hey, let's start to introduce a comprehensive China.
General Information of the People's Republic of China (PRC) .

Map of China
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http://www.chinatour.com/maps/chinaadmimap.jpg

CAPITAL: Beijing (Area: 16,800 square kilometers; Population: 12.59 million)
CLIMATE: : China lies mainly in the northern temperate zone under the influence of monsoon. From September and October to March and April next year monsoon blow from Siberia and the Mongolia Plateau into China and decrease in force as it goes southward, causing dry and cold winter in the country and a temperature difference of 40 degree centigrade between the north and south. The temperature in China in the winter is 5 to 18 degree centigrade lower than that in other countries on the same latitude in winter. Monsoon blows into China from the ocean in summer, bringing with them warm and wet currents, thus rain. Great differences in climate are found from region to region owing to China's extensive territory and complex topography. The northern part of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China has no summer, Hainan Island has a long summer but no winter; the Huaihe River valley features four distinct seasons; the western part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is covered by snow all year round; the southern part of the Yunan-Guizhou Plateau is spring-like all the year; and the northwestern inland region sees a great drop of temperature in the day. Annual precipitation also varies greatly from region to region; it is as high as 1,500 millimeters along the southeastern coast. Decreasing landward, it is less than 50 millimeters in northwest China.
LANGUAGES: : The national language is Putonghua (the common speech) or Mandarin, which is one of the five working languages at the United Nations. Most of the 55 minority nationalities have their own languages. Cantonese is one of the local dialects of southern China. As a written language, Chinese has been used for 6,000 years.
NATIONALITIES: : The People's Republic of China is a unified, multi-national country, comprising 56 nationalities. The Han people make up 91.02 percent of the total population, leaving 8.98 percent for the other 55 ethnic minorities. They are Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Korean, Manchu, Dong, Yao, Bai, Tujia, Hani, Kazak, Dai, Li, Lisu, Va, She, Gaoshan, Lahu, Shui, Dongxiang, Naxi, Jingpo, Kirgiz, Tu, Daur, Mulam, Qiang, Blang, Salar, Maonan, Gelo, Xibe, Achang, Pumi, Tajik, Nu, Ozbek, Russian, Ewenki, Benglong, Bonan, Yugur, Jing, Tatar, Drung, Oroqen, Hezhen, Moinba, Lhoba and Gelo. All nationalities in China are equal according to the law. The State protects their lawful rights and interests and promotes equality, unity and mutual help among them.
FAMILY NAMES: : Chinese family names came into being some 5,000 years ago. There are more than 5,000 family names, of which 200 to 300 are polular. The order of Chinese names is family name goes first, following by given name. For instance, the family name of a person is Wang, given name is Dong, his/her full name would be Wang Dong . The most popular Chinese family names are LI, ZHANG, WANG, LI, ZHAO, LIU, CHEN. According to the most recent official statistics, the three most popular family names are: LI, WANG and ZHANG, occupied 7.9% (97million), 7.4 and 7.1 of total population in China respectively.
RIVERS: : China has 50,000 rivers each covering a catchment area of more than 100 square kilometers, and 1,500 of them cover a catchment area exceeding 1,000 square kilometers. Most of them flow from west to east to empty into the Pacific Ocean. Main rivers include the Yangtze (Changjiang), Yellow (Huanghe), Heilong, Pearl, Liaohe, Haihe, Qiangtang and Lancang. The Yangtze of 6,300 kilometers is the longest river in China. The second longest Yellow River is 5,464 kilometers. The Grand Canal from Hangzhou to Beijing is a great water project in ancient China. It is of 1,794 kilometers, making it the longest canal in the world.
RELIGIONS: : China is a multi-religious country. Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism, with the first three being more wide spread.Various religions exert different influence on different ethnic groups. Islam is followed by the Hui, Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tatar, Dongxiang, Salar and Bonan nationalities; Buddhism and Lamaism are followed by the Tibetan, Mongolian, Dai and Yugur nationalities; Christianity is followed by the Miao, Yao and Yi nationalities; Shamanism is followed by the Oroqen, Ewenki and Daur nationalities; the majority Han nationality believes in Buddhism, Christianity and Taoism.

************************************************
China is administratively divided into 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 centrally administrative municipalities* and 2 special administrative regions (SAR)**.
Provinces: | Anhui | Fujian | Gansu | Guangdong | Guizhou | Hainan | Hebei | Heilongjiang | Henan | Hubei | Hunan | Jiangsu | Jiangxi | Jilin | Liaoning | Qinghai | Shaanxi | Shandong | Shanxi | Sichuan | Yunan | Zhejiang | Taiwan *** |

Autonomous Regions: | Guangxi | Inner Mongolia | Ningxia | Tibet (Xizang) | Xinjiang |

Municipalities: | Beijing (Peking) | Chongqing | Shanghai | Tianjin |

Special Administrative Regions (SAR): | Hong Kong | Macao |

Notes

* Municipalities are directly under the administration of central government. A municipality has the same political, economical and jurisdictional rights as a province;

** Special Administrative Regions (SAR) was established specially designed for solving Hong Kong and Macao issues and based on the concept of "one country, two systems", SAR is in a pattern within which two completely different social systems (socialist system and capitalist system) and ideologies can coexist, SAR has more autonomous power regulated clearly by laws, including executive, legislative and independent judicial power.

***Taiwan Issue: a result of China's civil war in late 1940s'. In the earlier years of separation of mainland China and Taiwan, both sides of China (also called People's Republic of China "PRC" or "communist China", "red China" , "mainland China") and Taiwan (also called Republic of China "ROC") claim the legal sovereignty over China. Mainland China keeps claiming Taiwan as one of its provinces while Taiwan regards itself as an independent country.)

**** The statistics of each administrative division are collected from official and unofficial publications, updated constantly and for your reference only.

1. Anhui Province (Capital: Hefei)
Area: 139,000 square km; Population: 60.70 million
Major Cities: Huangshan; Bengbu; Tongling; Ma'anshan

2. Beijing (China's Capital, Municipality)
Area: 16,800 square km Population: 13.82 million (2001)

3. Chongqing (Newly Promoted as Municipality in 1997)
Area: 82,000 square km Population: 30.90 million (2001)

4. Fujian Province (Capital: Fuzhou)
Area: 120,000 square km Population: 32.61 million
Major Cities: Xiamen; Zhangzhou

5. Gansu Province (Capital: Lanzhou)
Area: 450,000 square km Population: 24.67 million
Major Cities: Dunhuang; Jiayuguan; Jiayuguan

6. Guangdong Province (Capital: Guangzhou)
Area: 186,000 square km Population: 69.61 million
Major Cities: Guangzhou (Area: 7434.4 square kilometers; Population: 10.15 million); Chaozhou; Dongguan; Shantou; Shenzhen (Area: 2,020 square kilometers; Population: 4.05 million)); Shunde; Zhuhai;

7. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Capital: Nanning)
Area: 236,300 square km Population: 45.89 million
Major Cities: Beihai; Guilin; Liuzhou

8. Guizhou Province (Capital: Guiyang)
Area: 176,100 square km Population: 36.576 million
Major Cities: Anshun; Zunyi

9. Hainan Province (Capital: Haikou)
Area: 34,000 square km Population: 7.34 million
Major Cities: Sanya

10. Hebei Province (Capital: Shijiazhuang)
Area: 190,000 square km Population: 64.84 million
Major Cities: Cangzhou; Chengde; Qinhuangdao(Including Beidaihe and Shanhaiguan); Tangshan; Baoding; Zhangjiakou

11. Heilongjiang Province (Capital: Harbin)
Area: 469,000 square km Population: 37.28 million
Major Cities: Hailaer; Mohe; Mudanjiang; Qiqihar; Suifenhe

12. Henan Province (Capital: Zhengzhou)
Area: 167,000 square km Population: 92.56 million (2001)
Major Cities: Anyang; Kaifeng; Luoyang; Sanmenxia

13. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)
Area: 1,092 square km Population: 6.86 million (2001)
(re-controlled by China in July of 1997)

14. Hubei Province (Capital: Wuhan)
Area: 187,400 square km Population: 58.25 million
Major Cities: Huangshi; Shiyan; Shashi; Xiangfan; Yichang;

15 Hunan Province (Capital: Changsha)
Area: 210,000 square km Population: 64.28 million
Major Cities: Changde; Dayong; Hengyang; Xiangtan; Zhangjiajie

16. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Capital: Hohhot)
Area: 1,183,000 square km Population: 23.07 million
Major Cities: Baotou; Chifeng; Wuhai

17. Jiangsu Province (Nanjing)
Area: 102,600 square km Population: 71.10 million
Major Cities: Nanjing (Mayor: LUO Zhijun),Lianyungang; Suzhou, Wuxi; Zhenjiang

18. Jiangxi Province (Capital: Nanchang)
Area: 166,600 square km Population: 41.05 million
Major Cities: Jiujiang; Lushan, Jian, Jinggangshan

19. Jilin Province (Capital: Changchun)
Area: 187,000 square km Population: 26.10 million
Major Cities: Jilin; Tuman; Yanji

20. Liaoning Province (Capital: Shenyang)
Area: 145,700 square km Population: 41.16 million
Major Cities: Shenyang (Mayor: CHEN Zhenggao); Dalian; Dandong; Anshan, Wafangdian

21. Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR)
Area: 23.5 square km Population: 137,455
(re-controlled by China in December of 1999)

22. Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (Capital: Yinchuan)
Area: 66,400 square km Population: 5.21 million
Major Cities: Shizuishan; Wuzhong

23. Qinghai Province (Capital: Xining)
Area: 720,000 square km Population: 4.88 millions
Major Cities:

24. Shaanxi Province (Capital: Xi'an)
Area: 205,000 square km Population: 35.43 million
Major Cities: Xianyang; Baoji; Hanzhong;

25. Shandong Province (Capital: Jinan)
Area: 153,000 square km Population: 90.79 million (2001)
Major Cities: Weihai (Area: 5,436 square kilometers; Population: 2.462 million; Mayor: Cui Richen), Dezhou; Linyi; Qingdao; Qufu; Tai'an; Yantai

26. Shanghai (Municipality)
Area: 6,200 square km Population: 16.74 million (2001)


27. Shanxi Province (Capital: Taiyuan)
Area: 156,000 square km Population: 31.09 million
Major Cities: Datong; Linfen; Yangquan

28. Sichuan Province (Capital: Chengdu)
Area: 488,000 square km Population: 84.28 million
Major Cities:
Chengdu (Area: 12,390 square kilometers; Population: 9.97 million)
Emeishan, Zigong; Daxianshi

29 Tianjin (Municipality)
Area: 11,300 square km Population: 10.01 million (2001)

30. Tibet (Xizang) Autonomous Region (Capital: Lhasa)
Area: 1,220,000 square km Population: 2.62 million (2001)
Major Cities: Xigaze


31. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Capital: Urumqi)
Area: 1,600,000 square km Population: 16.89 million
Major Cities: Kashgar; Turfan

32. Yunnan Province (Capital: Kunming)
Area: 394,000 square km Population: 40.42 million
Major Cities: Kunming, Dali; Simao; Xishuangbanna

33. Zhejiang Province (Capital: Hangzhou)
Area: 101,800 square km Population: 43.43 million
Major Cities: Hangzhou,Jiaxing; Ningbo; Shaoxing; Wenzhou;

34. Taiwan (Refer to Taiwan Issue)***
Area: 36,000 square km Population: 21.30 million
Capital: Taipei Major Cities:
Taiwan (ROC)

here i post skyscrapers in different cities and hope those continue to be updated .
Beijing (China's Capital, Municipality)
Beijing, an ancient capital in the world, is the capital of PRC, and political, economic, culture, technology, etc center of China.
King Wu was the first to declare Beijing the capital city in 1057 BC. Subsequently, the city has gone by the names of Ji, Zhongdu, Dadu, and finally Beijing when the Ming Dynasty Emperor ChengZu chose the name in 1421. Beijing was also known as Peking by the Western world before 1949.
Beijing City is an independently administered municipal district. She is situated in the northeastern part of China at an elevation of 43.5m above sea level. The climate in Beijing is of the continental type, with cold and dry winters and hot summers. January is the coldest month (-4 Celsius), while July the warmest (26 Celsius).

Beijing has a whole area of 16808 sq km (about 6500 sq mi), stretching 160 kilometres from east to west and over 180 kilometres north to south. She has 18 districts and counties with Dongcheng, Xicheng, Xuanwu, Chongwen, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai and Shijingshan in the surburbs and Fangshan, Mengtougou, Changping, Tongxian, Shunyi, Daxing, Huairou, Miyun, Pinggu and Yianqing in the outer suburbs. Population in Beijing is about 12 million.
Beijing China, a municipality directly under the Central Government is the capital of the People's Republic of China and the country's political, economic, cultural and transportation center as well as a famous historic city. Geographically located in the northwest part of the North China Plain, and covering an area of 16,800square km. Beijing is the second largest city in China with a population of more than 11 million. It has a semi-humid continental climate in the warm temperate zone. With an annual average temperature of 12 degrees Centigrade and rainfall of 641 millimetres, Beijing is neither cold in winter nor very hot in summer. The best seasons in Beijing are Spring and Autumn. Beijing China is indeed an ideal place to visit all round the year.
Beijing is the political center of China where the Party's Central Committee, the State Council, ministries and commissions under the government, and more than 140 foreign embassies are located. It is also an international exchange center.

Beijing is an economic center of China Being one of the biggest industrial bases in China, Beijing's industrial production is the second largest in value among all Chinese cities. An industrial system with iron and steel, coal, machinery, chemical and petroleum, textiles, electronics and other industries as its mainstays has already taken shape. Beijing's arts and crafts are famous for their long history, great variety, and superb workmanship. The most popular ones among them are cloisonne, ivory carving, jadeware, carved lacquer ware, snuff bottles, silk flowers and Beijing's embroidery etc.

As the country's center of culture, education, science and technology Beijing has more than forty state scientific research institutions, over thirty universities and the greatest number of professional and technical Beijing has more than forty state scientific research institutions, over thirty universities and the greatest number of professional and technical personnel.

In Beijing, there are numerous museums and libraries with the largest collection of books in china. Beijing also serves as a center for international exchange in culture, science and technology.

It is a hub of communications, with good railroad and air links with all parts of China, as well as with major cities of the world, thus facilitating the rapid development of tourism as an important industry in Beijing.

Beijing is an ancient city with a long cultural history. The four feudal dynasties--Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing had all set up their capital here. That's why it became a most concentrated place of the country's scenic spots and historical sites. Among them, the best known are the Palace Museum, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven.

Beijing aims to develop into a modern international metropolis. Beijing city is designated as the 2008 Olympic host country, it is the most potential city with fast development and modernization, the future tourism center of the world.

***Visit this website of Beijing. http://www.beijingpage.com/#general***
This photo is shot from the CCTV tower, about 200 degree view.
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Shanghai (Municipality)
Shanghai, the largest city in China, attracts people at home and abroad like a magnet. People come here for its culture, its history, its people and all the vigor and vitality it shows in its rush to international metropolis status. Like a pearl set in the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, Shanghai is the showcase of China's fast growth and a bonanza of tourist attractions, business opportunities and cultural activities. Today's Shanghai is designed with the aim of letting more people all over the world have a better understanding of Shanghai, especially of its current developments.
The City Emblem
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Design of the city emblem of Shanghai was approved by the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress in 1990. The triangle emblem consists of a white magnolia flower, a large junk and a propeller. The propeller symbolizes the continuous advancement of the city; the large junk, one of the oldest vessels plying Shanghai's harbour, represents the long history and bright future of the port; and the large junk is set against a white magnolia flower blossoming in the early spring.
The City Flower
http://www.sh.com/images/today_flower.gif
In 1986, the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress passed a resolution adopting the white magnolia as the city flower. The white magnolia is among the few spring flowers in the Shanghai area. It is in full blossom in early spring and before the Clear and Bright Festival, which usually falls on April 5. The flower has large, white petals and its eye always looks towards the sky. Therefore, the flower symbolizes the pioneering and enterprising spirit of the city.
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Huaiwei, your mailbox is full ,so i post reply here.
ok,I appreciate you give a suitable name for this thread. and i will load more pics and introduction day by day. hope you all give me a hand.thank you.

:D

Great job muchbetter! :okay:

Originally posted by muchbetter

Huaiwei, your mailbox is full ,so i post reply here.
ok,I appreciate you give a suitable name for this thread. and i will load more pics and introduction day by day. hope you all give me a hand.thank you.

:D whoops! Not that problem again! Im sorry! :D

I would like you to retain the privilege of naming this thread. Just make your suggestion here, and I will change it! :)

Finally, we arent too sure how you intend to go from here....(you didnt mention it publicly in this thread). You intend to showcase cities by cities randomly, or will they be arranged according to provinces? Alphabetical order? Or something else? Do tell us so that we can help out where needed! ;)

Tianjin (Municipality)
Tianjin, one of the four municipalities directly under the Central Government in China, is located in the northeast of the North China Plain and is the closest seaport to Beijing. The city is one of the biggest industrial and port cities in China and it is also known as "the diamond of the Bohai Gulf". Tianjin covers an area of 11,000 square kilometers (4,200 square miles) and has a population in excess of 10 million people.
When to go :Tianjin lies in a temperate zone and it enjoys four distinct seasons a year. The average yearly temperature is only 13C with hot summers (in July the temperature can be higher than 26C) and freezing temperatures in January. The best periods to visit Tianjin are spring and autumn when pleasant temperatures can be expected.
History :Tianjin has a long and illustrious history, from an ordinary fishing village to the most important trade center in Northern China. Tianjin was considered to be one of China's most important military fortresses in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) due to its particular geographic location as access point to Beijing, the national capital. Its name "Tianjin" was graciously bestowed by the Emperor Zhudi in the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). Tianjin means "the place where the emperor crossed the river". In 1860, after the First Opium War, Tianjin was further expanded to become the second largest business and communications center in the country. By the end of the 19th century, it had grown into a bustling center for international commerce.
Tianjin's location in the middle of North China's gold coast was a natural setting to be developed as a trading port. Today Tianjin has China's largest container wharf and ships from every country of the world use its facilities. Major domestic and international airlines serve the coastal international airport. Tianjin also is a very important railway junction terminal for the two main lines: Tianjin to Shandong and Tianjin to Shanghai. A nice and relaxing way to travel along the gold coast is by train. You can obtain the train ticket from your hotel concierge. You can also rent a car and explore the city outskirts, still an almost unknown area to most foreign visitors.
What to see :Besides being a business and trade center, Tianjin is also a famous historic and cultural city. The principal sights are:
Huangyaguan Great Wall
Dagukou Emplacement
Dule Temple
Mt. Panshan
Haihe Park
Water Park
Central Line Scenic Area
Culture and Food Streets
The visitor can also enjoy the varied and beautiful architectures of the old concessionary areas where various objects and antiques can be found in the winding streets of the antique market.
Food in Tianjin is quite different from other regions in China. The famous Tianjin-style braised creamed cabbage (steamed stuffed buns called "goubuli") are definitely worth a try. Fish and seafood are also very common. In the Chinese custom, fish is brought live to your table before being prepared according to your taste in either a local or a more cosmopolitan style. A discussion with the waiter on how to cook the meal is one of the pleasures of eating in China.
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Binhai new district of Tianjin
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Huaiwei, I have done 4 centrally administrative municipalities and 2 special administrative regions (SAR) and is doing 5 autonomous regions.
We still have 23 provinces left to do.
You can showcase cities with 2-4 good pictures reflecting skyline and classic architechture, or life convention or characteristics in different cities in each province. Random would be better for each province, yet many cities such as shenzhen, guangzhou, shantou, zhuhai which belong to guangdong province, had better been arranged in the same province, guangdong province. How do you think?

