China

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Overview | Sightseeing | Food and Culture | History | Expenses and Transportation | Support | Map

Overview:

The third-largest country in the world, China is bordered by the deserts of Mongolia to the north, to the west by the Tibetan plateau and the Himalayas, and to the east by the East and South China seas. China's 22 provinces and five autonomous regions are governed from Beijing, along with some 5000 islands.

China is a country of great contrasts, with picturesque rural landscapes and congested cityscapes, and natural beauty that ranges from the untamed to the idyllic - from the windswept plains of the Gobi Desert and Mt. Everest's notorious northern face to Yangshuo's gorgeous karst scenery. Celebrated places and sights abound - this is the land of the Yangxi River, the Silk Route and the bamboo forests of the panda. The Great Wall, X'ian's Terracotta Army, the Forbidden Palace and Tiananmen Square are just some of the legendary historical sights. Spectacular Guilin brings the vistas of rivers and misty peaks in traditional ink paintings to life, while far to the west, the fabled Tibetan city of Lhasa beckons pilgrims to "the roof of the world".

China's topography varies from mountainous regions to flat plains. The terrain descends across the planet from Tibet's 'roof of the world' in the west, down through the Inner Mongolia Plateau and east to the plains of the Yangzi River valley. In the southwest, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau has a lacerated terrain with numerous gorge rapids, waterfalls, underground caverns and limestone pinnacles, making it one of the country's most spectacular regions. Inland features include the Taklamakan Desert shifting salt lakes and the Turpan Depression (China's hottest region, and known as the Oasis of Fire). Melting snow from the mountains of western China and the Tibetan Plateau provides the headwaters for many of the country's major trade routes: the Yangzi, Yellow, Mekong and Salween rivers.

China has a great diversity of climates. The northeast experiences hot and dry summers and bitterly cold winters. The north and central region has almost continual rainfall, hot summers and cold winters. The southeast region has substantial rainfall, with semi-tropical summers and cool winters. Central, southern and western China are also susceptible to flooding, China is also periodically subject to seismic activity.

Population: 1.28 billion
Capital: Beijing
People: Han Chinese (93%), plus 55 ethnic minorities
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
Religion: Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity

Sightseeing:

Beijing

The spinsterish Beijing of old is having a facelift and the cityscape is changing daily. Within the city, however, you'll still find some of China's most stunning sights: the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven Park, the Lama Temple and the Great Wall, to name just a few. This yak-nibbled highway over the Khunjerab Pass is the gateway to Pakistan and was used for centuries by caravans plodding down the Silk Road.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has the big city specials like smog, odor, overcrowding, and an insane love of clatter. But it's also efficient, hushed and peaceful: the transport network is excellent, the shopping centers are sublime, and the temples and quiet corners of parks are contemplative oases.

Hong Kong has enough towering urbanity, electric streetscapes, enigmatic temples, commercial fervor and cultural idiosyncrasies to utterly swamp the senses of a visitor, and enough spontaneous, unexpected possibilities to make a complete mockery of any attempt at a strictly organized itinerary.

Nanjing

In a country where provincial capitals are rarely known for their beauty, Nanjing shines. The construction work that's churning up the face of China seems to have affected this city less than most and it remains a place of broad boulevards and shady trees.

This is just as well considering the oppressive summer heat that grips Nanjing, which is known as one of China's 'three furnaces'. The city enjoyed its golden years under the Ming, and there are numerous reminders of the period to be found. One of the most impressive is the Ming city wall measuring over 20 miles long - the longest city wall ever built in the world. About two-thirds of it still stands. On the slopes just east of Nanjing is the Sun Yatsen Mausoleum. Sun is recognized by the communists and the Kuomintang alike as the father of China. Nanjing is accessible by rail, bus and air.

Qufu

Qufu, near the sacred Taoist mountain Tai Shan, is the birthplace of Confucius (551-479 BC). Its massive Confucius Temple features a series of impressive gateways, clusters of twisted pines and cypresses, inscribed steles and tortoise tablets recording ancient events.

