, Miao, Dong, Uygur, Manchu, Tibetan and Yao.

Currently China’s population is over 1.3 billion, which is almost 20% of the whole world’s population. Government very concerned about its population growth and has attempted, with mixed results to implement a strict family planning policy. The government's goal is one child per family, with some exceptions for ethnic minorities and flexibility in rural areas.

GEOGRAPHY / LANDSCAPE
The People's Republic of China is the second largest country in the world by land area. China borders 14 nations, more than any other country (shared with Russia); Vietnam, Laos, Burma, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and North Korea. China’s land border of 22,117 km (13,743 mi), the largest in the world.

The territory of China is rich in variety of landscapes. Along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, there are extensive and densely populated plains, while Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Yellow River and Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). Other major rivers include the Xi, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. West is the reign of major mountain ranges, notably the Himalayas, with China's highest point at the eastern half of Mount Everest, and high plateaus feature among the more arid landscapes such as the Taklamakan and the Gobi Desert.

A major issue is the continued expansion of deserts, particularly the Gobi Desert. China is losing huge areas annually to desertification. Water, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries. Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could also lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people.

CHINA'S CLIMATE
The diversity of China’s landscape and climate is mesmerising. The vast area of China has a range of climates varying from sublime coastlines to snow capped mountains, sizzling deserts, and plains fed by the monsoon.

County’s climate is largely dominated by monsoon winds. It causes clear temperature differences in winter and summer. In winter, northerly winds coming from high latitude areas are cold and dry, and in summer, southerly winds from sea areas at lower longitudes are warm and moist. In addition, climates differ from region to region because of the country's extensive territory and complex topography. While south-eastern part of country enjoys warm and hot weather all year round, North China, including Manchuria, has extremely cold winters of almost Siberian severity.

Other important decisive feature of the climate of China is latitude. While most of the country has warm to hot summers, there is a great difference in winter temperature both from north to south and from the western provinces to the coastal regions.

China is vast, and the climate and conditions vary widely from region to region. Before travelling to China it is advisable to check the weather conditions first.

BEST TIME TO VISIT CHINA
Choosing the best time to visit China depends on which places you wish to visit, what holiday you want and what type of weather you enjoy. Traditionally May, September and October are the peak tourist months at China's most popular destinations when the weather is most comfortable, but prices are higher, and it is more crowded. Prices drop a bit in the shoulder season, which runs from late March through April and from June through August. The low season arrives in late November, and continues through the winter when there are fewer crowds and the prices are lower.

LANGUAGES OF CHINA
Standard Mandarin language is the official language of People’s Republic of China. Mandarin is also the most spoken language if China (spoken by over 70% of the population. Other spoken languages include Wu, Yue (Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic minorities include Zhuang (Thai), Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur (Turkic), Hmong and Korean.

RELIGION
There is no one prevalent religion in China. Buddhism remains the most popular single religion in China since its introduction in the 1st century from India and Central Asia. Buddhism is the largest organized faith in China and the country has the most Buddhist followers in the world. Many Chinese, however, identify themselves as both Taoist and Buddhist at the same time.

Taoism is an indigenous religion of China and is considered a folk religion of China. Popular Taoist ideas include Feng Shui, Sun Tzu's Art of War, and acupuncture.

Islam in China dates to 651, 18 years after Muhammad's death. Muslims came to China for trade, dominating the import/export industry during the Song Dynasty.

Judaism in China dates to as early as the 7th or 8th century CE. In the first half of the 20th century, many Jews arrived in Shanghai and Hong Kong during those cities' periods of economic expansion, seeking refuge from the Holocaust.

Christianity began to make significant movements in China after the 16th century and has been a growing minority religion for over 200 years. Growth has been more significant since the loosening of restrictions on religion after the 1970s within the People's Republic.

With so many beliefs China has plenty of religious artefacts including world's highest statues, and even the highest one amongst all. Most of them represent Buddhas, deities and religious personalities and have been built in the 2000s. The world's tallest statue is the Spring Temple Buddha, located in Henan. Recently built in the country are also the world's tallest pagoda and the world's tallest stupa.

CHINESE FESTIVALS
China has festivals during a year, including New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, May Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. Needless to say that all Chinese people will be on the holidays during any of the festivals. Visiting any country during its traditional festivities is a great way to learn more about its culture and traditions; it’s also a great fun too! But think carefully before coming during a festival to China. As all Chinese are on holidays, all tourist places are crowed and all tourist services price is at its premium.

The Traditional Chinese holidays have been part of Chinese tradition for thousands of years; they are an essential part of Chinese culture. The most important Chinese holiday is the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival), which is also celebrated in other Asian countries. All traditional holidays are scheduled according to the Chinese calendar (except the Qing Ming and Winter Solstice days, falling on the respective Jie qi in the Agricultural calendar).

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. The Chinese New Year celebrations are marked by visits to relatives and friends. The whole period around Chinese New Year is incredibly busy - the largest human migration, when migrant workers in China, as well as overseas Chinese around the world travel home to have reunion dinners with their families on Chinese New Year's Eve.

Spring festival is regarded by the Chinese people as the grandest and most important annual festival, similar in many ways to Christmas. It is an event for the Chinese people to celebrate family reunion and is full of rich and colourful activities.