Sure. So you want us to post by provinces...one by one, or in a group of provinces? I tot maybe the Northeast (aka manchuria) is a natural grouping, but how about the rest?

Chongqing (Municipality)
Chongqing is a modern city, with an ancient history spanning more than 3,000 years. It is the nation's fourth municipality after Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. It encompasses within its borders, a great wealth of water reserves, mineral resources, dense forests and abundant flora and fauna. Being the focal point of the unique Yangtze Three Gorges tourist industry, Chongqing is a tourist attraction as well as being a commercial city.
Situated in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River - at the confluence of Yangtze and Jialing Rivers, in Southwest China, Chongqing is a port city with the largest area and population in China. It has an area of 82,400 square kilometers (31, 800 square miles) and share borders with the provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Shaanxi. Beside the Han people that forms the majority of its total population of 30.9 millions, there are numerous ethnic groups residing in Chongqing, such as Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Qiang, You and Tujia.
History: Since its discovery 3,000 years ago, Chongqing was originally called Jiangzhou, Yuzhou and thenGongzhou, before getting its present name nearly 800 years ago. From the Qin Dynasty (221BC~206BC) onwards, many dynasties have set up various administrative institutions there, which endowed the city with brilliant culture. Perched beside the "Golden River" of the Yangtze River, Chongqing is the symbol of Changjiang civilization and also the cradle of Bayu culture.
What to see :Chongqing attracts visitors from home and abroad for its cultural heritage and tourist attractions. The city is the starting point of the Yangtze River Cruise, which is expected to explore the wonderful scenery of the Three Gorges. Other attractions include Dazu Grottoes, carved during the ninth century, which are valuable works of art and not to be missed is the Gold Buddhist Mountain, reputed as a rich repository of diverse animals and plants; and there's the Fishing Town, which is one of the three ancient battlefields in China. Traveling in Chongqing, one will feel fortunate to be able to savor the delicious local food, such as Sichuan cuisine and the world-famous hot pot dishes. Also, the handicrafts made from bamboo have been enjoying great popularity among the visitors.
When to go :Chongqing's nickname as the "Fog City" or "Furnace" is no exaggeration. Annual average temperature is 18C to 20C, with the lowest temperature of 6 C in winter and the highest temperature of 38C in summer. One will enjoy a warm winter but a hot summer. Annual average rainfall is about 1000 (39.4 inches) to 1400 (55.12 inches) millimeter. Chongqing has plenty of night rain all year round. So the best time to visit Chongqing should be in spring, autumn and winter.
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HONG KONG(SAR)
As the Pearl of the Orient, Hong Kong is a popular tourist attraction besides being an important financial market of the world. Situated in the southeast corner of China and east of Pearl River's (Zhu Jiang) entrance, it connects with Shenzhen city in the north and occupies an area of 1,092 square kilometers (422 square miles). Hong Kong has a total population of 6.78 million, of which 96 percent is Chinese, and the rest are various nationalities. English and Chinese are the official languages in Hong Kong.
History: According to historical records, since the Song Dynasty (960 ~ 1279), people inhabiting small villages lived on the production of incense sticks, which were then shipped from a nearby port (called "gang"). Hence the village gained its name Xianggang, which became Hong Kong in English. In ancient time, Hong Kong belonged to Guangdong Province. After the Opium War in 1842, it was handed over to Great Britain as a colony. Upon Hong Kong's return back to China in 1997, it was made a Special Administrative Region. Thus, the policy of "one country, two systems" has been implemented from then on.
Located by the ocean, Hong Kong's climate is a sub-tropical. Both spring and autumn are sunny and comfortable, with the temperature is averaging at about 23C. Summer with an average temperature of 28C is sweltering and humid. Winter is dry and cool, with an average temperature of 17C. So in the summer and winter, Hong Kong is respectively neither, too hot or too cold. This makes Hong Kong a year round travel destination. Of course, ideally speaking, spring and autumn are the best time for a visit.
Hong Kong is geographically and administratively divided into three main regions: Hongkong Island, Kowloon and New Territories. Kowloon and New Territories border on Guangdong Province and the famous Victoria Bay is between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
Hong Kong Island is the main island in Hongkong. The central part of Hong Kong Island is the business center, which is also an important venue for international trade and finance. Its towering skyscrapers and bustling activities give an impression of great wealth and prosperity. Boasting both eastern and western cultures, Hong Kong is both a shopper's and a tourist's paradise. Recommended attractions on this wonderful island are Ocean Park, with the longest pedestrian escalator in the world, which is the largest leisure theme park in southeast Asia; Victoria Peak, with the oldest Peak tram, which is the highest peak on this island and Hong Kong's most enduring tourist attraction; and the Hongkong Convention & Exhibition Center, with its grand architecture and luxurious decor.
Kowloon is the trading estate and residential area of Hong Kong, while Tsim Sha Tsui is the liveliest section in Kowloon. Shopping malls in Kowloon are numerous and this makes Hong Kong one of the top shopping destinations in the world. In Kowloon, the Star Ferry is very popular among tourists for a very inexpensive fare, and you can enjoy the magnificent panorama of Victoria Harbour on it. Besides, it runs regularly every few minutes and only takes about ten minutes of your time.
New Territories is the farm belt of Hong Kong. Most local residents and immigrants would rather live here than anywhere else, because it is located in a rural setting far away from the bustling business center. Here you can see the rapid growth of Hong Kong's new town, Sha Tin, and take in the sights of small farms, rustic countryside and pretty coastline on the Sai Kung Peninsula.
Hong Kong varies its offered experiences from the quieter and more relaxing that one finds by visiting its small fishing village to the more active day and night lives found in a metropolis. It is the entry gate to China in one direction and to the world in the other direction. At the beginning of the 90's, a bronze Buddha statue was built in Hong Kong. Standing at 34 meters in height and weighing 250 tons, it is the world's largest bronze Sakyamuni Buddha statue and one of Hong Kong's newest tourist attractions. In addition, Hong Kong is also home to famous film stars like Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fatt and Jet Li.
Maybe you have seen a lot and known much about Hong Kong from the silver screen. Why not come here to see this wonderland in person? A memorable time awaits you in Hong Kong.

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go on

Those are AMAZING!! thanks for the hard work, muchbetter. xie2 xie2:D

TYW, Bu ke qi ²»¿ÍÆø(you are welcome). Wo le ci bu pi ÎÒÀִ˲»Æ£(I am willing to do without feeling of tireness)¡£:) Actually I never feel China has so many provinces until I do this tough work. :)

Macau (SAR)
The area of Macau includes a small peninsula jutting off the southern edge of China as well as the nearby islands of Taipa and Coloane. Although it covers an area of only about 20 square kilometers (about 8 square miles), Macau has an ever-increasing population (currently of around 500,000) and a booming economy. This is an area with a fantastic mix of cultures. Its population is 95% Chinese while 5% is Portuguese and immigrants from other countries. The most common language is Cantonese although Mandarin, English, and Portuguese are spoken too.
Winters (January-March) in Macau are sunny but chilly. Summers (April-September) are hot, humid and host to the occasional typhoon. The sunny but low humidity days of autumn (October-December) are the best time to visit Macau. Annual temperatures average just over 20 degrees C. The temperature, coupled with high humidity averaging between 73% and 90%, result in an average annual rainfall of 40 and 80 inches.
From Hong Kong you can reach Macau by jetfoil, which makes the area a popular day-trip destination. Many of the area's historic attractions are concentrated towards the centre of the peninsula, but the city's unique cultural atmosphere exists throughout. This atmosphere has been created by the area's special ability to blend the European and Oriental cultures of its citizens. The Ruins of St Paul's is the symbol of Macau, and Monte Fort overlooks most of Macau from its high vantage point and central position. The three ancient temples in Macau are the A-ma Temple with a history of over 500 years, the most famous and impressive Kun Iam Temple, and one of the finest temples in Macau - Lin Fung Temple. The financial success of the region is due largely to the influx of tourists who come here to visit and to play in Macau's most famous sites - the Casinos. There are many types of gambling waiting to be played, such as horseracing and dog racing. The largest and most famous casino in Macau is situated within the Lisboa Hotel and the atmosphere here at night is exciting. If you come for the gambling, Macau may seem like paradise. Macau is also a free port, pursuing a low tax policy.
Tourists can completely relax by wandering along the Portuguese-named streets, lingering on the clean beaches or sight seeing among the rows upon rows of European-style buildings. Macau has a little bit of culture for everyone. For historical culture there are amazing churches and museums, and for local culture the beaches, attractions and nightlife are like no other city in the world.
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http://www.qoos.com/photos/data/2/2aaa-med.jpg

Four Autonomous Regions: | Guangxi | Inner Mongolia | Ningxia | Tibet (Xizang) | Xinjiang

1. Tibet(xizang) Autonomous Region
Tibet is located in the southwest of China. It formally belonged to the domain of the Yuan Dynasty in the mid - thirteenth century. Although China has undertaken changes and replacements of dynasties and central governments in Chinese history, Tibet has always been under the controll by the central government and been an inseparable part of China.
To the north of the Himalayas within the Chinese borders, there lies a vast land of tranquility and vigour, This is the Tibet Autono- mous Region of China, Here there are snowcapped mountains deep acre highland lakes dense forests rare birds and animals peculiar to the highlands, Tibet covers an area of 1 .2 million square kilometers and has a population of 2.32 million, of whom 95 percent are Tibetans, It is the highest plateau in the world, with an average elevation of 4,000 me- tres above sea level, Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet, is the holy city of Tibetan Buddhism and the Potala Palace is its sacred palace, Every year hundreds of thousands of Buddhists come to worship here.
Today is an era of information with jet aircrafts, highways and network of computers as its symbols. Mysterious places are rare to be found in the world, but Tibet is an exception.Because of its geographical position , unique topography and terrain ; unknown but existent original customs and natural scenery ; and various propagandas brought back by foreign explorers, all these render people possible to form a mysterious picture of Tibet.
Transportation in Tibet has changed a lot through out this century. From the time Mr. Sven Hedin entered Tibet at the first half of the century, there was not even one mile of road or one truck, and the transportation was based on man's labour and stock. Yak conveyance from Lhas to Yaan was only once a year. After 1 950 when slavery was eliminated, four distinct roads from Sichuan, Qinghai , Xingjiang and Yunnan to Tibet were built through great difficulties. And at the same time inside this autonomous zone, road nets formed centred Lhasa, Gzhis - ka - rtse, Chabmdo and Nagqu, which extended to 98 percent of the counties. Railway from Qinghai to Tibet was built at this time. Skin raft and wooden boat could pass through the Yarlung Zangbo River, Lhasa River, Nianchu River and Niyang River. In 1956 , airmen succeeded in their first aerial navigation above the Qingzang plateau which ever meant the ''forbidden area '' . Now there are regular flights flying to and fro between Lhasa and many cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing and Kathmandu Of Nepal.
The Tibetan people are very faithful: Their oldest religion is Bon, after that the Buddhism has been spread. Nowadays, most of the people in Tibet are Lamaists. This religion is a blend of the Bon and the Buddhism. Religion is almost the most important thing in the life of the Tibetan people.

The Potala Palace
Although it was first constructed in the 7th century, the Potala Palace was almost totally destroyed by fire in a thunderstorm. During the rule of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century, large-scale reconstruction began on the original site. Renovation of sorts was carried out by several of the succfessive Dalai Lamas and sponsors of central government. The present architectural group covers 41 hectares of land and consists chiefly of the 13 storeyed, 117 meter tall red and white palaces, towering over the city of Lhasa from a mountain top.
No matter how many times you visit Lhasa, this magical palace never fails to live up to its reputation and spurs your imagination.
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=00301E5A.002F
Lhasa, capital of Tibet

http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=0064D632.002C
Nam_Tso ----------the holy lake of Tibet
Tarchoks prayerflags scattered around at the shore of a white frozen Namtso Lake against a backdrop of snowmountains .
http://karalife.xiloo.com/collection/tibet-site-007.jpg
Beijing road in Lhasa
http://www.china.org.cn/ch-pic/xizang/xizangview/images/5.jpg
Tibetan herdsman residence
http://www.tibet-web.com/sheying/sheyingjia/ysj/yangshijunsheyingzuopin/shancun/zangzushancun%20slt.jpg
Tibetans are good at dancing and singing.
http://www.tibet-web.com/minjian/zhangyingzp/mjwd/12-5.jpg
Tibetans
http://www.tibet-web.com/sheying/sheyingjia/ysj/yangshijunsheyingzuopin/fushi/11.jpg

Whoa, this is like an entire encyclopedia full of information!

As an immigrant from China (at an early age) I realize that I have much to learn about my native country for sure, so thanks for making this thread a resource!

You are welcome....kudos to muchbetter in particular for all the work! :D

If you guys have not noticed, I am adding the links to the particular places into the first post...I did a few for Beijing as a trail....I wonder if its a good idea? If so, I will try to add everything! :D

Delete if you want mod.

2.Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
Yinchuan, Capital of Ningxia

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region[ning´shyA´ hwE] Pronunciation Key, autonomous region (1994 est. pop. 5,030,000), c.25,600 sq mi (66,321 sq km), N China. The capital is Yinchuan. Ningxia is part of the Inner Mongolian plateau, and desert and grazing land make up most of the area. Extensive land reclamation and irrigation projects, however, have increased cultivation, pushing the nomadic herders north or forcing them to change their lifestyles. The northern section, through which the Huang He (Yellow River) flows, is the best agricultural land. Wheat, sorghum, rice, beans, fruit, and vegetables are grown. Wools, furs, hides, and rugs are exported, and there is some coal mining. Desert lakes yield salt and soda. The chief cities : Yinquan, Wuzhong, and Shicui shan : are all on the Huang He. Other towns are merely stations on the camel caravan routes, which are still important avenues of trade. One railroad, linking Lanzhou with Baotou, crosses the region. A highway has been built across the Huang He at Yingchuan. The Chinese population is by far the largest; other ethnic groups include the Hui, Mongols, Tibetans, and Manchus. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1954 but was detached and reconstituted as an autonomous region for the Hui people in 1958. In 1969, Ningxia received a part of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, but this area was returned in 1979. Ningxia Univ. is in Yingchuan. The name sometimes appears as Ninghsia Hui.
Yinchuan
Yinchuan is capital of the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia.Of the around 4 million people that presently reside in Ningxia, a third are composed of the Muslim Hui Minority, and 930,000 of the total live in the city of Yinchuan. Historically this city came to fame in the Western Xia Period (1038-1237 AD), when the founder of the kingdom, Li Yuanhao, established the city as his capital. The city is a pleasant area, with many green areas and a vibrant atmosphere, originally chosen because it was well protected by the Helan Mountain Range (Helan shan) to the north and well supplied by the Yellow River to the southeast.
Street scenary
http://www.china.org.cn/images/24941.jpg
http://www.china.org.cn/images/24943.jpg
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=007F680B.002C
Nanguan MOSQUE
http://www.fsyz.com.cn/xuexiao/feshan/djzc/xjdl/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%9C%B0%E7%90%86/926.jpg
Yinchuan xiguan mosque
http://www.cnradio.com.cn/home/picture/200212060174_22182.jpg
Hui women
http://www.ynok.com/mingzuqt/images/hua01.jpg
Little Huis are studying Alcoran.
http://maryqing.myetang.com/images/gannan11.jpg
Wuzhong city
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=007F6AF0.002C
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=007F6B6A.002C
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=007F6CFE.002C

江山如此多娇，引无数英雄竟折腰。
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=007F6F41.002C

I just wanted to point out that this is one of my favorite threads. So much great stuff, amazing...

江山如此多娇，引无数英雄尽折腰。
http://www.theasf.net/forums/uploads/post-21-1082860540.jpg


wow!! Nice~~ it is my first time to see this poetry.

顶！

Wow, really nice poem. Must be really hard to combine the names of all provinces to compose a poes. Kudos!