One of the pavilions dates from 1190, while one of the junipers is said to have been planted by Confucius himself (though a Confucian aphorism about gullibility may descend on you if you believe this). The core of the complex is the yellow-tiled Dacheng Hall.

Shanghai

Shanghai is a scintillating city bristling with rapid cultural change. Since market restrictions were lifted, Shanghai has embraced the forces of business and design and rewritten its m.o., shaping a fresh, new city that is sophisticated, innovative and living a life it has never lived before. In many ways, Shanghai is a Western invention. The Bund, its riverside area, and Frenchtown are the best places to see the remnants of its decadent colonial past. Move on to temples, gardens, bazaars and the striking architecture of the new Shanghai

Turpan

Turpan is southeast of Ürümqi and lies in a basin 500 feet below sea level - the second-lowest depression in the world after Israel's Dead Sea. It's also the hottest spot in China: the mercury hovers around 122 degrees in the summer. Uighur culture is still thriving here and it's one of the few quiet places in China. The living is cheap, the food is good, the people are friendly, and there are interesting sights to see. Within easy reach are the Gaochang Ruins, once a major staging post on the Silk Road; and the Flaming Mountains, which look like they're on fire in the midday sun.

Xi'an

Xi'an was once a major crossroads on the trading routes from eastern China to central Asia, and vied with Rome and later Constantinople for the title of greatest city in the world. Today Xi'an is one of China's major drawcards, largely because of the Army of Terracotta Warriors on the city's eastern outskirts. Uncovered in 1974, over 10,000 figures have been sorted to date. Soldiers, archers (armed with real weapons) and chariots stand in battle formation in underground vaults looking as fierce and war-like as pottery can. Xi'an's other attractions include the old city walls, the Muslim quarter and the Banpo Neolithic Village - a tacky re-creation of the Stone Age.

Food and Culture:

Within the last 200 years, China has undergone tremendous social and economic upheaval, all taking its toll on the national psyche. Chinese culture took a beating during the Cultural Revolution and is still recovering. There is a large cultural gap between Hong Kong and Macau and the rest of China. Hong Kong and Macau, while outwardly more modern, are also more traditionally Chinese because the Cultural Revolution didn't have such an effect there.

China's literary heritage is huge, but unfortunately its inability to be translated makes much of it inaccessible to Western readers. Traditionally there are two forms, the classical (largely Confucian) and the vernacular (such as the prose epics of the Ming dynasty).

Despite the ravages of time, war and ideology, there's still a lot to see architecturally. Traces of the past include the imperial structures of Beijing, the colonial buildings of Shanghai, the occasional rural village and Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist temples.

Cuisine

Chinese cuisine has a very long history and is renowned all over the world. Cantonese (the style the majority of Westerners are most familiar with) is only one regional style of Chinese cooking. There are eight major schools of Chinese cuisine, named after the places where they were conceived: Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichuan and Zhejian.

Northern: Beijing is famous for Peking Duck, which is roasted in a special way, and eaten in a thin pancake with cucumber and a sweet plum sauce. Another specialty of the North of China is Mongolian Hotpot, which is a Chinese version of fondue. It is eaten in a communal style and consists of a central simmering soup in a special large round pot into which is dipped a variety of uncooked meats and vegetables, which are cooked on the spot. A cheap and delicious local dish is shuijiao, which is pasta-like dough wrapped round pork meat, chives and onions, similar in idea to Italian ravioli. These can be bought by the jin (pound) in street markets and small eating houses, and are a good filler if you are out all day and do not feel like a large restaurant dinner.

Southern: Guangdong (Cantonese) food is famous for being the most exotic in China. The food markets in Guangzhou are a testimony to this, and the Western visitor is often shocked by the enormous variety of rare and exotic animals that are used in the cuisine, including snake, dog, turtle and wildcat.