Woman’s day – a traditional celebration in communist countries, 8th March.

Qingming Festival is translated as “Pure Brightness” or “Tomb-Sweeping Day”. It was the custom in ancient China for people to go out on this day and sweep the tombs clean of debris in memory of the departed.

May Day - day for the working people worldwide.

Dragon Boat Festival is very important in Chinese culture and traditions.. It has been held annually for more than 2,000 years and commemorates the patriotic poet Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). Many traditional customs and activities are being held on this day throughout the China - such as dragon boat racing, eating zongzi, wearing a perfume pouch, tying five-colour silk thread and hanging mugwort leaves and calamus.

Mid-Autumn Festival means family reunion to Chinese people. Admiring the full moon and eating moon cakes are the traditional activities held on this day.

National Day of the People's Republic of China is celebrated every year on October 1. The Central People's Government passed the Resolution on the National Day of the People's Republic of China on December 2, 1949 and declared that October 1 is the National Day.

CHINESE FOOD
"The Chinese eat everything with four legs, except tables, and everything that flies, except airplanes".

As the proverb says, Chinese use in their kitchen variety of plants and animals. This has given rise to a remarkable diversity in the regional cuisine, but to westerners it can be overwhelming - surprising, fantastic, delicious, horrifying or disgusting - but above all, different. The authentic Chinese cuisine differs significantly from the Chinese food as we know it in western world. Be bold and don’t be afraid to try local dishes even if you if you think that this can’t be edible. Food tasting is one of most enjoyable ways to learn more about local culture!

There are eight styles of distinct regional cooking in China - Lu, Chuan, Yue, Min, Su, Zhe, Xiang and Hui.

Each culinary style is inseparable from its long history and influenced by geography, climate, resources, specialties and dining habits of each area. Jiangsu and Zhejiang have been compared to delicate beauties of the Yangtze River Delta; those of Shandong and Anhui have been compared to simple but sturdy men of the north; those of Guangdong and Fujian are compared to elegant nobles; those of Sichuan and Hunan are likened to people with substantial and varied accomplishments.

Tea culture is an important part of Chinese traditional culture. With the social development and progress, tea not only has played a good role in driving the development in economy, but also has become a necessity in people’s lives.

PRACTICALITIES

GETTING THERE?
Most travellers arrive to China via air or rail.

AIR
There are many airlines connecting China to the rest of the world. BA, China airlines, all major European carriers take you to many major cities in China.

RAIL
Being is the last (or first )stop on the famous Trans Siberian railway. Many travellers continue their journey in China after completing the legendary railway trip. China has good train connection with Russia (Moscow, Irkutsk, Ulan Ude) and Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar).

VISAS
Obtaining Chinese visas is pretty straightforward and easy procedure. Basically you need passport valid for at least 6 months after your return, filled in application form and one passport size photo. Regular visa processing time is normally 4 working days. Express visa processing time is normally 3 working days.

More information on Chinese visas: http://www.chineseembassy.org.uk/eng/lsyw/chivisa/aa/t514391.htm or read our Chinese visa application guide.

MONEY / CURRENCY
China is no longer a cheap destination. However costs vary depending on the destination and time of your travel. Tourist season peak falls to May, September and October. If you travel in shoulder season you can save on accommodation, flight and rail tickets and other services. The most expensive destinations are Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau Guangzhou, the eastern coastal provinces and Special Economic Zones (SEZ). Beijing and Shànghai especially can be quite expensive. Western China, southwestern China and the interior remain relatively inexpensive.

ATMs are available in large towns and cities. Large airports such as Beijing Capital Airport, five-star hotels and some department stores have ATMs. Most other ATMs in China can only be used for withdrawing Renminbi in domestic accounts.

Credit cards are not really popular in China. Cards that can be used include Visa, MasterCard, AmEx and JCB. Don’t expect to be able to use them everywhere, and always carry enough cash. You should be able to use credit cards at upmarket hotels and restaurants, supermarkets and department stores. Where they are accepted, credit cards often deliver a slightly better exchange rate than in banks. Money can also be withdrawn at certain ATMs in large cities on credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard and Amex.

The Renminbi is the official currency of the People's Republic of China. It is abbreviated as RMB, and the units for the Renminbi are the Yuan, Jiao, and Fen: 1 Yuan = 10 Jiao = 100 Fen. As of March 2011 - 1.00 British pounds sterling = 10.47 Chinese yuan (RMB).

HEALTH AND SAFETY
China remains one of the statistically safest countries to visit. However, remain alert and keep your valuables, including passport, in a secure place. In public places, ensure you keep your belongings with you at all times.

Seek medical advice before travelling to China and ensure that all appropriate vaccinations are up-to-date. The only vaccine required by international regulations is yellow fever. Proof of vaccination will only be required if you have visited a country in the yellow fever zone within the six days prior to entering China. You should start as early as 6 weeks before your trip start date as most vaccines don’t produce immunity until at least two weeks after they’re given.

For further information on vaccination requirements, health outbreaks and general disease protection and prevention visit the websites of the National Travel Heath Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) http://www.nathnac.org/travel/index.htm or call NHS Direct on 0845 46 47.