3.Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Urumqi, Capital of Xinjiang

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xin for short) is located in North-West China, covering an area of 1.6 million square kilometers, and with a population of 15.5 million.
Surrounded by lofty mountains, Xinjiang Autonomous Region has in its territory, three huge mountains and two enormous basins:- the Zhunkeer basin between the Tianshan Mountain and the Kunlun Mountain where the vast Takla Makan Desert is found. Most of its rivers are inland rivers, among which the Tarim River is the longest one. The Tianshan Mountain forms climate demarcation line. It's temperate continental dry or semi-dry climate north of the Mountain while south of it, warm temperate continental dry climate. It has rich resources of coal, iron, petroleum, salt, gold and nonferrous metals, of which berylliun, lithium, white mica, albite, serpentines etc. hold the first place in China.
Its chief agricultural produce includes wheat, corn, cotton, silk-cocoons, melon and fruit etc. Among which cotton, melon and fruit hold a significant position in China. Being one of China's five major pastoral areas, it has advanced livestock breeding. Its main industries cover petroleum, coal, textile, foodstuff and metallurgy.
Highway and railway play a major part in transportation of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, hand in hand with air service and transport through tubes.
Vast in area, Xinjiang has various types of geographical conditions and multitude of regional and ethnic cultures, as well as abundant historical and cultural resources. Among its scenic spots and historical sites are while popular Ravin of Jianhu in Urumqi, Heavenly Lake of the Tianshan Mountain, Flaming Mountains of Turpan, The Mosque in Kaxi, ancient city ruins of Lanlo etc. Main traditional and famous specialties comprise carpet, leather, fine-cashmere, Hami melon and seedless grapes.
Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur
http://www.china.org.cn/ch-pic/xinjiang/xinjinagview/images/1.jpg
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=00393742.002F

http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=00393802.002F
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=002DD294.002F

Have a good time in pasture
http://www.xj.chinanews.com.cn/sheying/xjsyj/tsbk/image/0014.jpg
Folk music band
http://www.xj.chinanews.com.cn/sheying/xjsyj/wdj/image/0017.jpg
http://www.xj.chinanews.com.cn/sheying/xjsyj/zja/image/0008.jpg

4.Inner mongolia Autonomous Region
Hohhot, Capital of Inner mongolia

Inner Mongolia - abbreviated as Mong£¨ÃÉ£©- stretches along China's northern frontier and border on Mongolia and Russia. The region can be divided by four main areas : The Inner Mongolia Plateau£¨ƒÈÃɹŸßÔ_£©is the second largest plateau in China with an altitude over 1,000m, the Hetao Plain, Ordos Plateau and Daqing Mountain .
The region has temperate continental monsoon climate with remarkable difference in Winter/Summer and day/night temperature. The average temperature is around -30 ¡æ to -10 ¡æ in January and 16 ¡æto 27 ¡æ in July with an average daily temperature contrast of 10 ¡æ to 16 ¡æ.
Han is the largest group in the region, accounting for 80% of total population. Other ethnic groups include Mongolian, Hui, Manchu,Daur Ewenki,Oroqen,Korean, Zhuang, Tibetan, Tu, etc.
The region's capital is Hohhot, enjoying the same preferential policies as in the coastal open cities. Other open cities in Inner Mongolia include Manzhouli and Erenhot.
Inner Mongolia has the largest iron mine at Baiyunerbo which is also the largest rare earth mine in China, with the rare earth reserves accounting for 90% of the country's total. With an extensive coal and iron ores, Inner Mongolia has become an important steel and coal production site in China. The region's reserves of niobium and natural soda also ranked first in the country.
Inner Mongolia is strong in developing agricultural industry. Agricultural products include wheat, corn, rice, soybeans, sugar beet, oats, millet, Chinese sorghum, maize and potatoes, as well as cash crops such as flax, rape, etc.
Inner Mongolia is the major livestock-breeding base in China. The region has the largest number of horses, cattle, big-tailed sheep, fine-wool sheep, white goats, camels, etc. and the output of by-product such as sheep's wool, fine wool, cashmere, camel hair cloth, etc. ranked third in the country. In 1999, milk production in the region also ranked third in the country.
Industries
In 2000, Inner Mongolia's industrial output increased by 16.9% to Rmb70.4 billion. Industries are mainly located at Hohhot, Baotou, Chifeng and other cities such as Jining, Wuhai, Tongliao and Manzhou .
Inner Mongolia is an important base of iron and steel industry. The role of the Baotou Iron and Steel Company is significant in the development of this industry in China. Textile industry is one of the significant industries in the region. Famous wool enterprise, Ordos Group, has established sales offices in various countries such as Hong Kong, the US, the UK, etc.
In coming years, the region will concentrate on farming, animal husbandry industry, tertiary industry, product processing, metallurgy, energy industry, raw and processed material industry, forestry, chemical industry, building materials industry, tanning and foodstuffs, etc.
Tourism
The scenery of the State largest five grand prairie and ethnic folklore contribute much to the tourism resources in Inner Mongolia. Famous scenic spots included the Xilin Gol League prairie, the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan, the tomb of Wang Zhaojun, the Temple of Five Pagodas, the murals in the Han tombs at Horinger County, the Haozhao Monastery, Dazhao Lamasery etc.
In 2000, over 391,900 tourists (+6.4%) visited the region and generated total revenue of US$126 million, an increase of 5% over 1999. Besides, Inner Mongolia will co-operate with other 9 provinces and autonomous regions in establishing a tourism information network and arranging a tourism fair bi-yearly. Concerned parties include Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong provinces, as well as Ningxia Hui autonomous regions.
http://www.gakei.com/het/het02.jpg
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http://www.nmg.xinhuanet.com/bnfynmg/hhht/img/rmgy.jpg
Mausoleum of Genghis Khan
Located upstream of a river, the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan is in Kandehuo Enclosure, Xinjie Township, Ejen Khoroo Banner, Yeke Juu League , Inner Mongolia, the People's Republic of China. It is a cenotaph, the coffins contains no body, only headdresses, and accessories. The real burial place of the Khan has not been discovered.
http://www.china.org.cn/ch-pic/neimenggu/neimenguview/images/2.jpg
Mongolian Yurt
http://www.china.org.cn/ch-pic/neimenggu/neimenguview/images/3.jpg
Grand Naadam Festival annually in Prairie
http://images.nmgnews.net.cn/articleimage/200401/1073533711868.jpg
horse-riding
http://images.nmgnews.net.cn/articleimage/200310/20031024001511.jpg
One mongolian herdsman family
http://images.nmgnews.net.cn/articleimage/200310/20031024001516.jpg

5.Guangxi zhuang Autonomous Region
Nanning, Capital of Guangxi
Characterized by marvelous seaside scenery and full-bodied ethical customs, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is blessed with colorful resources and is an imposing region for sightseeing.

Guangxi, called "Gui" for short, is situated in the southern part of China and is adjacent to the provinces of Yunnan to the west, Guizhou to the north, Hunan to the northeast and Guangdong to the southeast. Bordering Vietnam, Guangxi is convenient for tourists crossing overland into Vietnam or vice-versa. With an area of about 230,000 square kilometers (88,780 square miles), topography of Guangxi is basin-like and the limestone distribution occupies half of the total area. Unique topography forms natural sights. You can breathe fresh air and relax yourself by enjoying wonderful landscape everywhere.

History

Guangxi has history dating from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770BC ~ 221BC). From the Qing Dynasty (1644 ~ 1911), the region was named "Guangxi". In 1958, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was established, and it is now one of the five Minority Autonomous Regions in China.

Ethnic Minority Groups

People in Guangxi are multinational, and the total population is about 45 million. Besides the Han nationality, there are ethical groups of Zhuang, Yao, Miao, Tong, Maonan, Yi, Shui and others. Various cultures are one of the important characteristics of China; therefore, face-to-face communication with various cultures will bring you unexpectedly pleasant surprises.

Guilin, a popular tourist venue in China, is famous for its beautiful landscape. The picturesque Karst scenery along the Li River down from Guilin to Yangshuo has meant the city has become well known to foreigners. The cruise is an unforgettable experience. In addition, attractions in the city are well worth a visit. Among them, Reed Flute Cave, Seven Stars Park and Fu Bo Hill are very impressive.

Yangshuo, the end of the Li River cruise, is a small but peaceful town with stunning country scenery. The town's West Street, lined with western cafes, restaurants and hotels has welcomed countless foreigners from all over the world and is known as "the Earth Village in China". The city is an excellent place for bicyclists and backpackers. Small villages hide behind paddies, water buffalos patrol the fields while fishermen boat on the river. Each provides a feeling of tranquility far removed from the cement jungle of the large cities. You can rent a bicycle to visit the Moon Hill and the Big Banian Tree.

Longsheng and Sanjiang are known for their Dong and Zhuang minority villages. You will have a chance to taste the local food and appreciate the traditional singing and dancing performances. Do not miss the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces in Longsheng and the Chengyang Wind and Rain Bridge in Sanjiang.

Nanning, the green bright pearl in China, is the capital of Guangxi .
Guangxi lies in a subtropical region: rainy, warm and wet. It is fit for traveling all year round. July is the warmest and average temperature is
23 C to 29 C; the coldest is in January, and average temperature is about 6 C to 16 C. In Guangxi, 80 percent of the rain occurs from April to September. Annual average rainfall is 1250 to 1750 millimeters (49.2 to 68.9 inches) in the most areas.
If you want to enjoy the fabulous natural scenery, visit the numerous cultural and historic sites and taste the traditional customs, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is your best choice. There you will see unique traditional handicrafts: brocades of Zhuang minority, embroideries of Yao Minority and colorful shell carvings.
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http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=003C874B.002C
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nanning,guangxi
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=00503FC3.002C
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=00552862.002C
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wuzhou,guangxi
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=0050432C.002C
Lijiang
http://www.china.org.cn/ch-pic/guangxi/guangxiview/images/12.jpg
Guilin
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=0074CF11.002C
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Guilin yangshuo west street(hot tourism place )
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Beihai
http://www.zyly.com/image/hotel/bh.jpg
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=0074CFC6.002C

liuzhou,guangxi
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=00560EFE.002C

Dong minorities' residence in rural area

http://www.kam-tai.org/culture/dong/picshow/image/hulianv.jpg
Dong minority
http://www.kam-tai.org/culture/dong/picshow/image/d_14305.jpg
Grand Dong festival
http://www.kam-tai.org/culture/dong/picshow/image/d_14303.jpg
Zhuang minority
http://www.gxtravel.com/ImageDB%2F2003%2F9%2FImgS%2D4680%2DXb%2D%2D61%BE%B8%CE%F7%BE%C9%D6%DD%B7%E7%C7%E9%2Ejpg

23 Provinces: | Anhui | Fujian | Gansu | Guangdong | Guizhou | Hainan | Hebei | Heilongjiang | Henan | Hubei | Hunan | Jiangsu | Jiangxi | Jilin | Liaoning | Qinghai | Shaanxi | Shandong | Shanxi | Sichuan | Yunan | Zhejiang |

1.Shandong Province

Shandong Province is situated in the eastern part of China on the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It borders on the Bohai and Huanghai seas in the east, and overlooks the Korean Peninsula and the Japan Archipelago across a vast stretch of sea. The province has a total area of 156,000 square kilometers (about 60,235 square miles) and a total population of over 90 million.
Shandong Province is frequently affected by marine monsoons, especially during the summer time. The climate is characterized by rain during the summer and autumn and a dry winter. The annual average temperature is between 11 and 14 degrees C while the annual precipitation is mostly affected by the monsoon rain. Between 500mm and 1000mm of rain can fall each year.
History : Shandong, with a history of more than 5,000 years, is considered one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. Shandong has also been the home of a large number of historical figures, whose important influences are still evident in contemporary China. Confucianism, founded by Confucius, the great thinker, educator and statesman in China is the pillar of traditional Chinese culture and has exerted great influence in the world.
What to see: The major historical sites in the Shandong Province are:
The inscriptions on clay pots unearthed at Dawenkou and Dinggongcun are believed to bear the earliest Chinese written language.
The ruins of ancient Longshan City which is considered the earliest city in China.
Portions of the Great Wall built during the Qi State period which is believed to be the most ancient great wall in the country.
The Confucius Temple, Confucius Mansion and Confucius Cemetery in Qufu.
Shandong is also blessed with beautiful landscapes. The most famous scenic spots are Mount Taishan, Mt. Laoshan and the seaside of the Jiaodong peninsula. In 1987 and 1994, Mount Taishan, the Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Confucius Mansion in Qufu were inscribed on the China World Cultural and Natural Heritage List by UNESCO.
Jinan, Shandong's provincial capital is one of China's most famous historical and cultural cities. It has numerous natural springs, hence its name "Spring City".
Shandong Province is also considered the birthplace of China's pottery, porcelain and silk. Throughout the province the tourist can find traditional items like the clocks and watches of Yantai, the porcelain of Zibo, the kites of Weifang, the shell-carving and beer of Qingdao.
Major Cities: Jinan, Yantai, Weifang, Qingdao, Zibo, Zaozhuang, Jining, Dongying, Qufu


Jinan, Capital of Shandong Province

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HONGLOU Square
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Qingdao
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Downtown area in Qingdao
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qingdao, shandong province
http://www.seam-asia.com/china/beach/qingdao2.jpg
penglaige in Yantai, Shandoing province
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=00230023.002F
Yantai ,shandong province
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yantai,shandong province
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Weihai, shandong province
http://www.seam-asia.com/china/beach/weihai1.jpg
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Qufu, Shandong province

Confucius temple
http://www.china.org.cn/ch-pic/shandong/shandongview/images/93.jpg
Weifang
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=004F7D14.002C
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Yinkou
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=00507E61.002C
Zhucheng, shandong
http://forum.xinhuanet.com/transfile?id=00541076.002C

2.zhejiang province----Home of Silk and Tea

"Winding River". Zhejiang is the ancient name of the Qiantang River, which is the estuary on which the city of Hangzhou is located. The same river is called Fuchun Jiang in its upper reaches.
99 % are of the Han ethnic group; the largest minority is the She, occupying the Jingning She Autonomous County in southern Zhejiang. Small numbers of Manchu and Hui minorities live in Zhejiang's towns and cities. Location is On the central east coast of China, just south of Shanghai.
Zhejiang is one of the smallest, most densely populated and wealthiest of China's provinces. Physically, it is divided into lowlands lying near the Yangzi River delta in the north, with mountainous highlands and a rugged coastline filling most of the remaining area. 54.7 percent of Zhejiang's land surface is forested, the highest of any province or autonomous region of China.
History :
Archaeologists have discovered evidence that rice agriculture has been practiced in Zhejiang Province for over 7000 years, and silk worms have been raised for at least 4700 years. The Zhejiang region comes into written history as a prize competed for by various kingdoms, a period which lasted from 400 BC until the 13th century AD. Industrial development began as early as the 1st and 2nd centuries AD when salt making and porcelain industries were established. Commerce and trading became important after 300 AD, and the quantities of grain available in Zhejiang resulted in the Grand Canal being extended to Hangzhou in the 7th century.
When the Southern Song dynasty emperors established their capital at Hangzhou in 1127 AD, northern Zhejiang became the political and cultural center for all of China, and the area was made famous by many painters and poets. The prosperity continued until time of the Taiping Rebellion in 1862, when Hangzhou was destroyed. It rose again in importance after the Chinese Revolution of 1911-12, when it was a power base for the Guomindang (Nationalist) party under Chiang Kai-shek. Zhejiang was occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War (1937-45) but was not severely affected by the Civil War of 1946-49 which brought the Communists to power.
Today Zhejiang is China's leading producer of tea, and the second biggest producer of silk. Its many other crops include: rice, wheat, corn (maize), potatoes, cotton, sugar cane, bamboo, oranges, mushrooms, fish, shellfish and kelp. Its most important mineral resources include fluorite, coal and salt. The industries of Zhejiang, and most of its wealth, are driven by its abundant hydroelectric power. Its leading products are machinery, textiles, petrochemicals, food products and building materials.
Language :
Most natives of Zhejiang Province speak a dialect of Northern or Southern Wu Chinese. Wu is used on local radio and television for soap operas, family planning and other counselling, while Mandarin Chinese is used for news and other official broadcasts.
Inhabitants of northwest Zhejiang and extreme southeast Anhui Province speak Huizhou, considered to be a separate major variety of Chinese. The dialects of Huizhou are said to differ greatly from each other.
Inhabitants of the extreme southeastern and northeastern coastal areas of Zhejiang speak dialects of Southern Min Chinese, which is the dominant variety of Chinese spoken in Fujian Province to the south.
The native Wu and Yue cultures of Zhejiang have been blended with northern Chinese customs that were brought by the Song emperors in the 12th century. Among many interesting cultural traditions, Zhejiang is the home of several operatic styles, including the Yue Opera of Shaoxing.
Three famous handicrafts of Zhejiang province are: Boxwood Carvings, Dongyang Wood Carvings and Qingtian Stone Carving.
The mingling of southern and northern Chinese peoples in Zhejiang over the centuries has resulted in a unique cuisine that combines southern ingredients with a northern cooking style. Dishes are typically based on fish and seafood, often with local specialties like ham and bamboo shoots added.
Cities are :Hangzhou ,Jiande ,Jinhua Wenzhou, Yiwu, wenling.
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Huangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province
Hangzhou City is in the provincial capital of Zhejiang Province. It is a political, economic, scientific, educational and cultural center of the Province. It is a tourism, historical and cultural city of China, which has over 2000 years¡¯ history. It is one of seven the most famous ancient capitals, the center city in the Yantze Delta and the hinge city of Southeast China. It has the area of 16596 km2 with the population of 6,215,800.

In year 2000, the GDP was 138 billion RMB. Compared with 1999, it increased 11.8%. What¡¯s more, it has been increasing continuously in the past ten years. The economic gross has reached the second place among the provincial capitals in China. In 2000, the average GDP per capita reached 22,300RMB.Calculated as the exchange rate in the year, the average GDP had exceeded $2600.

Hangzhou City has special scenery, which has many scenic places, such as the Westlake, the Qiandao Lake and the nature reserve of Tianmu Mountain which are on the national scenic spots list and the nature reserve of Longtang Mountain which is on the provincial nature reserve list. In April 2000, Lin¡¯an County directed by Hangzhou City was named ¡°State ¨Clevel Ecological Pilot Zone ¡±.

Through great effort of the citizens of the whole city, the city infrastructure is increasing, the city has been ondergoing great changes with each passing day, social cause is making overall progress and cultural and ideological progress is getting numerous significant achievements. It has got many reputations, such as ¡°State Environmental Protection Model City ¡±, ¡±State Green Unit ¡±.

In the new century, the city has put forward to the new development strategy of ¡°living in Hangzhou, traveling in Hangzhou, studying in Hangzhou and undertaking in Hangzhou ¡± and it tries to turn Hangzhou into ¡°Heaven of Living, traveling studying and undertaking¡±. ¡°Constructing strong economic city and creating famous cultural city ¡± has become the common goal of the whole city. Improving city¡¯s environmental quality and constructing the city of ¡°blue sky, green water greenbelt and lustration¡± have become self-conscious behaviors of the whole citizens.

Since 1989, during the assessment of the whole cities in China, Hangzhou City has ranked seven position among the top ten. It also has got the reputation of ¡° State Ten Best Comprehensive Environmental Improving Cities¡± twice.

In 1997, Hangzhou City started to invest over7 billion RMB to the four projects of ¡±blue sky, green water greenbelt and lustration¡±, sped up the steps of reformation, adjusted economic structure actively, increased economic operation quality and received obvious effect. After implementing four projects, Hangzhou City has developed the wastewater treatment system, sped up the construction of city sewage treatment and the wastewater treatment amount of Sibao sewage plant has got 405,000 tons per day. What¡¯s more, the city has published ¡°Catelogue of Hangzhou City Industry Development Trend¡± to direct industry adjustment, reduce structural industrial pollution, encourage development of high technology and strengthen pollution control project construction. According to the investigation of the citizens to the city¡¯s satisfaction, the result shows that citizens are increasingly satisfied with the city.

Through great effort, in April 2001, Hangzhou City passed the check of SEPA and became the first batch of state environmental protection model city of the new century and the first environmental protection model city of coastal provincial capital.

With the upcoming of the new century, there is a long way to go for environmental protection. Hangzhou City has put forward to three targets to protect environment and improve people¡¯s living standard. The three targets are: 1) consolidating the attainment of the model city and ranking the city the first in the national provincial capital. 2) through over 4 years¡¯ effort, turning the city into the international garden city. 3) through 10 years, turning the city into an ecological city.

