Learn About China

China is one of the most famous ancient civilizations, with a history spanning over 5,000 years. China is the most populated country with a large land mass and abundant resources. China opened up to the world in 1978, joined the world trade organization in 2001 (WTO), and hosting the 2008 Summer Olympic games in Beijing. With a much more open market policy, there’s increasing number of oversea visitors gaining interest in China’s culture, history, scenery, and lifestyle.

There are 56 ethnic groups in China, with the main nationality being the Han composing of 91% of the population. The remaining 9% of the population is made up of the remaining 55 ethnic groups.

The main language is also the Han Language, spoken in all parts of china and in Asia. The Hui and Manchu ethnic groups also speak Han, while the other 53 ethnic groups use their own languages. The Han-Tibetan language is used by 29 ethnic groups, who live mainly in the southern regions of China.

With a more open market policy, and improving standards of living, Chinese citizens have been able to go abroad as tourists since 1997. China has approved 52 countries as tourism destinations. About 20 million Chinese went abroad in 2003 – 14.8 million (about 73% of the total) were private travelers. China is ranked one of the top ten nations for outbound tourism.

Some of the most popular travel tour destination cities in China include:

• Beijing
• Shanghai
• Xian
• Hong Kong
• Chongqing
• Chengdu
• Harbin
• Hainan
• Macao
• Guilin
• Nanjing
• Tianjin
• Kunming
• Shenzhen

There’s an old Chinese adage that says: “People view food as the most important”. That pretty much sums up my view on food as well. I love to eat all types of food and cuisine, and I especially enjoy the hot and spicy food of the Szechuan province in China.

China’s food and cuisine has had a long history. The five flavors of spicy, sweet, bitter, sour, and salty has been used in Chinese cooking over 3,000 years ago. Today, traditional Chinese food ranks among the worlds best and most popular. Authentic Chinese cuisine focus on 3 key aspects: taste, color (display), and fragrance, and Chinese cooking is very particular about cutting style and cooking temperature.

The official currency of China is the RMB (RenMinBi), or translated as “the people’s currency”. The basic unit is the Yuan (or kuai), or equivalent to what we call the “dollar” in North America. Next unit down is the “Jiao” (or also “mao”), or “10 cents”. Finally, the smallest unit is the “Fen”, equivalent to our “penny”

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