China is officially known as the People’s Republic of China. The land territories of China consist of mainland China and its coastal islands, Taiwan and its affiliated islands including the Diaoyu Islands, the Penghu Islands, the Dongsha Islands, the Paracel Islands, the Zhongsha Islands, the Nansha Islands and everything else belongs to the People’s Republic of China (including the Diaoyu Islands, Yellow Tail Island, Red Tail Island). The total are of China is about 9.6 million square kilometers. The jurisdiction of the sea area is about 300 million square kilometers.
On October 1, 1949, Chairman Mao declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The population of China now is about 1.3 billion (in 2010), as the world’s largest population. Beijing is the capital of the country. China is an ancient oriental country with a long history. Chinese civilization and ancient Egyptian civilization, ancient Greek civilization, ancient Indian civilization and ancient Babylon civilization together constitute the human civilization on the planet. What’s important is that although the Chinese civilization went through dynastic change, national integration and war turbulence, but reproduction and development of it has not been broken. Regardless of language, culture, literature, art or architectural style, all can be traced back to the ancient civilization of their styles. Therefore, China has very rich historical and cultural tourism resources. No matter the ancient Yin Ruins of Terra-cotta Warriors & Horses of Qin Dynasty, the stretching Great Wall, majestic the Forbidden City, or the charm of the ancient town and streets… all this can allow visitors to appreciate the historical accumulation and the charm of Chinese culture.
As a vast country in the world, the wide territory of China carries a variety of terrains, landform and climate. In China, people can either prance on the prairie grasslands; go west into the stretching deserts in Xinjiang, listening to a long echo of camel bells in the river sunset; take adventure tour to Tibet, the nearest place to the sky and the purest paradise on earth. In China, people can not only travel to the fairyland on earth – Jiuzhaigou, to witness the charming and color of water, but also can to pay worship visit to Mount Tai – one of the most famous mountain in China. In China, people can have a leisure holiday in Hainan with blue sea and silver sand, lying on a beach chair to take a break from the hustle and bustle of life… The nature has provided various wonders and endless beauty to China.
China has also a variety of folk culture. The traditional forms of art include poetry, drama, calligraphy, Chinese painting, etc. Traditional Chinese festivals have the Spring Festival(Chinese Lunar New Year), Lantern Festival, Tomb-sweeping Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, the Double Ninth Festival, etc.