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WENZHOU
Wenzhou lies in the middle section of China’s golden coastline. Bordering on the East China Sea and standing by the Oujiang River, it is the economic, political and cultural as well as communication center of the southern part of Zhejiang Province. Under its jurisdiction are 3 districts, 2 cities and 6 counties with a total population of 7.04 million. Wenzhou covers a total land area of 11, 784 square kilometers with an annual average temperature of about 18。C. Illite, pyrophyllite and alunite in Wenzhou area is 3 gems of nonmetallic minerals. The East China Sea continental shelf of the estuary of the Oujiang River is rich in deposit of natural gas and oil which are in exploitation. The acreage under scenic spots accouts for 22.2% of the total territory of the city.
With a coastline of 355 kilometers long, Wenzhou Harbor has been listed as one of 20 kilometers long, Wenzhou Harbor has been listed as one of 20 main hub ports. Wenzhou Airport has opened 45 domestic air routes and 2 regional air routes linking to Hongkong and Macao. Wenzhou has become one of the 45 key highway hub cities in the terms of land transportation. The Jin-wen Railway will be open to traffic in June 98. Programme controlled exchanges with 1.06 million channels has been put into operation. In the aspect of power industry, the transmission lines construction has been
connected with and incorporated into the East China Power Grid.
Through a dozen years of reform, Wenzhou has formed an economic structure with diversified economic sectors coexisting and multiple industries developing simultaneously and secured a “one step ahead” advantage in the development of market economy. The people of Wenzhou are energetically carrying out “ the Second Pioneering Campaign” in the economic and social development. When completed, it can not be denied that Wenzhou, with the new look of a great modernized and brand-new metropolis, stand towering at the southeastern coast of China.
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NINGBO
Ningbo, located in the middle of China's coastline and in the south of Yangtze Delta, is one of China's coastal cities to be opened to the outside world. It is divided from Shanghai by the Hangzhou Bay. With an area of 9365 square kilometers and a population of 5.3 million people, Ningbo enjoys a privileged right of economic management at provincial level, which gives a great impetus to its economic prosperity.
In ancient times, Ningbo was the starting point of "road of silk" and "road of china" through sea. Now Ningbo has grown into one of the four international deepwater harbors in China, which can berth 300,000-tonnage vessels. In 1997, its handling capacity of cargo amounted to 82.2 tons and therefore jumped to be the No. 2 harbor in mainland China.
Ningbo has remained to be a main harbor of foreign trade ever since ancient times. It has now opened the nation-level economic and technological development zone, Ningbo tax-free zone and Daxie development zone.
As a base of chemical industry in East China, the GDP in Ningbo in 1997 came up to 90 billion yuan, its industrial production value 201.9 billion yuan. It is listed as the No. 27 of China's 219 above-prefecture-level cities.
While Ningbo boasts of advanced transportation and communication facilities, it is also well known for its social stability, unsophisticated residents and developed science and technologies.
Ningbo has gradually broadened its relations with other countries. More than 300,000 overseas Chinese who were born in Ningbo now are dedicated to making contributions to their hometown.
Ningbo now has set its goal to become one of the most modern harbors in China.
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jinhua
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Paojiang industrial park in Shaoxing
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Shaoxing city
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Taizhou City
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Yiwu City
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3. Liaoning province
Liaoning Province is located in the southern part of northeast China, with the Yellow and Bohai Seas in the south, Hebei Province in the southwest, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the northwest, Jilin Province in the northeast, and Korea m the southeast.
Liaoning's northeastern and western parts are rolling hills and forests. Its central part is the boundless Liaohe Plain. Its southern part is the Liaodong Peninsula. Its western part is the Liaoxi Corridor along the beach of the Bohai Sea. Dalian, Dandong, Yingkou, Jinzhou, Huludao, and Xingcheng are beautiful coastal cities, with seven national-level, nine provincial-level and seven municipal-level scenic Areas.
Liaoning is abundant with rich resources of hot springs, such as Tanggangzi in Anshan, Wulongbei in Dandong, Xingcheng in Huludao, Wenquansi in Benxi, and Tanghe in Liaoyang.
Liaoning has a long history. Traces of human activities more than
300, 000 years ago have been found here. Some 5,000 years ago, Liaoning was the most developed area for Chinese civilization. During 221 B. C. through 1911 A. D. , Liaoning was a political, economic and military center in northeast China, leaving behind many historical sites, such as the temporary palace of Emperor Qin Shihuang, the Great Wall at Jiumenkou, the well-preserved ancient city of the Ming Dynasty at Xingcheng, the imposing royal palaces and mausoleums of the Qing Dynasty, the sites of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and of Japanese-Russian War, and the prison where Pu Yi, China's last emperor, was reformed.
Liaoning has a population of 41 million, the majority of whom are the Han people. There are 43 ethnic groups, including the Manchus, Mongolians, Huis, Koreans, and Xibes, making up 15 percent of Liaoning's total population. Most of the ethnic groups have their own language, and live a different lifestyle.

Liaoning has an area of 146, 000 square kilometers, and 14 cities, including Shenyang, Dalian, Anshan, Fushun, Benxi, Dandong, Jinzhou, Yingkou, Liaoyang, Fuxin, Tieling, Chaoyang, Panjin, and Huludao. Shenyang is the capital.
Liaoning belongs to the continental climate on the northern temperate zone, with an annual mean temperature of 6°C - 11°C . The coldest time is January, and the hottest July. April through May is spring, June through August is summer, September through October is Autumn, and November through the next March is winter. Summer is rainy, and winter is cold.
The best season for traveling is between May and October, and the best time to enjoy the winter scenery is from January through February.
Shenyang, The Capital of Liaoning province
also Shen-yang, formerly Mukden, city, northeastern China, capital of Liaoning Province, on the Hun River.
Originally called Shen, the city was a prosperous Mongol trading center from the 10th to the 12th century AD. Renamed Feng-t’ien, it was under Chinese control during 1368-1625; and, as Mukden and Shengking, was an early capital (1625-1644) of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty (1644-1911) before its conquest of Beijing. Modern development, begun by Russian interests in 1895, continued under Japanese influence following the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and with the aid of powerful local warlords. The Mukden Incident (1913) marked the start of the Japanese conquest of Manchuria and establishment of the former Japanese-controlled state of Manchukuo (1932-1945). Looted of its industrial equipment, the city was returned to China in 1945 and renamed Shenyang in 1948. It was the capital (1949-1954) of the short-lived Northeast Administrative Region and was rebuilt as a diversified industrial center in the 1950s.
a major industrial center. Manufactures include machine tools, processed copper, machinery, steel, and electrical equipment. Shenyang is both one of Chinese megalopolises and the important industrial bases, and the center of economy, culture, science and Technology, trade, finance and transportation.
Northeast College of Technology, a School of Medicine, and a Music Conservatory are located here. The 17th-century Manchu Imperial Palace, the tomb of Emperor Tai-tsung, and other Chinese historical monuments are notable landmarks.
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Dalian city
Dalian

northeastern China

Dalian or L黡a, municipality, in Liaoning Province, on the Liaodong Peninsula. It includes L黶hun (Port Arthur), the major seaport town, at the southwestern tip of the peninsula; Dalian, a port on Korea Bay; the offshore Changshan Islands; and adjacent agricultural regions. L黶hun is an important ice-free naval base guarding the entrance to the gulf of Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli). Dalian, the main commercial port for industrialized northeastern China (and also ice-free), is the leading petroleum-exporting point for the productive Daqing oil field. It can accommodate supertankers and has large shipyards; manufactures include refined petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, machinery, iron and steel, and transportation equipment.

L黶hun was an important port as early as the 6th century AD. It was occupied (1858) by the British and was fortified as a naval base by the Chinese in the 1880s. It was attacked and briefly held by the Japanese in 1895; subsequently it was granted, with adjacent parts of the peninsula, to Russia as part of the Liaodong lease. While under Russian control (1898-1905), L黶hun was renamed Port Arthur. It was valued by the Russians for its year-round access to the Pacific Ocean and was extensively refortified for naval use. Dalian was transformed during the same period from a minor fishing port into a modern commercial port and was given the Russian name Dalny.

The Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), transferred the Liaodong territory to the Japanese, who renamed it Kwangtung. L黶hun, renamed Ryojun, became an important Japanese naval base and was (1905-1937) the administrative center of the territory. Dalian, given the Japanese name Dairen, was enlarged and modernized. It replaced L黶hun as the capital of Kwangtung in 1937 and developed rapidly in the 1930s and early 1940s as the main port for Japanese-controlled Manchuria.

Following the defeat of Japan in World War II, both ports were placed under joint Soviet-Chinese control in 1945. They were returned to full Chinese sovereignty in 1955. L黶hun again became a Chinese naval base, and Dalian became a center of heavy industry in the late 1950s and 1960s; during the 1970s Dalian was developed as China's leading petroleum port. Population (1990) 2,420,000.
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Dandong city
Dandong is located in the alongside of the Yalu river and in the southeast of Liaoning Peninsula. The Yellow Sea in the South, and the Dalian in the southeast. It borders on Anshan in the west, Benxi in the north, and the Jilin province in the northeast. She faces the city of Sinuiju of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea across the Yalu River. With the land area of 14, 950 square kilometers, the total population of Dandong is 2.4 million.0.7 million of which are urban people. Dandong is the biggest Border City in China.
Dandong with superiority of geographic location is along Yalu River, along Yellow Sea and along border. She is in the central belt of Northeast Asia, with the 210km borderline to the Korea Peninsula. The Dandong Railway is 220km from Pyongyang, 420km from Seoul, is the major land port connecting the Europe-Asia continent with Korea Peninsula, it is an important part of the Europe-Asia Railway system, that connecting the Japan, Seoul, Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow.
Dandong City with advanced means of transport has formed a comprehensive three -dimensional transportation network interconnected by railway, highway, and air and sea transportation.

Dandong has a moderate climate. It is picturesque in scenery with so many historical sites and Border sightseeing. It is indeed a good place for vacation, retreat and tourism. In the Dandong boundary, there are two national-class tourist resorts of Yalu River and famous Phoenix Mountain, and four provincial-class tourist resorts of the Qingshan Gully, Dagu Mountain, Wulong Mountain and Tianqiao Guooy. The tourist industry has become a newly developed industry in Dandong.

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An shan city
Anshan, the third city of Liaoning, is located in the centre of the Province, between Shenyang and Dalian. This city, which used to be known as "the city of steel" is a fast developing city, now attracting many new and high technology businesses.
A total of 3.44 million inhabitants including 1.5 million in the urban area.
Mineral resources are abundant. The workable reserves of iron ore make up one fourth of the total in China. Anshan Iron and Steel Complex is one of the largest iron and steel company in China, while the reserves of magnesite are the highest in the country and constitute about 25% of the world total. Anshan is one of the three major sources for the production of talc in the country. The reserves of jade are also among the highest in China. There are deposits of noble and rare metals and other deposits such as copper, uranium, aluminium, marble, fluorite and graphite.
Since the 90's, Anshan has actively developed an export-oriented economy. On one hand, Anshan has strengthened metallurgy and textiles as two pillar industries, and accelerating the development of environmental protection and new materials as two emerging industries whilst promoting the technological upgrading of existing enterprises. On the other hand, the city is developing electronic information, fine chemical engineering, biological pharmaceutical as three examples of new high technology industries.
In 2000, Anshan achieved a GDP of 58 billion yuan ($7 billion), which represents an increase of 10.3 percent compared with 1999.
(Anshan High and New Technology Industry Development Zone) Established in 1991, is located in the east part of Anshan, only 80 km away from Shenyang Taoxian airport. This National level development zone, which includes research, development, industrial and educational zones complemented by residential building, services, cultural and an entertainment zone it is a comprehensive, multifunction modern city.

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4. Sichuan province
Sichuan Province (Shu for short) is located in southwest China, covering an area of 537,000 square kilometers, and with a population of 94.5 million.
Its eastern part is the Sichuan Basin surrounded by lofty mountains, with 7% territory being plain in the bottom, and the rest hilly land and low hills. Its west area is highland of West Sichuan, and the north area, part of the main body of Qinghai and Tibet plateau, while the south area is northern section of Hengduan Mountain Ranges. Most of the rivers belong to the Yangtze River System. The Jinsha River runs across South Sichuan from southwest to northeast until Yibin and then changes into the name of the Yangtze. The Jaling River, Min River, Tuo River and Wujiang River flow into the Yangtze River from both south and north sides. The Sichuan Basin and West Sichuan have sub-tropical humid and sub-tropical highland climate respectively. Its main mineral deposits comprise iron, coal, natural gas, petroleum, well salt, asbestos, vanadium, titanium, phosphorus etc. It abounds in agricultural and water resources.
With over 2,000 years of history, this capital city of Sichuan province is one of the most beautiful cities in China. The national government has even determined that Chengdu is the cleanest city in China. Chengdu is sometimes called the City of Brocade; the Jinjiang, which means brocade, is a river that flows through the city. The breeding of silkworms and the weaving of brocade were highly developed as early as the Han era (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). Chengdu is also known as the City of Hibiscus because of its several parks and the wonderful flowers which grow even in the downtown area. Reportedly, Meng Cheng, King of Shu and a fancier of hibiscus, had hibiscus planted along the walls and edges of the streets in the 10th century.

The city is located in southwest China, in the west Sichuan plain, at the confluence of the Nan and Fu rivers. An ancient walled city, it was the capital of the Shu kingdom (3rd century A.D.). It is an important regional center for metallurgy, chemicals, machinery, and electronics. It is also considered to be the cultural hub of southwest China; it is the site of Sichuan University and a center of Sichuan opera. The province itself abuts the eastern border of Tibet.

Sichuan's major industrial products are metals, coal, petroleum, machinery, electric power, chemicals, electronics, textiles, foodstuff etc. among which natural gas, salt, canned food, beverage, iron and steel, paper, fertilizer, alloyed iron, motor-cycles, power-generating equipments and others stand in the forefront either in production output or in value in China. Rice, wheat, cotton, rape seeds and raw silk are its principal farm produces. Sichuan is listed as one of China's primary producers in output of rice, wheat, oil-bearing crops,, meat, and fruit, and also hold a significant place in production of tong oil, medicinal herbs, pigs and cattle.

Railway plays major role in Sichuan's transport, while there are convenient highway and inland-water communications.

Sichuan is gifted with lush mountains and exquisite waters, and abounds in historical and cultural resources. Its main scenic spots and historical sites include Mount Emei, Huangling Temple, Jiuzhaigou and Golden Buddha Mountain. Among its chief famous traditional specialties are Sichuan brocade and embroidery, bamboo wares, wines and liquors such as Wuliangye, Jiannanchun and Luzhoulaojiao.

CHENGDU, the capital of Sichuan province
Chengdu (Rong for Short), capital of Sichuan Province, is China's important industrial base, covering an area of 12,390 square kilometers and with a population of 9.4 million.
Chengdu is mountainous in the north-west area, with plains in the south-east area, and low hills in-between. It has a sub-tropical climate with an annual average temperature of 16.2 degree Celsius, and rainfall of 1.000 millimeters, and a frost-free period of about 300 days. Its mineral deposits include coal, iron, talcum, serpentine, dolomite etc. It abounds in agricultural resources.

Chengdu's main industries comprise machinery, chemicals, metallurgy, foodstuff, textiles, and especially measuring and cutting tools, airplanes, chemical equipment, analytical instruments, TV sets, computers, seamless-steel tubes, metal products, fertilizer, aluminum processing, electrical machines, wood-processing etc. which hold an important position in China. Chengdu is a major production base in China for commodity grains, rape seeds, and pigs, and abundant in peanuts, sesame seeds, cotton, sugar-canes etc. Famed as " Heavenly Land ", it has a rich supply of various products.

Chengdu is a railroad hub in South-west China, and has convenient highway and air transport as well.

It's also a famous Chinese historical and cultural city, endowed with unique natural conditions and beautiful environment. It has a pleasant climate, and exquisite lush mountains. Among its renowned scenic spots and historical sites are Marquis Wu Shrine, Thatched Cottage Du Fu, Dujiangyan Irrigation System.

Chengdu has embarked on the road of building itself into an international metropolis functioning primarily as the center, in South-West China, of science and technology, commerce, finance as well as communication and transport.
Because of its location in the midst of some of China's most fertile growing regions, Chengdu is also known as the Land of Abundance. Its markets are always filled with fresh vegetables and fruits. Whether due to government subsidies or cheap labor, most items are quite inexpensive, including fresh meat and milk.

The ancestors of the Shu people (in ancient times, Sichuan province was called Shu) lived in Chengdu more than 3,700 years ago. About 2,300 years ago, Kai Ming, the ninth king of the ancient Shu kingdom moved his capital to today's Chengdu. It was at that time that Chengdu got its present name. Because of its special economic strength and geographic location in southwest China, Chengdu has been an important political center through the centuries. At least seven local separatist governments organized in Chengdu. During these 2,300 years, Chengdu never changed its location despite many upheavals, and it has always been the capital of Sichuan province.

Climate in Chengdu is quite temperate. The weather is nice during the winter, with lows of about 40 degrees and highs around 55 degrees. It never snows. However, since Chengdu is very humid, it always feels a little colder. Also due to the humidity, Chengdu in summer is uncomfortable and muggy, especially when the temperature rises to 90 degrees. With the combination of humidity and surrounding mountains, Chengdu is almost always overcast. Although some critics blame pollution for the overcast skies, historical records prove otherwise.
chengdu
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MIANYANG city
Mianyang is located in the northwest of Sichuan, 98 kilometers from Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province. Its administrative divisions includes the two districts of Fucheng and Youxian, the New and High-Tech Industries Development Zone, the six counties of Santai, Anxian, Zitong, Yanting, Pinwu and Beichuan, Jiangyou city, and the Science Zone Administration Office of the provincial government. It covers an area of 20000 square km with a population of 5.18 million, among which 50 square km and 500 thousand people are in the urban area. The place enjoys a subtropical, humid and temperate climate, with annual average temperature 14.7?7.3?, the lowest temperature 4??, the highest temperature 32?4?, annual average relative humidity 71%

Since the setting up of Mianyang Municipal Government in 1985, GDP has increased by an average of 10.8% per year, and the Industrial Added Value has increased by an average of 14.9%. GDP in 2001 reached RMB 32.98 billion yuan. It is thus the second most important city in Sichuan, one of the fastest developing cities in Western China, and has a very favorable development potential.
Mianyang has about 2200 years of history with official local government. It is the birthplace of the Emperor Dayu, Leizhu the mother of silk, and Li Bai the great poet of Tang Dynasty. It is also named as the “Giant Panda Country? To the north is the Jianmen Castle, to the south ChengDu Plain, to the west Jiuzhai Huanglong, and to the east Bayu and Three gorges, so it is known as the hub or “the throat and key?of Sichuan through its history. The eco-tourism routes include Wanglang Natural Protection Zone, Qianfu Mountain, Yuanwang Cave, etc. Fule Mountain and Zitong Damiao contain important remains for tourists interested in the “Three Kingdoms? There are also industrial and scientific sites for interested tourists, such as CAEP Exhibition Center, Asia's largest aerodynamics center, Changhong Commercial Center. It is becoming the top tourism center of Sichuan and West China. The famous Yuewang Lou (tower) is one of the four most famous towers in China.