Eastern: Shanghai and Zhejiang cooking is rich and sweet, often pickled. It is especially noted for seafood, hot and sour soup, noodles and vegetables.

Western: Sichuan and Hunan food is spicy, often sour and peppery, with specialities such as diced chicken stirred with soy sauce and peanuts, and spicy doufu (beancurd).

One of the best-known national drinks is maotai, a fiery spirit distilled from rice wine. Local beers are of good quality, notably Qingdao, which is similar to German lager. There are now some decent wines, which are produced mainly for tourists and export.

Nightlife

Visitors can follow itineraries drawn up in advance, when sampling the nightlife of the larger cities, including a selection of prearranged restaurant meals and visits to Chinese opera, Chinese state circus, ballet and theatre. Local Chinese will tend to only drink socially with a formal meal so bars and nightclubs will generally only be found in the more cosmopolitan cities and major towns. Karaoke (written OK+ on Chinese signs) is a popular form of evening entertainment.

Chinese theatre is also known as opera because of the important role played by music, and has spawned such diverse arts as acrobatics, martial arts and stylized dance.

History:

The Chinese claim a history of between 4000 and 5000 years. The first dynasty, the Xia Dynasty, is accepted as lasting from 2200 to 1700 BC. It is described in legends as having been preceded by a succession of god-like sovereigns who bestowed the gifts of life, hunting and agricultural knowledge. The existence of ensuing dynasties is similarly hazy, but clarity increases with each era, revealing agricultural societies who practiced ancestor worship.

The Zhou period (1100-221 BC) saw the emergence of Confucianism and the establishment of the 'mandate of heaven' whereby the right to rule was given to the just and denied to the evil and corrupt, leading to the later Taoist view that heaven's disapproval was expressed through natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and insect plagues.

The Chinese were united for the first time during the Qin dynasty (221-207 BC). The dynasty standardized the writing system and completed construction of the Great Wall. The ensuing Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) featured much military conflict and the creation of the Three Kingdoms.

Unity arose out of the chaos under the Sui dynasty (589-618) and was consolidated under the Tang (618-908), commonly regarded as the most glorious period of Chinese history. Military conquests re-established Chinese control of the silk routes and society was 'internationalized' to an unprecedented degree. Buddhism flourished under the Tang, splitting into two distinct schools: the Chan (Zen) and Pure Land (Chinese Buddhist).

The Song dynasty (960-1279) was marked by a revival of Confucianism and urban and commercial revolutions - it was during the 13th century that Marco Polo commented on the grand scale of China's prosperous cities. Genghis' grandson Kublai Khan's Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) established a capital at what is now Beijing and militarised the nation's administration. The Chinese novice Buddhist Hongwu established the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), with capitals at Beijing and Nanjing.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in China, anchoring off the coast in 1516. A trade mission was established in Macau by 1557, but it was not until 1760 that other powers gained secure access to Chinese markets via a base in Guangzhou. Trade flourished, but in China's favour, as British purchases of silk and tea far outweighed Chinese purchases of wool and spices. In 1773 the British decided to balance the books by encouraging the sale of opium. By 1840 the Opium Wars had begun.

The resulting treaties signed in British favor led to the cession of Hong Kong and the signing of the Nanjing Treaty. A subsequent land-grabbing spree by Western powers saw China carved up into spheres of influence. The Chinese agreed to the US-proposed free-trade Open Door Policy and all of China's colonial possessions soon evaporated, with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia falling to the French, Burma to the British, and Korea and Taiwan to Japan.

The first half of the 20th century was a period of chaos. Intellectuals searched for a new philosophy to replace Confucianism, while warlords attempted to grab imperial power. Sun Yatsen's Kuomintang (the KMT, or Nationalist Party) established a base in southern China and began training a National Revolutionary Army (NRA). Meanwhile, talks between the Soviet Comintern and prominent Chinese Marxists resulted in the formation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921. Hopes of the CCP aligning with the KMT were dashed by Sun Yatsen's death and the rise from the KMT of Chiang Kaishek in Beijing, who favored a capitalist state supported by a military dictatorship.