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PANZHIHUA city
Panzhihua is one newly rising industrialized city in the west China, with a total area of 7,434 square kilometers. Panzhihua is well known in the world thanks to the densely concentrated natural resources there. The city is like a bonanza, catching world's attention. The reserve of metal mines is especially huge. Besides, it is easy to tap the mines with the good supporting facilities there. The city is also rich in natural energies, for instance, water electricity. Besides, the sub-tropical climate in Panzihua has provided to the city superb conditions to develop agriculture and tourism.
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ZIGONG city
Famed as the Salt Capital of China, a treasure house of dinosaur fossils, and the Lantern City of Southern China, Zigong City is located in the south of the Sichuan Basin. It has been recognized by the State Council as a State-level Historical and Cultural City. The area includes over 70 scenic resorts, including the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, ruins of the ancient salt capital, Wangye (Imperial Highness) Shrine, and the Grand Buddha of Rongxian County. The Zigong Dinosaur Museum is world famous, and the International Lantern Festival is a folk activity that Continues long traditions.

The International Lantern Festival in Zigong is a cultural gathering that continues long traditions among the local ethnic groups. The magnificent creations reflect the ingenious skills of the local artisans. The lanterns blend with the local landscape to create images of mystery and imagination.

The Zigong Dinosaur Museum is located in Dashanpu, I I kilometers from the city. Hundreds of complete dinosaur skeletons and the remains of many prehistoric mammals have been preserved and are on display. Among the most famous is the 10-meter tall Sichuan Emei Dinosaur.

Historical Museum of the Salt Industry
Located in the city center along Jiefang East Road, the Zigong Municipal Museum of the Salt Industry is the only museum in China relating the history of the vitally-important salt industry in ancient times. On display are salt processing techniques, drilling equipment, and evidence of the advanced level of salt mining in Sichuan during ancient times.

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DEYANG city
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LESHAN city

The city of Leshan is located in the mid-south of Sichuan province, 170km (110 miles) away from Chengdu. It has a population of 6.4 million including Han,Yi, Zang, Miao, Hui, Uygur, Mongol, and Zhuang minorities.

Leshan is close to the mountain region of the southwest and lies along the alluvial plains of a number of rivers which include the Min, Jinsha, Qingyi, and Yangzi. The climate is mild with winter temperatures rarely averaging 7?C (45?F) and summer temperatures averaging a humid 26?C (79?F).

Visitors to Leshan are usually seeking some of the sites of Buddhist pilgrimages and great natural beauty which are found nearby including: Leshan’s Giant Buddha, Emei Shan, the Sansu Hall of Northern Song dynasty, etc. Shawan township in the southwest of the city is the hometown of Guo Moruo, the late famous writer, historian and social activist.

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LUZHOU city
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YIBIN city
(both: ¨¥-bĬn) or Ipin , city (1994 est. pop. 261,300), S Sichuan prov., China. It is a commercial and communications center at the junction of the Min and the Chang rivers, the last port for upriver traffic, and the gateway to Yunnan prov. It has a diverse industrial base that includes a chemical plant and a paper mill. The city was formerly called Suifu.

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NANCHONG city
Nanchong, the second city, is not quite as blessed as Suining. Sitting in a mountain valley, most of the city's streets are steep and winding, which impedes traffic somewhat. The roads, such as they are, sometimes slow down communication with the outside world.

Having seen rapid development in other Chinese cities, Nanchong has not been willingly left behind. To develop the city stresses education, and since 1994, Nanchong municipal government's education fund has grown by 100 million yuan annually.

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SUINING city
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BAZHONG city
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MEISHAN city
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YA'AN city
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DUJIANGYAN city
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MINZHONG city
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5. Jiangsu province
Jiangsu, an eastern Chinese province, has over 1000-kilometer (620 miles) coastline along the Yellow Sea. There are two great rivers flowing through the whole province: Yangtze River from west to east and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from north to south. With an area of 100,000 square kilometers (38,600 square miles), Jiangsu is populated by Han, Hui, Manchu and other ethnic groups. Its population totals 73.54 millions. The neighboring areas of Jiangsu are Shandong Province in the north, Anhui Province in the west, Shanghai Municipality and Zhejiang Province in the south.
With an annual average temperature ranging from 13 C to 16 C, the climate in Jiangsu is semi-humid and subtropical. There are four distinct seasons with cold winters and hot summers. Besides, the annual average rainfall is 800 to 1,200 millimeters (31.5 to 47.2 inches), with high precipitation in the southeast and low in the northwest, and 60 percent of the rain falls during the summer. So the best time for a visit should be in spring and autumn.
Nanjing, one of the six ancient capitals of China, is also the administrative center of Jiangsu Province. Situated at the south bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Nanjing has numerous tourist attractions for you to access. Yangtze River Bridge in Nanjing is very famous and impressive. Opened on December 23, 1968, it is one of the greatest achievements of the Communist Party and a great source of pride to the Chinese. The Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the mausoleum of the great revolutionary forerunner, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, is a well-preserved tourist destination. Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum built for Zhu Yuan Zhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368~1644), is one of the largest ancient imperial tombs in China. Other scenic spots in Nanjing like Qinhuai River, Yu Hua Tai and Qixia Scenic Spot are also well worth a trip if you want to trace back to the long history of Nanjing. As one of the four "furnace" cities in China, tourists are advised not to visit Nanjing during summer.
Suzhou is a well-known garden city in Jiangsu Province. It's a historic city in China and also the center of cotton, silk and wool. The Humble Administrator's Garden presents a traditional Chinese ink-and-wash painting before you, and walking in the garden, you would feel you are actually walking in the paintings! The Lingering Garden is one of the best gardens in Suzhou as well as being one of the four most famous gardens in China. Zhouzhuang, a small town near Suzhou, is the China's top water county. The layout of the town and the residential areas maintains the traditional style and the old river ways and boats are very popular among the visitors. Besides, Suzhou has its unique highlights such as Kunqu Opera, Suzhou Opera and Suzhou embroidery.
Wuxi, the famous tourist city in Jiangsu Province, is one of the 15 economic central cities in China called as "homeland of fish and rice". Taihu Lake, the third largest freshwater lake in China, has many islets which have now become the main tourist destinations for visitors. The Three Kingdoms City, built in 1993 to film the famous historical TV serial - the Romance of Three Kingdoms, which is one of the four most famous novels in China, was totally in Han Dynasty style. So when you enter the Three Kingdoms City and sometimes see lots of people wearing ancient costumes, don't be so surprised, it's only a scene for filming actually.
In possession of many cultural and historic cities like Nanjing, Suzhou and Wuxi, Jiangsu has abundant tourist resources. Far beyond your expectations, Jiangsu is really an ideal tourist resort.

Jiangsu's Urban Construction in full swing
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Nanjing, Capital of Jiangsu province

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Residence in Nanjing
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Longjiang Residential Quarters in west Nanjing. Apartments for University Teachers
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The Dongshuiguan Park of Nanjing, the entry of the well-known Qinhuai River into the city
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The Baijiahu Residential Quarters in Jiangning District, south of Nanjing
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The Crescent Lake Housing Estate in east Nanjing, one of China's Model Residential Quarters. Nobody can imagine that less than a decade ago, the place was filled with wastewater and overgrown with brambles.
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Night View of Xinzhuang Interchange
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The Xinjiekou Commercial Center in Downtown Nanjing. The 60-storeyed Jinying Shopping Mall (Left) has overshadowed the nearby 37-storeyed Jinling Hotel, China's highest building over a decade ago.
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Xinzhuang Interchange and Nanjing International Exhibition Center near the Zijin Mountain and the Xuanwu Lake. Their harmonious combination makes people love them at first sight
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The Riverview Tower, for which Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Song Lian, a famous essayist at that time wrote prose. At the threshold of the 21st century, it has become a landmark of Nanjing's riverside landscape, attracting more and more tourists.
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The Civilian Plaza at Shanxi Rd., Nanjing. An increasing number of beautiful and culturally rich plazas like this provide local residents with ideal places for recreation and relaxation
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The Gulou-Xinjiekou Financial and Commercial Center of Nanjing[/IMG]
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The 21st Century Square in southwest Nanjing, symbolizing the city's infinite energy and momentum
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The Legendary Beast Pi Xie, Ming Dynasty walls, the Crescent Lake Residential Quarters, the Expressway¡_On entering Nanjing from the Zhongshanmen Gate in its east, you cannot help marveling at the city's profound history, pompous present-day and promising future
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Yangzhou, Jiangsu province
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Suzhou, Jiangsu province
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changzhou ,jiangsu province
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Wuxi, Jiangsu province
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New districts of Taizhou
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Taizhou City, hometown of Mei Lanfang, the great Peking Opera Performing Artist. Surrounded by water is the Memorial Hall of Mei Lanfang
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Suqian City, the youngest at prefecture level in Jiangsu, gives out a myriad sense of refreshment
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The sculpture named "A Pearl to the North of the Huaihe River" symbolizes a new Suqian.
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The Third Suqian Bridge across the northern part of the Grand Canal
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The Memorial Hall of Premier Zhou En-lai in Huai'an City, an embodiment of love to the giant by people of his hometown
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City Proper of Huai'an, a city in the hinterland of Jiangsu
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Chuzhou District of Huai'an, upgraded from a town in Feb. 2001
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Yancheng City is taking on a new look.
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Yancheng's road transportation changes with each passing day
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The 6,700-meter-long West Liandao Dyke, China's longest man-made sea barrage
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A Plaza in Downtown Changzhou
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Gupeng Plaza in downtown Xuzhou City
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The colossal China Huaihai Food Marketplace in Xuzhou
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The Third Ring Road of Xuzhou greatly facilitates the city's traffic.
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Liandao Bathing Beach. With it, Jiangsu locals won't bother to go to beaches in other provinces to entertain themselves.
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Lianyungang City in northeastern Jiangsu
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Wenchang Pavilion in downtown Yangzhou, the city's landmark. Built in the Ming Dynasty, it has every right to savor Yangzhou's more than 400 years of history.
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New districts of Yangzhou City
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The Culture Plaza of Nantong turns more beautiful with the nearby Haohe River.
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Nantong City, a pearl off the East China Sea
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Zhenjiang, a garden city by the Yangtze River
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The newly built Riverside Blvd. of Zhenjiang, linking up Jinshan Mountain, Beigu Mountain, Jiaoshan Mountain and other scenic spots
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The southern section of the Grand Canal winding through Changzhou
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Ganjiang Rd. of Suzhou. River and streets go side by side, making the road a "Double-chessboard Format", a most distinctive feature of the city till this day
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Suzhou High-Tech Industry Development Zone, the "New Suzhou" beside the Grand Canal. Although occupying an area less than 40 square kilometers, it has achieved an annual import and export volume accounting for one percent of China's total.
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Suzhou Industrial Park, the "Western-styled Suzhou" beside the Jinji Lake. A cooperation project by China and Singapore, it initiates a new form of Sino-foreign economic and technological cooperation that is mutually beneficial. Nowadays the park is not only the first choice of domestic and overseas investors but also the dreamy land of countless people.
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Suzhou locals are now quite used to such a saying that the city of nowadays is composed of "Old Suzhou, New Suzhou and ExoticSuzhou". This picture shows the so-called "Old Suzhou"-old districts of the city
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The beauty of Suzhou City is not represented by skyscrapers only.
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City Proper of Yixing in Wuxi Municipality
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Yixing Ceramics Museum in Wuxi, the only museum of this kind at local level in China
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Commercial Center in Downtown Wuxi
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The Huishan Mountain beside the Grand Canal has witnessed the thousand-year prosperity of Wuxi City
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Nan Tong city
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6 Guangdong province
Guangdong is located in the southern part of the south China Sea, encompassing a total 179,766 square kilometres. From north to south, the altitudes of landforms decreases. The highest mountain is the Shikengkong peak with a height of 1902 m above sea level. The mountain and hill areas cover most of Guangdong without many plains. There are many rivers such as the Zhujiang River (Pearl River), which is composed of the Xijiang River, the Beijiang River, the Dongjiang River, the Hanjiang River, the Rongjiang River and the Moyangjiang River. Guangdong has a curved coastal line of 3368.1 km and many estuaries and more than 651 offshore islets. The Tropic of Cancer runs through Guangdong, the southwest part of which and the Leizhou Peninsula are in the tropical zone , and other parts in the subtropical zone. It is warm and rainy all the year round, the average temperature ranges from 19 to 26 centigrade degree, the average annual rainfall is more than 1500 mm, the rainy season is from April to September. Abort 130,000 years ago, the Home sapiens, the Beijing River "Mabaren", evolved into the Xijiang River "Fengkairen"about 12,000 years ago, and then to Baiyueren about 4,000 years ago. In 214 B.C. the first emperor in Qing Dynasty brought the Linnan under his control, and divided it into three parts: the Han People moved into these regions and the County. Since that time, the Han People moved into these regions and the Baiyue People became the members of Chinese nation. By now there are also many ethnic minorities such as the Miao, the Yao ,the Hui, the Man and the She in the Guangdong Province. In 1989 the population was estimated at 60,240,000. Besides, there are a large number of Guangdong people who have emigrated abroad. Guangdong Province was first set up in 1370 A.D. with Guangzhou as its capital. People in Guangdong Province have revolutionary traditions . The first page of Chinese modern history began in Guangdong (the Anti-imperialism's Opium War), which is also the starting point of Chinese Democratic Revolution. As the South Gate of China, Guangdong has been opining to the outside world for a long time. Since the adoption of opening and reforming policy in 1978, three special economic zones, Shen Zhen, Zhuhai and Shantou, have been established, Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, the Zhujiang (Pearl River) Delta areas and the whole coastal regions have been opened. More than 100 ports have also been opened. So Guangdong's transportation is convenient. Its industry is devoloping and agricultural products (rice, fruits, fishing, etc)are abundant. Its economy is developing rapidly.

The transport conditions in Guangdong Province are fairly good. So far, the water transportation has been playing a very important role. The ocean shops go from Guangzhou or Zhanjiang to South East Asia, Africa, Europe and America, and more than 40 ports in Shanghai , Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Nantong, Ningbo, Yantai, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Wenzhou, Beihai and etc. Guangdong is also one of the provinces in China where the highways have been developed into the networks all over the province. And there are four railways: Beijiang to Guangzhou, Guangzhou to Jiulong, Guangzhou to Maoming and Litang to Zhanjiang. The air transport services are developing rapidly. Besides an airport in Guangzhou, there are some other airports in Zhanjing, Shantou, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Foshan, Huizhou, Wuhua, Meixian, Yangjiang etc. which connect with all the large cities in China. There are more than 10 international airlines.

The handicraft industry in Guangdong is in the lead in the whole country with a long history and unique features. As early as 1870s, the handicraft industry in Ganging had become well known as "guanghuo". Hardware(such as keys, knives, flashlights), umbrella, leather products, furniture (especial the carved mahogany furniture) are all well-known in the world. Among the artware, the ivory carving, gem carving, iron carving, porcelain carving and golden-wood carving are well known for their excellent design. The Guangdong embroidery and the Chaozhou embroidery, one of the four kinds of best embroideries in China , are known for their beautiful patterns and exquisite craft. Besides, there are also Zhaoqing's inkstone, Dongguan's fireworks, Shiwan's porcelain and Xingning's folding fan.

The local culture in Guangdong is also well developed. The main dialects are Guangzhou dialects , Hakka dialects and Chao zhou dialects. There are Guangdong local music, Yue opera, Chaozhou opera and Guangdong Han opera. The Lingnan architecture, Guangdong cooking and folk custom are all fascinating. Guangdong is a place with beautiful mountains and rivers, moderate climate and many scenic spots. The Luofu Mountain, the Danxia mountain, the Dinghu Mountain and the Xiqiao Mountain are the four famous mountains in Guangdong Province. There are also many wonderful attractions for tourism and holidays all over the province.

guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province
Guangzhou, located at the north of the Pearl River delta, is an important trading center as well as a busy port and the capital city of the province of Guandong . The city has an area of over 16,000 square kilometers and a population of 6.7 million.

The climate of Guangzhou is sub-tropical. The average year-round temperature is 22C. August is the hottest month, with an average temperature of 28C. January is the coldest month, with an average of 13C. The rainy season falls between April and August. Average annual rainfall is 1,720 mm.

Like Athens of Greece and Rome of Italy, Guangzhou also has a history of more than 2,800 years.

There are a lot of interesting legends concerning its past. One of the beautiful stories which gives the city its name Goat Town says that five gods riding on five goats brought the first grain to the city. So, it is also known as the City of Five Goats. Besides tales and stories, here and there stand monuments of the city's democratic and revolutionary past. The monument to the Anti British struggle at San Yuan Li is in remembrance of the 1841 uprising against a British invading force. The Huang Hua Gang Park keeps alive the spirit of the 72 martyrs killed in an 1911 uprising against the Manchu dynasty. The National Peasant Movement Institute is the former cadre-training school founded and run by Mao Zedong and Zhou En Lai in 1925-1926. The Guangzhou Memorial Garden is in memory of those who lost their lives during the Communist Uprising in 1927.

Guangzhou is also one of the most important centers of foreign commerce in South China. The Chinese Export Commodities Fair has been held twice a year in the city since 1957. It is also a cultural center. There are several universities, the Zhongshan University, the South China University of Technology, the Ji-nan University and so on. There are also higher educational establishments. The city is renowned for its arts and crafts, namely the Guang Dong embroidery, ivory-carving and ceramics.

Guangzhou is a beautiful city with an ever-green scenery and flowers blooming all the year round. The city boasts many tourist attractions, among which highlights are White Cloud Hill Scenic Spot. Yuexiu Park, Guangzhou Zoo, Six Banyan Temple and Flowery Pagoda, Dr. Sun Yatsen Memorial Hall, etc. In the Suburbs, there are such scenic spot on Conghua Hot Springs, Xiqiao Hill Scenic spot, Seven Star Crags, and Foshan City. Lots of tourists to Guangzhou like to cover one or two of them for out-of-city pleasure.

"Eating in Guangzhou" has become a popular saying both at home and abroad. Guangzhou ranks first in the number of restaurants and tea-houses in the country. Cantonese cuisine is good in color, fragrance, taste and presentation. In addition, the delicate Cantonese pastry is also well-known for its wide range of varieties, delicious flavor and beautiful color. Cantonese cuisine is among the most famous four in the country.

As for hotel accommodations, there are Garden Hotel, China Hotel, White Swan Hotel, Dongfang Hotel, Nanhu Hotel, the Overseas Mansion, the Overseas Chinese Mansion, the Overseas Hotel and others.

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shantou
Shantou, one of the important seaport cities, a famous hometown of overseas Chinese and one of the five special economic zones (SEZ) in China, is the center of politics, economy and culture in East Guangdong.

Shantou,situated on the Chao-Shan Plainand with its terrain downward from northwest to southeast,is the outlet of Hanjiang River,which is the second longest river im Guangdong Province. Shantou has a semitropical maritime climate,with annual average temperature of 21°C to 22°C,average sunshine time of over 2000 hours and the annual precipitation of 1300-1,800mm.


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Zhuhai City[/SIZE]


Zhuhai City is situated on the west bank of the Pearl River, looking on to Hong Kong and Shenzhen across the outlet of the Pearl River, bordering on the South China Sea and joining Macao on the land in the south, on the west with Xinhui and Taishan, to its north is Zhongshan. It is an important port for import and export that connects the inland with Hong Kong and Macao. In March 1979 it became a city at the prefecture level under the jurisdiction of the Province. In August 1980 Zhuhai Special Economic Zone was established with the Municipal Government seated in Xiangzhou District of Zhuhai, with Doumen District and Xiangzhou District under its jurisdiction. The five functional districts set up with the approval by the State and the Province, namely, the bonded area, new hi-tech development area, Wanshan Sea Development Experimental Area, Hengqin Economic Development area, Lingang Industrial Area, have become key areas of development in Zhuhai.


The total area is 7,649 sq, km., of which the land area is 1,630 sq. km with rich land resources. The sea area is very vast with coastal and island lines of 690 km, with 146 isles dotting in the sea area, winning the nickname of "Hundred Isles City ". Therefore, Zhuhai is endowed with rich tourist resource with prominent features: New Yuanming Palace, Dreamy Water Town, the former residence of Chen Fang, Meixi Memorial Gateway, the Imperial Hot Spring, Crocodiles Pond, Pearl Amusement Park and the Agricultural & Scientific Center. The myriad of isles and islands and the beautiful beaches of specially unique styles, attract 10 million tourists from home and abroad every year.

There are in Zhuhai perfect facilities of information, energy, city water and urban utilities. There has been established an all enveloping transmission network of broad-band information with big-capacity optic fiber, digital micro-wave, cable and broadcast TV. Long distance telephone calls can reach 1,800 cities in the country and practically all places in the world. A batch of power and water supply facilities have been set up to provide for the need of water and power. There are easy communicational facilities: a network of land, sea and air transportation has taken shape. The modern Zhuhai Airport can handle the taking off and landing of hundred thousand flights of planes annually, with flights to major cities in the country. Zhuhai Port is one of the major pivot ports in China, with potential for building over 100 berths for 10,000 -25,000 ton cargo ships, and a handling capacity of 150 million tons. The Zhuhai Section of Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway has been completed and opened to traffic. It takes only 1.5 hours from Zhuhai to Guangzhou, or to Shenzhen.

Zhuhai City is one of the areas that are of high economic potential in South China. It has won for four times the title of "Model City for Double Support", and commended as "Model City of Environmental Protection" ,"hygienic city" and "Fine Tourist City" at the state level, and has been granted the prize by Human Inhabitation Center of the U.N. for "The Internationally Best Model of Improving the Inhabitation Environment", and it was entitled as "Demonstration Area of Ecology" at the state level.
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Heyuan City

Heyuan City exercises jurisdiction over Yuancheng District, Dongyuan County, Heping County, Longchuan County, Zijin County and Lianping County. The total area is 15,800 square kilometers, with a population of 3.2194 million. The Municipality is seated in Yuancheng District.

Heyuan City is situated in north-east of Guangdong, upper middle reach of Dongjiang (the East River), 114°13'- 115°35' longitude east, and 23°10'-24°50' latitude north. Heyuan neighbors on Huizhou to the south, Ganzhou of Jiangxi Province to the north, Meizhou to the east and Shaoguan to the west. It is the juncture of the coastal areas of Guangdong between the inner land. Beijing-Kowloon Railway, Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou Railway cross in the city, with a marshalling station at Longchuan, which is the biggest one in South China; State Highway 105 and 205 run through the city; on the waterway of Dongjiang can sail hundred-ton cargo ships to Huizhou, Dongguan, and Guangzhou. The city is favorably located with convenient communications; so it may draw in economic radiation from all directions, exploring markets and resources of all kinds.

Heyuan has fertile land and rich resources. There are 0.11 million hectares of cultivated land, 1.36 million of hilly land, and 0.064 million hectares of water area. The mineral reserves are of great quantity and high grades. There are over 40 proven species of minerals. The reserves of iron ore, tungsten, tin, fluorite and rare earth rank first in Guangdong. The potential hydraulic power is 1.27 million KW. Xingfengjiang Hydro-power Station, the greatest in the Province, is in the urban area of Heyuan. The forest coverage amounts to 70%. The voulume of timber growth is 1.765 million cubic meters. The area is one of the key forest production bases of Guangdong.

The beautiful scenes in Heyuan bring about many spots of tourist interest. There is a Fountain, which is the tallest in Asia, State Forest Park on Xinfengjiang; Scenic Area on Dagui Mountain and the first big artificial lake-Wanlu Lake; there are newly set up scenic spots like Sujiawei Round House and scenes from Jinghuayuan (a novel of the Qing Dynasty); historical relics like fossil eggs of dinosaurs, fossil skeletons of dinosaurs and fossil chrysanthemums; Tuo Cheng, a historical city of Guangdong, Huoshan and Shuikeng scenic area in Longchuan; in Zijin there the residences of the ancestors of Dr. Sun Yat-sen; Neiguan Mountains and rivers in Lianping, and there are scenic spots at Huanglong Crag at Zhangxi of Dongyuan County. Prominent local products are Chinese kiwi fruit, dried mushrooms of Jiulian, garlic of Heyuan, Hakka home-brewed liquor, natural pure water of Xinfengjiang and mineral water, bamboo mats, sweet tangerines, green tea, and pot culture.


Foshan
Located in the central part of the Zhujiang River Delta, Foshan has a favorable geographic location and excellent natural conditions, and long been called"a land of fish and rice " for its plentiful products. It has a total area of 4, 736 square kilometers (the city proper, 77 square kilometers) and a population of 2.63 million in 1987 (municipal population, 0.33 million). During the Qin and Han Dynasty, Foshan became an agricultural and fishery village of a considerable size, and the present urban seat was called "Jihua Village" in the Sui Dynasty. In 628 (AD), three bronze statues of Buddha were excavated in Tapo Hill within the town, thus changing its name to Foshan which is called "Chan" for short. Ceramic industry rose in the Tang Dynasty and brought the name "Ceramic Capital in South China" for the city whose products sold well at home and abroad. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Foshan had enjoyed equal popularity with Zhuxian Town in Henan Province, Jingde Town in Jiangxi Province, Hankou Town in Hubei Province, thus identified as one of the four famous towns in China. Ceramics, casting, textile, pharmacy and folk handicrafts were extremely flourishing in the early Qin Dynasty when the population reached 0.9 million. Foshan was a town of Nanhai county after the Xinghai Revolution, and became a city in 1951. Being a well-known industrial city of medium size in Guangdong Province, Foshan has four pillar industries of textile, electronics, ceramics and plastics, and also a rather string foundation in food-processing, pharmacy, printing, crafts, hardware, electric appliance, machinery and casting, acting as a comprehensive commodity base in Guangdong Province. 24 external ports opened by Foshan Airport. Keeping abreast with large cities such as Shenyang and Wuhan, Foshan got a total output value of industry and agriculture of 16.8 billion Yuan in 1988, three times what was in 1980. Purchasing value for foreign export was 2.3 billion Yuan in 1988. Since 1960's, Foshan has been a national Red-Flag (model) City in public hygiene, and also renowned for track and field sports. Zumiao (ancestral) Temple and Lianyuan Garden are the main ancient buildings. Traditional handicrafts include papercuttings, decorative lamps, Shiwan figures, and colorful costumes worn by local people who parade in the streets in the autumn.

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zhanjiang city

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Chaozhou[B]
Located in the north of the Delta of the Hanjiang River, Chaozhou city is one of the famous historic cities. It had been the location of Lu Administration, prefecture and capital of dynasties of past ages. It was named Chaozhou originally in the Sui Dynasty (591 AD). Chaozhou City now governs 1 district, 20 towns and 3 small towns and has 1,411 square kilometers in area, and 1.24 million in population. Chaozhou City is surrounded by the Golden Mountain, the Silver Mountain and Hanshan Mountain. The Hanjiang River flows through the city and eight scenes distributed along its both banks. There are many valuable historic relics in Chaozhou city, totally about 600 units and among them 42 are classified as the state, provincial and city's key preservation units of cultural relics, The city's feature is known as "Classic Tourist City" which receives numerous tourists both from abroad and home.

Chaozhou has a long history of handicrafts. It is famous in the world for its traditional drawnwork, Chaozhou embroidery, pottery, porcelain, and woodcut which sell well both on foreign and domestic markets. In recent years a lot of new industries have emerged. Chaozhou is also one of well-known agricultural high production zones in China, with its fine tradition of intensive cultivation and attacking great importance to agricultural science and technology. Many of agricultural and sideline productions gain a great reputation in world markets. With unique styles, the Chaozhou Drama, Chaozhou Music and Chaozhou handicrafts are not only well received by local people, but also loved by overseas Chinese in South-east Asia. As its characteristics of sweet-smelling , thickness, freshness and sweetness, the Chaozhou cooking is enjoying more popularity.


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Meizhou
Under the jurisdiction of Jieyang County, Nanhai Prefecture in Qin and Han Dynasties, Meizhou was originally called Meizhou in the Song Dynasty (971 AD) from its Mei Brook and plum blossom (Mei Blossom ) in ancient times, it was Jiaying Zhou in Qing Dynasty and it was changed into Meixian in 1911. Meizhou has jurisdiction over seven counties and one district. Its area is 16, 197 square kilometers and population is 4,190,000 , an area of 321 square kilometers and a population of 21,000 in the city proper.

　　Meizhou is an important city on the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River. It is a hub of communication on the borders of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi and also the material collecting and distributing center. Meizhou is also a well-known overseas Chinese hometown with about 500,000 overseas Chinese scattered in about 70 countries and regions. It also has the name of " cultural hometown". Its culture can be traced to the same origin from central China to ancient times and is the center of the kejia culture with a galaxy of talent.

　　There locate many scenic spots and historical sites in Meizhou City. The Tower with One Thousand Buddhists "situated in the summit of Eastern Mountain was built in Han Dynasty, same as the East and the West iron Towers in Guangxiao Temple of Guangzhou. The "Renjinglu" Cottage in the brook lip of eastern district was former residence of Mr. Huang Zunxian, the late patriotic poet, outstanding statesman and diplomat. It is now the key preservation unit of cultural relic.


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Dongguan city
Located at the lower reaches of the Dongjiang, lying in the north-east section of the Zhujiang (Pearl River) Delta, it is adjacent to Huizhou in the east, faces Guangzhou in the north and west just across the northern trunk stream of the Dongjiang and Sizi Yang, and neighbors Shenzhen to the south. As one of the districts under the jurisdiction of the city, Humen stands on the exit of the main-stream of the Zhujiang. The city covers a total area of 2, 465 square kilometers (the municipal population, 0.23 million). The predecessor of the city is Dongguan County which was administered by Panyu County in Han Dynasty and by Baoan County in Eastern Jin (317-420 AD). In the third year of Zhide period of Tang Dynasty (735 AD), Baoan County was changed into Dongguan County . The seat was then moved to the present city proper form Nantou (now belongs to Shenzhen City). It became a city in September of 1985. The area within the boundaries of the city covers mainly with the alluvial plain except for a stretch of hills and platforms in its southern section. Abundant in its products, Dongguan is one of the richest and most populous cities and counties in Guangdong Province. Since the beginning of reforming and opening to the outside world, industries of electronics, textile, clothing, toy, headdresses, leather and plastic products, and foodstuff have been well developed through introducing constantly advanced equipment and techniques from foreign countries, thus leading to the formation of an overall industrial complex. The total industrial output value reached over 4, 300 million Yuan while the agricultural output valued at 700 million Yuan in 1988. The income in foreign currencies amounted to 300 million US dollars in that very year. There are two major harbors located there: the Guancheng Harbor--an inland water port and the Taiping Harbour --a port of the inland water and ocean transportation, both of which have a handling capacity of over one million tons. In 1988, the total length of highway open to the traffic in the city region reached 1,445 km. Dongguan ranks the top in the country in terms of the highway density. There are many scenic spots and historical sites among which one is the battlefield of the Opium War in Humen renowned both abroad and at home. It abounds with various fruits especially litchi and banana, which are on sale all the year around. There are also plenty of seafood. The fireworks made in Dongguan sells well on the domestic and foreign markets. The physical mass sports are extremely popular and active in Gongguan which is known as "The Home of Swimming " and "The Home of Weightlifting".

Dongguan city
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Huizhou city
Located at the middle and lower reaches of Dongjiang, exactly at the confluence of Dongjiang and Xizijiang, Huizhou has an urban district and outskirts of 417 square kilometers and a population of nearly 0.2 million. Huizhou is a famous historical city with a history of more than 2000 years. Belonging to Baiyuedi in the period of Chunqiu, and to Nanhai prefecture in the Sui Dynasty and Zhenzhou capital in Wudai (Five Dynasties ) and Southern Han, and changed to Hui in the Song Dynasty, resulting in the name of Huizhou. Another name of Huizhou , Goose Town, is based on a legend that the Feie Hill to the south of the city was formed by a flying goose ridden by a celestial being.

As a collection of hill, river, lake, sea and spring, Huizhou is described as "half town of hill scenery, half town of lake". When ascending a height to enjoy a distant view, you will find multipeaked mountains in dark green and faintly visible islets in rivers in the near sites where five lakes and six bridges come to the eye. This picture is embellished with green and old luxuriant banyans, verdant palms, flaming phoenix and kapok trees, which make you relaxed and happy. You can not help being intoxicated by this lovely scenery of Huizhou.

Huizhou was a pure consumptive city before liberation. Benefiting from the reform and open-door policy, Huizhou's foreign-oriented industry has been developed rapidly. Until 1989, 18 foreign countries and districts have invested funds of 0.34 billion US dollars in Huizhou, thus preliminarily forming industries of electronics, textile and food processing etc. whose products are on sale in 68 countries and regions. Panda Town for producing cars mainly for export is being constructed in Aotou. Much attention has been paid to building traffic facilities. Air routes were opened in 1985. Water and land transportation is also very convenient.

Huizhou city(惠州市）

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Huizhou western lake


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Farmers' houses

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Lianfeng scenery

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Fanyu

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yunfu

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Jiangmen city of Guangdong province

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Zhongshan city

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Xinhui city

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Shaoguan city

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Shenzhen
Located at the southern coastal area of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen is a Special Economic Zone and important industrial base in China, with an area of 2,021 square kilometers and a population of 0.8 million.
Shenzhen ajoinds Dapeng Gulf in the east, the mouth of the Pearl River to the west, Wutong Mountain and Yangtai Mountain ranges to the north, and New Territory of HongKong to the south. It, in topography consists of mountains, hilly lands as well as plains along the sea coast, and has a south sub-tropical marine climate with an annual average temperature of 22.4 degree Celsius, rainfall of 1940 millimeters, and a frost-free period of 350 days. Its main mineral deposits comprise granites, lime stones, freshwater sands and clay etc.

Since the establishment of the Special Economic Zone in 1980, Shenzhen has made rapid progress in economy. Its main industrial products are electronics, light industrial products, textiles, garments, foodstuff, building materials, machinery, and chemicals, over half output of which are for export. It has become China's major export production base. In magnetic heads of computer hard-discs, its annual production accounts for 90% of China's total in value, while in diskettes and telephone sets, over 50% in output. Shenzhen has arisen as an advanced foreign-oriented industrial base.

Shenzhen has been endeavouring to better its financial investment environment, and attract more domestic and overseas financial institutions to set up branches or representative offices there. Over 50 HongKong and overseas stock companies have been engaged to act as sales agents or brokers for Shenzhen B-shares. Foundation has been laid for development of a new financial center in Shenzhen.

It has eight commercial port areas with a daily freight-handling capacity of 30 million tons. Huanggang in Shenzhen is China's biggest port of land transportation. Shenzhen has convenient railroad, highway and air services. As China's key foreign trade port, it is accessible by ocean freighters of ten thousand tons class.

Shenzhen lies along mountainsides and seacoast, endowed with vast sea and shore of soft sands. It has beautiful sceneries, and numerous amusement parks.


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7.Henan province
Highlight of Henan Province, Songshan Mountain lies southwest of Zhengzhou and it is one of the most famous mountains in China because of the rugged beauty of its peaks and the Bonsai-like appearance of its beautiful old trees. Shaolin Temple, the most famous Buddhist temple in China and the largest of the Songshan range, is located on Shaoshi Mountain. Shaolin Temple and Shaolin Gongfu (martial arts) have long taken on a legendry color and are famous both in and outside China.

The name of the province Henan comes from its geographic situation. Henan means "the south of the river", including that Henan lies south of China's Yellow River. The province covers an area of over 160,000 square kilometers (about 62,000 square miles). It is populated by Han, Hui, Manchu, Mongolian and other ethnic groups totaling 92,560,000 people.
Henan has a humid warm-temperate climate. Dry and windy in winter and spring, the province is hot and rainy in summer and bakes in strong sunlight during the autumn months. Rainfall averages about 600-1000 millimeters increasing from north to south, as does the annual temperature which increases from about 12.8C in the north to 15.5C in the south.

Henan province is considered the cradle of Chinese civilization due to its location on the Yellow River. This rich historic heritage has endowed Henan with numerous historic treasures, from primitive dwellings to earliest wheel thrown pottery. The remains of some of the earliest human settlements have been unearthed here, including the over 7000-year-old Peiligang Culture Site, the 6000-year-old Yangshao Culture Remains and the 5000-year-old Dahe Culture Remains. All these cultural remains have profound significance in the history of Chinese civilization.
Zhenzhou, capital of Henan province
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Luoyang city
Luoyang City has been the capitals of nine dynasties since the time of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770BC-221BC). There are many historical sites to be viewed in Luoyang as well as the opportunity to purchase replicas of the framed Tang three-glaze horses. Luoyang's Longmen Grottoes, famous for its grand treasure trove of Chinese Buddhist statues, are located 12km (7 miles) south of Luoyang. First sculpted and chiseled around 493 AD when the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) was moved from Datong City to Luoyang, the grottoes of Luoyang house an awe-inspiring collection of sculpted Buddha and other religious subjects.

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Kaifeng city
Kaifeng, one of the ancient capitals, also boasts the following buildings worthy of a visit: Iron Pagoda (Tie Ta) of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), Dragon Pavilion (Long Ting) - site of imperial palace of the Song and Jin dynasties - and the 1400-year-old Xiangguo Temple which is one of the most famous Buddhist temples in China. Also on view in Kaifeng are ruins of the Shang Dynasty, an important part of human cultural and historic heritage. The Shang Dynasty Ruins, also known as the "Yin Ruins", are famous because of the unique style of the large palace and its grand mausoleums, in which emperors of the Shang Dynasty are buried. The bronze vessels of the Shang Dynasty, which were both finely decorated and popularly used by the citizens of the Shang Dynasty, are well-known at home and abroad.
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Kaifeng palace across the lake
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Ping ding shan city (平顶山市）

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Donghu park

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Longmen Grottoes
The world-famous Longmen Grottoes are located 12km south of Luoyang. Here two mountains, namely, East Hill (Mt. Xiangshan) and West Hill (Mt. Longmen), confront each other with the Yi River traversing northward between them, just like a pair of Chinese gate towers. So during the Zhou and Qin dynasties, it was called "Yi Que" (Gate of Yi River). Later, when the Sui established its capital city in Luoyang, the palace gate was just facing Yi Que, hence the name "Longmen" which means "Dragon Gate".