The Communists were split between those who focused on urban revolt and those who believed victory lay in uniting the countryside. Mao Zedong established his forces in the mountains of Jinggangshan, and by 1930 had marshaled a guerrilla army of 40,000. Chiang mounted four Communist extermination campaigns, each time resulting in Communist victories. Chiang's fifth campaign was very nearly successful because the Communists were ill-advised and met the KMT in head-on battle. Hemmed in, the Communists retreated from Jiagnxi north to Shaanxi - the Long March of 1934. En route the Communists armed peasants and redistributed land and Mao was recognized as the CCP's paramount leader.

In 1931 the Japanese had taken advantage of the chaos in China to invade Manchuria. Chiang Kaishek did little to halt the Japanese, who by 1939 had overrun most of eastern China. After WWII, China was in the grip of civil war. On 1 October 1949 Mao Tse-Tung proclaimed the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC), while Chiang Kaishek fled to Taiwan.

The PRC began its days as a bankrupt nation, but the 1950s ushered in an era of great confidence. The people were bonded by the Korean War and by 1953 inflation had been halted, industrial production was restored to prewar levels, the redistribution of land had been carried out and the first Five Year Plan had been launched.

The next plan was the Great Leap Forward, aimed at jump-starting the economy into first-world standards. Despite its revolutionary zeal, the plan was stalled by inefficient management, coupled with floods, droughts and, in 1960, the withdrawal of all Soviet aid. The Cultural Revolution (1966-70) attempted to draw attention away from these disasters by increasing Mao's personal presence via his Little Red Book of quotations, the purging of opponents and the launch of the Red Guard. Universities were closed, intellectuals were killed, temples were ransacked and reminders of China's capitalist past were destroyed.

Beijing politics were divided between moderates Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping and radicals and Maoists led by Mao's wife, Jiang Qing. The radicals gained the upper hand when Zhou died in 1976. Hua Guofeng, Mao's chosen successor, became acting premier. Public anger at Jiang Qing and her clique culminated in a gathering of protesters in Tiananmen Square, and a brutal crackdown led to the disappearance of Deng, who was blamed for the 'counter-revolutionary' gathering. Deng returned to public life in 1977, eventually forming a six-member Standing Committee of the CCP.

With Deng at the helm, and the signing of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, China set a course towards economic reconstruction, although political reform was almost nil. General dissatisfaction with the Party, soaring inflation and increased demands for democracy have led to widespread social unrest - epitomized by the demonstrations of 1989 that resulted in the bloody Tiananmen Square massacre.

Expenses & Transportation:

Generally, eastern China is much more expensive than the western part of the country. The main drain on savings tends to be long train journeys. Food is cheap throughout China, and if you're careful you won't have to spend much more than $7 a day on meals. However, the bottom line is that you'll be charged the 'tourist price' a lot of the time.

Notes are in denominations of RMBY100, 50, 10, 5, 2 and 1.

Long-distance buses are one of the best means of getting around on the ground; they're frequent and cheap (which also translates as crowded and stuffy) but there are extensive services, passable roads and interesting towns and villages en route. An even better mode is the train, which reaches into every province (apart from Tibet) along a 32,000-mile network. It's cheap, relatively fast and a safer proposition than buses.

Taxis don't cruise the streets except in the largest of cities, and while most cabs have meters they usually only get switched on by accident. Motorcycle taxis, motor-tricycles and/or pedicabs hunt in packs around most major train and bus stations. They're a motley bunch, but they're cheap and useful if you don't mind sudden traffic-induced adrenalin rushes. But really, once you've settled in somewhere, the best way to get around is by renting a bike and joining the pedaling masses.

Support During Your Placement:

We will be available to give you any support, advice, or guidance you may need with any issues. There will always be an emergency number for you to contact. Our aim is to ensure that you have a happy and successful experience during your stay in China.