Spanning a length of over 1,000 meters on the hillsides along the Yi River, the Longmen Grottoes, together with the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang (Gansu Province) and the Yungang Grottoes (Shanxi Province), are reputed as the three greatest stone sculpture treasure houses in China. In the year 2000, Longmen Grottoes was listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site.
The Longmen Grottoes were first sculptured and chiseled around 493AD when the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534) was moved from Datong to Luoyang. The entire construction of Longmen Grottoes lasted more than four hundred years through the Northern Dynasties, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and up to Song Dynasty. Today, there are still 2345 caves and niches, 100,000 Buddhist images ranging in size from 2 cm to 17.14 meters, more than 2800 inscribed tablets, and 43 Buddhist pagodas remaining in both East Hill and West Hill. Altogether 30 % date from Northern Wei Dynasty, 60 % from Tang Dynasty and the rest 10 % from other periods.

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Xiangshan temple in Luoyang city
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Shaolin temple

The world-famous Shaolin Temple is located at the foot of the Wuru Peak of the Shaoshi Mountain of Dengfeng, Henan Province. It was first built in the nineteenth year of the reign of Emperor Taihe of the Northern Wei Dynasty (495 A. D.) Then in 527 AD, Bodhidharma, an ancinent Indian monk, came here and started the Zen sect, which is regarded as the "ancestral (first) court" of the Chinese Buddhism. The whole structure was rebuilt in the Ming and Qing Dynasties occupying a floor space of 30,000 square meters.

In the temple the Hall of Thousand Buddhas is the most magnificent inside which well preserved are gigantic murals of "500 Arhats Worshiping..." that cover the east, west and north wells. On the brick floor of the hall two rows of depressions can be seen; these are marks left by Shaolin monks who over long years practiced in it martial arts, the well- known Shaolin Gongfu, which originated right here. The architecture of the halls, pavilions, pagodas and other structures in Shaolin Monastery is a representative of an important style in the history of Chinese architecture. Another valuable and precious relic well kept is the more than 300 inscribed stone tablets left over since the Tang Dynasty.

About 300 meters west of Shaolin Monastery is the Forest of Stupas, the largest group of stupas in China, serving as the tombs for Shaolin monks after they die. The existent over 220 stupas of brick and stone were built in the dynasties of Tang, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing. The stupas, usually of 3-5 stories, are no more than 15 meters high, and vary in shapes of quadrangle, sexangle, cylinder, cone, parabola, straight line, bottle, circle; some are made of one piece of rock. On most of the stupas there are bas-reliefs and inscriptions. The stupa forest is representative of the artifacts of the successive dynasties and a treasure house of ancient architecture and sculpture of China.
The Shaolin temple has many legends and mysteries surround it. The origin of martial arts, the origin of kung fu surround the vague mysteries of the Shaolin Temple and the shaolin monks.

Shaolin Temple is probably the most famous temple in China, not only because of its long history and its role in Chinese Buddhism, but also because of its martial arts or Wushu Chan. Shaolin Temple is situated in the beautiful Songshan Mountains, which is only eight miles of Dengfeng and about 50 miles southwest of Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province.
Shaolin Temple was established in 495 during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). Batuo, an Indian monk, came to Luoyang, the ancient capital, for spreading Buddhism at that period. Emperor Xiaowen was a believer of Buddhism so he decided to build the temple in the Songshan Mountains to house Batuo, who translated many Buddhist works and had a few hundred followers there.
Shaolin Monks
Damo (Bodhidharma), the legendary Indian monk, came to Shaolin in 517, who was the creator of Chinese Zen. There are many legendary stories about him. One of the well-known stories says he was meditating in a cave for nine years. The cave is now called Damo Cave. Many people believe he wrote the famous 'Yijinjing,' the base of Shaolin martial arts or Gongfu. But there is no record about the book before and during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) so experts think Damo has little to do with Shaolin Gongfu. Zongheng, a Taoist priest of Tiantai Mountain, wrote 'Yijinjing' in 1624, but to add mystery to it, he made up a story saying 'Yijinjing' was originally written by Damo.

Shaolin does have a long tradition of Chinese martial arts, as the saying goes 'All martial arts (gongfu) are from Shaolin.' This is partly because Shaolin was located in a strategic area so they had to protect the temple themselves from wars or any invading, and partly because of the support of most emperors from different dynasties, which came after the 13 Shaolin monks once saved Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Since then Shaolin was allowed to have solider-monks. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Shaolin housed over 1,000 solder-monks at its peak and they were often used by the government to combat rebellions and Japanese bandits. But martial arts were forbidden during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Even with the protection of solder-monks, Shaolin was severely damaged by fire a few times. The largest fire set by the army of Shi Yousan in 1928 destroyed most of the buildings of Shaolin Temple.

There are many noted relics at Shaolin. There are over 300 ancient stone inscriptions, some of them by famous calligraphers. The large mural of 500 arhats in the Qianfo Hall was from the Ming Dynasty. There are 232 pagodas from different dynasties, known as the forest of pagodas. The oldest one was from the Tang Dynasty. The pagodas are the tombs of the celebrated Shaolin monks. The Shaolin martial arts are an important part of the relics.
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Shaolin Gongfu

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The city of Nanyang, Henan province 河南南阳

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I have not visited this thread for sometime, and when I do now, I am totally impressed!!!

Very impressive job, muchbetter!! :)

I have not visited this thread for sometime, and when I do now, I am totally impressed!!!

Very impressive job, muchbetter!! :)

Thank you. I am inspired to accomplish this thread with your praise .

Thank you. I am inspired to accomplish this thread with your praise .
Please do. I am so impressed I dare not add my trash to it, even thou u are kind enough to ask me to so many pages earlier!! :okay:

Xinxiang city(新乡市）
Located in the north of Henan Province, to the north of Huanghe River (Yellow River) with an area of 8169 square km, and with 2 cities (county-level city), 6 counties and 4 districts under its administration. Xinxiang is an important base of industry, grain crops, cotton and oil-bearing crops. There is over 30 places of historic interests, mainly including Baiquan scenic zone in Mt. Taihangshan, Bigan temple (the earliest ancestor of Lin Family), the tomb of King Lu, etc.
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The city of Shangqiu (商丘古镇）
Shangqiu lies in Yellow River, Huaihe River,Haihe River plain in the eastern part of Henan, governing 6 counties, 1 city and 2 districts with a population of 8 million. Shangqiu got its name because the tribe of Shang in ancient China resided here. The Shang Dynasty originated here, which was called the state of Song in the spring and autumn period. The state of Liang of the Han dynasty established its capital here. Many famous persons came from Shangqiu like Confucius, Chuangtse, the ancient literature and philosophy master and Hua Mulan, the national hero. Shangqiu is the famous state historical and cultural city with rich tourist resources and developed communications. The completion of Beijing-Jiulong railway furtherly speeds up the economic development of Shangqiu.

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8.Hunan province(湖南省）
Located in the south central part of the Chinese mainland, Hunan has long been known for its natural beauty. Hunan is surrounded by mountains on the east, west, and south, and by the Yangtze River on the north. Hunan's mixture of mountains and water makes it among the most beautiful provinces in China. For thousands of years, Hunan has been a major center of Chinese agriculture, growing rice, tea, and oranges.

Hunan has a humid, subtropical climate. The monsoon rain falls mostly in April, May, and June. July and August are uncomfortably hot and humid. The best time to visit is in the fall, when temperatures are cooler and the rainfall lighter. For persons who live in cold northern climate, traveling to Hunan in the winter can be pleasant. After all, any place that grows oranges can't be all that cold. Low temperatures in winter are usually above freezing, with daily highs around 10C. Annual rainfall is around 1,250 - 1,750 millimeters (49.2 to 68.9 inches). Northern Hunan has more climate extremes than southern Hunan. It can get colder in the winter and hotter in the summer.

The headspring of life, Dongting Lake, is frequently mist-covered in the early morning. It is the second largest lake in China. Yueyang City, located on the shore of Dongting Lake, is home to one of China's three famous towers. Yueyang Pavilion was originally built during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The present pavilion is of recent reconstruction, built in the style of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

In 1982, China established its first national forest park. Zhangjaijie National Forest Park was established in a particular scenic area in northwest Hunan. The park is especially known for its quartz-sandstone rock formations, bare stone sculpted by nature and set among green trees and frequent clouds.

The high and steep Mt. Hengshan is frequently snow-capped in the winter, contrasting with the subtropical fields that one sees below it. It is one of the five most famous mountains in China. Known for its precarious cliffs, it is a holy mountain for both Taoists and Buddhists.

The region along the Yuanjiang River is especially well known for its serene beauty. It takes its name, the Peach Blossom Fountainhead, from a work of Chinese literature from the Jin Dynasty (265-420). Tao Yuanming wrote about an isolated Utopia-like paradise where generations of people had escaped from the difficulties that others had experienced. The Yuanjiang River region has been a travel destination since ancient times.

Historic Changsha, one of China's famous cultural centers, is the capital of Hunan Province. It is also a tourism center, offering its visitors many historical sites and other places of interest.

Highlights
Hunan's cuisine has its unique flavor. In Hunan, nearly every dish tastes hot, and delicious. The people of Hunan like eating peppery foods.

Hunan's products include Xiang embroidery, one of China's four famous embroideries. It has high artistic value. With 200 years of history behind them, the chrysanthemum stone carvings of Liuyang are vivid and exquisite. Liuyang City is known for its firecrackers, which are popular all over China.

Many great people have come from Hunan Province. In ancient times, Quyuan, a patriotic poet, committed suicide by throwing himself into the Miluo River. The story of his death and the search for his body started the tradition of Dragon Boat Festival.
With abundant natural resources, Hunan covers 210,000 square kilometers (81,000 square miles). It is adjacent to Jiangxi Province in the east, Chongqing Municipality and Guizhou Province in the west, Guangdong Province and Guangxi Autonomous Region in the south, and Hubei Province in the north. Hunan has a total population of 64,400,700. It is multiethnic, with Maio, Dong, and Yao being the most numerous minorities. Their unique cultures and ethnic customs attract numerous tourists.
Changsha（长沙市）-"long sand isle" , capital of Hunan province
Changsha, city in southern China, the capital of Hunan Province, a busy port on the Xiang River. It got the name of Changsha - "long sand isle" - because of a shoal in the river. Changsha belonged to the State of Chu 2,500 years ago and was later ruled by the Qin Dynasty.Changsha is the industrial, transportation, and cultural center of a rich agricultural region. Manufactures include machine tools, aluminum, processed food (especially rice), chemicals, electronic equipment, and embroidered textiles. Changsha is associated with, and has many monuments to, the early career of Mao Zedong, who was born in nearby Shaoshan and spent most of the period from 1913 to 1921 here. In the city are Hunan University and the Changsha Museum, whose holdings include famous artifacts from a Western Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 8) tomb in nearby Mawangdui. Founded in the 3rd century BC, the city was originally called Qingyang. As Tanchow, it became the capital of the later Zhou state (AD 951-960), and as Changsha it was a leading commercial and cultural center during the Song dynasty (960-1279). It was made the capital of Hunan in 1664 and was opened to foreign trade in 1904. Severely damaged during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), the city grew as an industrial center after 1949. Population (1991) 1,776,343.
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Yuelu academy （岳麓书院）
The Yuelu Academy of classical Learning, hidden in the woods, was built at the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and was one of the greatest classical academies of that time. Zhu Xi (1130-1200), a famous Confucianist philosopher, used to teach here. The late leader of the Chinese revolution, Mao Zedong, also studied here.

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Tian xin ge(天心阁）

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Orange Isle (Juzizhou)

This tiny island, one square kilometer in area, lies in the Xiangjiang under the newly built Xiangjiang River Bridge. Tourists can get to the island by a ramp or by a spiral staircase from the middle of the 1,500-meter-bridge. Groves of orange trees are found at the southern tip of the island, and the Heavenly Heart Pavilion (Tianxinge), built on the remains of an old wall dating from the Han Dynasty, commands a panoramic view of the river and of the city of Changsha.

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The city of Yueyang (岳阳）


Yueyang city is found on the eastern shores of the Dongting Lake in northeast Hunan. Located 132km (82 miles) away from the provincial capital of Changsha, the city covers 15,000 sq km and has a population of 4.5 million.

The city is famous because of Dongting Lake, the 2nd largest freshwater lake in China. Found amid the lake's waters is Junshan Island, home to the precious silver needle tea. On the lake's banks is Yueyang Tower, the beauty of which was written about by Song dynasty poet Fan Zhongyan.

Dragon boat racing is said to have begun in Yueyang and tourists should try and visit during the Dragon Boat Festival on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month (June or July). Visitors will enjoy the festive atmosphere as the crowds cheer on the rowers.

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The most impressive thread I've seen on Skyscrapercity! Amazing work, thanks a lot! :okay:

The most impressive thread I've seen on Skyscrapercity! Amazing work, thanks a lot! :okay:

You are very welcome. Thank you for your patience to see the slowly updated work. :D :dance: :soon: :soon:

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Yueyang tower 岳阳楼
First built during the Tang Dynasty more than 1,000 years ago, the Yueyang Tower on the east shore of the Dongting Lake is one of the four great "Lou" (storied pavilion or tower) in China, together with Penglai Pavilion in Penglai (Shandong Province), Tengwang Pavilion in Nanchang (Jiangxi Province) and the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuchang (Hubei Province). Since ancient times, many poets and writers have visited the Yueyang Tower to praise its marvelous scenery.
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TRADITIONAL BUILDINGS
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Zhangjiajie 张家界
Located in western Hunan province, the famous tourist city of Zhangjiajie is the home of China's first forest park - the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park - and a World Natural Heritage site Wulingyuan. Since an air route linking Zhangjiajie and Hong Kong opened last April, more and more visitors take their holidays in Zhangjiajie.

The new cableway on Mt. Tianzi is new and is 2,084 meters long. As the cable car runs across the dizzying peaks, passengers get a full view of the spectacular landscape that cannot be enjoyed any other way. Despite the new cableway's presence, there are still mountain-climbers struggling to reach the top of Mt. Tianzi. Sedan-chairs can also be seen among them.

There are many famous scenic spots in Zhangjiajie, such as Baofeng Lake, the Huanglong Cave (Asia's largest cave), and many beautiful waterfalls and brooks. But the most attractive scene that Zhangjiajie features is the mysterious mountain covered with dense, primeval forests. It is said that 23 species of rare animals and more than 3,000 species of plants are living in the misty world.

There are 243 pillar-peaks, each over 1,000 meters high, which are often shrouded in mist and drizzle. Together, the peaks form several "peak-forests" that are rarely found anywhere else. Visitors to the top of Mt. Tianzi will see many pillar-peaks gathered together like soldiers in an enormous battle array.


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Zhangjiajie National Forest Park 张家界国家森林公园

Established in 1982, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is the first of its kind in China. It lies in the southwest part of the Wulingyuan Scenic Area. Zhangjiajie is home to thousands of plant varieties that cover an estimated 98% of the total area. Among them are rare species of gingko, sequoia and Yunnan catalpa. The park also provides a rich homeland for hundreds of animal species, such as clouded leopard, tarpon, macaque, giant salamander, pangolin, and more. The park is best known for its amazing rock formations. Some three thousand craggy sandstone monoliths, in all shapes and sizes, create a forest of stone that shapes the land into a natural labyrinth. Eight hundred streams lace through the valley and all around there are springs and waterfalls.
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郴州 The city of CHENZHOU

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Tujia customs museum土家风情园

Zhangjiajie covers an area of 9,600 square kilometers, 1/1000 of China's territory, with a population of 1.54 million, 72.2 percent of which are ethnic ethnic groups such as Tujia, Miao, and Bai. A private Tujia family museum, Xinhua Shanguan, has been established in the city. Its buildings well represent traditional Tujia architecture. The museum is filled with the owner's collection of western Hunan handicrafts and furniture from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Performances of Tujia customs, including wedding ceremony, are presented at the museum, and visitors are invited to participate in the activities.

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The city of Changde 常德
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The city of Yiyang 益阳
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The city of Loudi 娄底

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The town of phoenix 湘西凤凰
'Feng Huang' is Chinese for 'Phoenix', the mythical bird of good omen and longevity that is consumed by fire to be re-born again from the flames. Feng Huang Cheng or Phoenix Town is so called as legend has it that two of these fabulous birds flew over it and found the town so beautiful that they hovered there, reluctant to leave.

The town is situated on the western boundary of Hunan Province in an area of outstanding natural beauty where mountains, water and blue skies prevail. Upon entering the town the visitor will be impressed by its air of mystery, elegance and primitive simplicity. This is a world that is dominated by the colour green. The mountain slopes are covered with green foliage, the fields are green and even the Tuo Jiang River reflects the greenery. The bridges over the water and unique houses built on stilts display a harmony that is so often portrayed in traditional Chinese paintings. This is particularly true when mist pervades the scene in the early morning or after rain. It soon becomes apparent that the claim to being one of the two most beautiful towns in the whole of China is more than justified; the other town is Chang Ting in Fujian Province.

Feng Huang Cheng is a wonderful example of what villages were like prior to the onset of modernization. Here dozens of alleys paved with flagstones run between the houses, each showing wear caused by the feet of generations of local people who have used them when going about their daily business. For the visitor, these alleys are the way to see the typical high gabled wooden houses built on stilts along the banks of the Tuo Jiang River at close quarters.

Stretching diagonally from the northwest to southeast of the town, Tuo Jiang River is a life force of the local people. Here in its waters women wash their clothes and the men fish with their nets, while on the bank food is prepared in much the same way as it has for centuries. The river also provides a means for boatmen to support their families by ferrying tourists up and down stream so that they may admire the many splendours of the town.
The Miao ethnic minority is predominantly settled here and a visit to a Miao village is a must when going to Feng Huang Cheng. The Miao women have a natural beauty that renders the use of cosmetics quite unnecessary. They love to dress in traditional blue garments set off with a white scarf. They love also their silver jewellery especially during festivals. Visitors will find a large array of hand made items of silver ornaments for sale in the local shops. Home made tie-dyes, printed and batik cloths are other local specialities that make wonderful souvenirs. The Miao are friendly and hospitable and like nothing more than to interact with visitors with a variety of traditional entertainments and activities. Food here also is different from that found elsewhere in China. Pickled red peppers are a particular local delicacy and their appetizing smell wafts from the many small family run restaurants.

Feng Huang Cheng was home to the versatile writer Shen Congwen (1902-88) who contributed greatly to the development of modern Chinese literature. Venerated by the local residents, the one time home and the tomb of this famous writer have become tourist attractions.

There are two other notable people from the town worthy of mention. The first is Xiong Xiling the famous philanthropist who was the first premier of the Republic of China (1921-49) following the fall of the Manchu. The other famous citizen is Huang Yongyu, an outstanding contemporary painter in the traditional Chinese style. His frescoes illustrating Buddhist stories in the Zhunti Nunnery are a major tourist attraction.

Feng Huang Cheng does not rely entirely upon natural beauty to attract the visitor for this ancient town with a history spanning 1300 years has a number of remarkable old gardens as well as distinctive residential buildings, elegant bridges and mysterious towers and pagodas. These architectural delights date from the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911). Those of special interest are the Wengchen Pavilion, Huang Si Qiao Castle, Tian Wang Temple, Da Cheng Hall, Chao Yang Palace, and the tomb of Shen Congwen and the residence of Xiong Xiling. Here too there are the North Gate and South Great Wall both excellent examples of municipal fortification.
In many ways, life has not changed here for centuries and this is typified by the tough, hard working yet simple-hearted people. Feng Huang Cheng offers the visitor from both home and abroad a view of a quite different China from anything experienced in the modern cities and large conurbations that are more widely known. We are sure that the opportunity to travel in such a picturesque region will be remembered as an experience of a lifetime.



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The city of Jishou 湘西吉首市
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The city of Juzhou 株州

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Emperor Yan Mausoleum 炎帝陵

Emperor Yan, or Mr. Shennong, one of the earliest ancestors of the Chinese nation, was the founder of the cultivating culture of the ancient China. He created farming with plough and taught other people; He invented medicines by tasting herbs; he made cloths with ramie; He established the first market for people to exchange goods; He sharpened the timber into arrows as the weapons. He died by mistakenly tasting gelsemium elegant and was buried in Luyuanpo, Tangtian Township, Yanling Country, Zhouzhou.
The Emperor Yan Mausoleum has always been called Royal Mountain since ancient times. It covers an area of 2.4 square kilometers. The grand halls of the mausoleum, with an area of 3000 square meters, are the holy place for the descendants of Emperors Yan and Huang at home and abroad to seek roots and worship their ancestors. An endless stream of pilgrims and tourists makes the mausoleum a hot spot in South Hunan.

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SOURCE：湖南城乡规划论坛。湖南在线华声论坛

a wrong in sichuan's city:never have a city named "Minzhong" in sichuan,this is city "Langzhong"!

有很多死链接，看不了图片了

怎么不保持更新

good job!! there is at least one world-class scenery in every china'e provice!!

Beijing in the first post looks sooo small...

Beijing in the first post looks sooo small...

That's a small west corner of the city

This is my first time visiting this thread..it is very IMPRESSIVE:applause:

Beijing Forbiden City

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Forbiden city satelite
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I met some new Chinese friends and they're here in the Philippines to study English. They stayed in our apartment for 2 weeks and they always cooked for us authentic Chinese food :D They've been teaching us Chinese words--very difficult to learn but it's fun:D Since then, I've been interested in learning anything about China :D

I met some new Chinese friends and they're here in the Philippines to study English. They stayed in our apartment for 2 weeks and they always cooked for us authentic Chinese food :D They've been teaching us Chinese words--very difficult to learn but it's fun:D Since then, I've been interested in learning anything about China :D


Welcome to Chinese forum

If you need help with anything about China, I am sure members here are willing to help :)

Hello ~~ I'm Vietnamese from USA just want to surf around in here..
Hi =)

Hello ~~ I'm Vietnamese from USA just want to surf around in here..
Hi =)

you are welcome.

hi ^_^..Ni Hao

sorry wrong thread

Great work.Dedicated posts! Keep rocking!

Very good article from the Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911u/china-nine-nations

___________________________________________________________________________________

The Nine Nations of China

Patrick Chovanec
NOVEMBER 5, 2009

This week, President Obama makes his first state visit to China. What kind of country will he find there? We tend to imagine China as a monolith: 1.3 billion people sharing the same language, history, and culture. The truth is far more interesting. China is a mosaic of several distinct regions, each with its own resources, dynamics, and historical character.

As a traveler, teacher, and professional investor who has been exploring China since 1986, I’ve come to think of these regions as the Nine Nations of China (inspired, in part, by Joel Garreau’s Nine Nations of North America). Taken individually, these “nations” would account for eight of the 20 most populous countries in the world.

As China’s economy becomes more integrated, these regional differences are taking on greater importance than ever before. Each of the Nine Nations faces a unique set of challenges and opportunities in carving out its own competitive niche. Anyone who wants to do business in China, make policy towards China, or simply comprehend the dramatic changes happening there should understand the Nine Nations and the role each of them is playing in shaping China’s future.

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THE RUST BELT

(Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang)
Territory: 801,553 km2 (8% of total)
Population: 109 million (8% of total)
Per Capita GDP: $3,724
Exports as % of GDP: 15%

Just over a century ago, northeast China—known to the outside world as Manchuria—was a wilderness of dark forests and frigid snow-swept plains. Its only inhabitants were a few hunting and fishing tribes. The foremost of these was the Manchu, which conquered and ruled China as its last imperial dynasty. The arrival of the Trans-Siberian Railroad in 1898 changed everything, unleashing a flood of migrants and pitting Russia against Japan in a battle to dominate the region. The Japanese prevailed, and in 1931, they made Manchuria part of their empire. They introduced industrial-scale farming and built mines, steel mills, and factories.

After the war, the Northeast (Dongbei in Chinese) was the first of the Nine Nations captured by the Communists, and the region became a bastion of state-owned heavy industry. Its workers were the socialist elite, enjoying cradle-to-grave benefits and an “iron rice bowl”—jobs guaranteed for life. But in the 1990s, market reform cut the legs out from under the planned economy. Obsolete, inefficient factories were forced to close, throwing 30 million blue-collar workers out in the cold. Once-proud Dongbei became the Chinese version of Flint, Michigan: a Rust Belt of decaying industries with no future.

The central government has launched a campaign to “Revive the Northeast,” but it will take more than ambitious blueprints to bring the Rust Belt back to life. The prospect of an implosion in neighboring North Korea is just one of many uncertainties clouding the region’s future. But the people here are survivors. Famous for their rustic manners and boisterous camaraderie—washed down with 120-proof grain alcohol—they embody the fiery spirit of the Dongbeihu, the Siberian tiger. Adapting that spirit to the 21st Century will require new ways of thinking. The port city of Dalian, for instance, is emerging as a business process outsourcing center aimed at the Japanese market. If Rust Belt residents notice the irony of inviting Japanese investors back to revive their former colony, they’re not saying it out loud.

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THE FRONTIER

(Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Tibet)
Territory: 5,205,114 km2 (54% of total)
Population: 86 million (6% of total) * 30% non-Han minorities
Per Capita GDP: $2,928
Exports as % of GDP: 9%

The land beyond the Great Wall has long captivated the Chinese with its aura of danger and romance. Wild Mongol horsemen, silk-laden caravans, and the inaccessible mysteries of Tibet offer a thrilling contrast to the regulated confines of Chinese life. But what really set this region apart are its vast open spaces. The Frontier comprises over half of China’s territory and just 6 percent of its population—a landmass and population density similar to the continental United States west of the Mississippi. Its desolate plateaus, scorching deserts, and snow-capped mountains resemble Nevada or Wyoming more than Beijing.

China’s frontier with Inner Asia has always had enormous strategic significance. For centuries, its overland caravan routes—the famous Silk Road—provided China’s richest trade link to the outside world, while its marauding nomads posed an ever-present threat to the Middle Kingdom. To secure control, China developed an extensive network of military colonies and prison work camps, not unlike Siberia’s gulag archipelago. The region’s trackless wastes hide many of China’s most sensitive military facilities. But the Frontier’s greatest strategic value lies in its largely untapped natural resources: oil and gas from the Tarim Basin and neighboring Central Asia; rich veins of nickel, copper, and coal; dairy and wind farms on the vast open grasslands; and vineyards that may someday produce world-class wines.

The key to unlocking these resources is the railroad. By bringing in settlers and connecting them with markets back east, the railroad is transforming China’s frontier beyond recognition. But like America’s Manifest Destiny, China’s “Go West” has a dark side. The natives of China’s frontier—the Mongols, Tibetans, and Muslim Uighurs—see their land and ways of life being swept away by a flood of Han Chinese immigrants. When their anger boils over into violence, as it did last year in Lhasa and this summer in Urumqi, the response is invariably swift and brutal. China’s West is being won, but what will be lost in the process?

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SHANGRI-LA

(Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi)
Territory: 810,690 km2 (8% of total)
Population: 132 million (10% of total) * 30% non-Han minorities
Per Capita GDP: $1,770
Exports as % of GDP: 6%

The legend of Shangri-La tells of an isolated valley high in the Himalayas, where paradise exists on earth. Local tourism officials claim to have located the real Shangri-La in southwest China, and millions of visitors every year seem to agree. This land is home to some of China’s most iconic and inspiring landscapes: emerald rice terraces, the fairy mountains of Guilin, the raging rapids of Tiger Leaping Gorge. It’s also home to a kaleidoscope of ethnic minorities, usually depicted as singing and dancing in colorful tribal costumes. Throw in a clear blue sky and some banana pancakes, and Shangri-La makes for a heavenly vacation.

Behind the postcard-perfect images, however, lies a darker reality. Cut off from the outside world by jagged mountains and primitive infrastructure, Shangri-La is the poorest of the Nine Nations. Before the Revolution, the region’s main cash crop was opium. Its replacement, tobacco, turned Shangri-La into the main supplier for China’s latest deadly addiction: cigarettes. Meanwhile, Shangri-La still borders Burma’s infamous Golden Triangle, making it China’s primary gateway for illicit drugs and the accompanying spread of HIV/AIDS, which the region’s overburdened health care system is unequipped to handle. The other mainstays of the local economy—logging, strip mining, and land-intensive crops such as sugarcane and rubber—have taken a heavy toll on the environment. All in all, hardly an image of paradise.

Despite these grave problems, Shangri-La possesses untapped resources. Its forests are home to over half of China’s birds and mammals, as well as thousands of rare plant species, some of which may hold the key to new medicines. The region’s lush hills and valleys—the original birthplace of tea—offer ideal conditions for growing tropical fruits, coffee, and flowers. The great lifelines of East Asia—the Yangtze, Salween, Irrawaddy, Mekong, and Red Rivers—all originate in Shangri-La, ensuring a plentiful supply of water for consumption and hydropower. New transport links are being built to expand China’s burgeoning trade with its ASEAN neighbors. None of these opportunities comes without challenges. But for long-suffering Shangri-La, each step closer to heaven is one step farther from hell.

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THE REFUGE

(Sichuan, Chongqing)
Territory: 569,800 km2 (6% of total)
Population: 110 million (8% of total)
Per Capita GDP: $2,303
Exports as % of GDP: 5%

Tucked deep in China’s interior, Sichuan is a rich agricultural basin the size of France, surrounded on all sides by a ring of nearly impassible mountains. These bamboo-covered slopes are home to the panda, its last refuge from a rapidly encroaching world. For man as well as beast, Sichuan has always been China's place of refuge. Throughout history it has served as a secure supply base for China’s rulers, and a place to retreat and regroup in times of invasion and unrest. In World War II, when Japan occupied all of coastal China, loyalist forces relocated their capital to the Refuge to carry on the fight. During the Cold War, vital industries were purposely located in its remote valleys to protect them from the enemy.

The Refuge is able to perform such a strategic role because it is virtually self-sufficient. The ancient lands of Shu (centered on Chengdu, to the west) and Ba (to the east, around Chongqing) have been blessed with every ingredient essential to Chinese life—rice, wheat, silk, tea, salt, iron, pork. Safe like a tortoise in its shell, the population here prefers a relaxed way of life, composing poetry in teahouses or savoring the region’s famously spicy food. This splendid isolation has a downside: the region attracts little foreign trade and investment—before last year’s devastating earthquake put Sichuan in the headlines, most people outside of China were hardly aware it existed. Brain drain is another chronic problem: the region’s most talented and motivated young people tend to leave, seeking better opportunities elsewhere.

Today, the barriers that have insulated the Refuge are breaking down. New ports, highways, and pipelines are connecting Sichuan to a wider marketplace, giving rise to promising new industries like natural gas, snack foods, and motorcycles, but also posing new challenges to the region’s sheltered way of life. How its people adapt to these changes will determine whether the Refuge prospers or becomes, like the panda, an endangered species.

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THE CROSSROADS

(Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan)
Territory: 707,124 km2 (7% of total)
Population: 226 million (17% of total)
Per Capita GDP: $2,402
Exports as % of GDP: 6%

All of the dynamics driving the first four nations converge in the Crossroads. The middle stretch of the Yangtze is a natural transportation and communications nexus. It is the heart of China, pumping the lifeblood of men and material to every other part along capillaries of water, road, and rail. Interrupt this heartbeat—as a freak snowstorm did last year when it hit the Crossroads during Lunar New Year—and the entire country can grind to a halt. But the region’s central strategic position has never translated into political power. Instead, it has always been a zone of competition among its stronger neighbors, a place for their rival armies to march and fight.

The wetlands along the Yangtze and its tributaries supply much of China's rice, fish and fowl, and the surrounding hills are rich in orchards above ground and minerals below. But nearly all of its resources—the electricity generated by the Three Gorge Dam, the copper mined to make electrical wiring—flow outward to fuel China’s more developed coastal provinces. The most important outflow is human. Along with the Refuge, the Crossroads supplies the vast majority of China’s migrant workers, a floating population of 150 million people.

Standing in the crosscurrents of so many comings and goings, the Crossroads functions not only as China’s physical heart but as its emotional heartland as well. When migrants return home, they bring back ideas and experiences from every part of China, which mix and recirculate through the entire body. It helps that the inhabitants of Chu—as the Crossroads was called in ancient times—have long been known for their strong passions and fierce loyalties. It is no coincidence that the popular uprisings that began both the Nationalist and Communist revolutions happened here, or that many of China’s leading reformists and revolutionaries, including Mao, rank among its native sons. But while many things begin in the Crossroads, few ever reach their fruition there.

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THE YELLOW LAND

(Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi)
Territory: 906,243 km2 (9% of total)
Population: 359 million (27% of total)
Per Capital GDP: $3,855
Exports as % of GDP: 16%

China was born on the banks of the Yellow River, where the silt-laden water, rich alluvial soil, and the harvested wheat all share the same yellow hue. This is China’s breadbasket where buns, dumplings, and noodles, rather than rice, are standard fare. But the fertile Yellow Land is vulnerable to droughts and floods, as well as jealous invaders. Since ancient times, its inhabitants have turned to a strong central government to keep them safe behind high walls and embankments. In ancient times, the emperor’s yellow robes symbolized his absolute command over the natural forces—earth, water, grain—that ensure life.

Ruling the Yellow Land is a delicate balancing act. On its own, the Yellow Land would rank as the second most populous nation on earth, with more people than the United States packed into less than one tenth the territory. Its resources, while plentiful, are stretched to the limit. The Yellow Land produces huge quantities of basic staples like wheat, cotton, and peanuts, but is rapidly running short of water. It has rich energy reserves, but over-dependence on coal accounts for some of the world’s worst air pollution.

One resource this “nation” never lacks is clout. For most of China’s history, the Yellow Land has been the center of political power. It can attract talent on a massive scale, giving it immense influence. China’s leaders hope these advantages can turn Beijing into a high-tech research hub and transform a select handful of state-sponsored companies like Lenovo and Haier into “national champions” that can dominate global markets. But the heavy hand of the government can be stifling here. Can the Yellow Land leverage its power to open up new opportunities? Or will a region that fears innovation inevitably fall behind?

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THE METROPOLIS

(Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang)
Territory: 216,008 km2 (2% of total)
Population: 147 million (11% of total)
Per Capita GDP: $6,406
Exports as % of GDP: 58%

Sleek, stylish, confident—Shanghai certainly makes an impression. Its steel skyscrapers look like rocket ships ready to blast off into the future, taking China along with it. Shanghai is a very young city by Chinese standards, but the Yangtze River delta—known in ancient times as the kingdom of Wu—has always been the most commercial and cosmopolitan part of China. Like the Low Countries at the mouth of the Rhine, it is a flat watery land crisscrossed by busy canals linking a constellation of trading cities. The Back Door may succeed in breaking the rules, but only the Metropolis has the wealth and dynamism to entirely reshape them. Its treasure fleets nearly discovered Europe a century before Columbus sailed, and of the Nine Nations, it is the only one to have displaced the Yellow Land—several times—as China’s political capital.

The Metropolis likes to see itself as China’s bright and beckoning future, but the feelings it stirs in other parts of China are decidedly mixed. While its residents see themselves as adaptable and forward-thinking, to many Chinese they come across as arrogant city-slickers—cliquish, crassly materialistic, and slavishly eager to mimic foreign ways. Shanghai had a pre-war reputation as a neon-lit version of Sodom and Gomorrah, and when China was “Red,” the Metropolis paid dearly for its “Black” capitalist past. Consigned to purgatory for over 40 years, the region bore the brunt of the Cultural Revolution and was starved for development funds—essentially frozen in time—until the early 1990s.

The rebirth of the Metropolis did not take place on its own terms. It was the result of a political decision, made in Beijing, to transform the region into a carefully designed showcase of what China could achieve. The state has poured tremendous resources into industrial parks, infrastructure, and Shanghai’s glittering new financial district, attracting huge amounts of foreign direct investment. But this subsidized, scale-driven growth model—where bigger is always better—makes for an economy dangerously prone to speculation. The best hope for the Metropolis lies not in ever-greater capacity and ever-taller buildings but in smaller, nimbler, entrepreneurial enterprises that draw on the region’s distinctive flair for marketing, design, and fashion.

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THE STRAITS

(Fujian, Taiwan)
Territory: 160,313 km2 (2% of total)
Population: 59 million (4% of total)
Per Capita GDP: $9,432
Exports as % of GDP: 30%

The 110-mile strait separating Taiwan from China's mainland is one of the world's great flashpoints. So it may seem surprising that the two provinces on either side comprise a single “nation.” In fact, Fujian and Taiwan are like twins separated at birth—linked by heritage, divided by destiny. Fujian has always looked to the sea. Like the ancient Greeks, its inhabitants turned their backs on their rocky soil, venturing out to fish and trade with distant shores. They established colonies all over Southeast Asia, a far-flung network based on dialect and kinship that thrives to this day. Since such voyages were often prohibited by the emperor, the region’s mariners became skilled smugglers. Today, Fujian remains the center of a worldwide traffic in smuggled Chinese immigrants.

For centuries, Chinese seafarers largely ignored Taiwan, whose fetid rainforests seemed to harbor little more than headhunters and pirate lairs. But a major rebellion persuaded Chinese officials to annex the island in 1683. Settlers from Fujian cleared the jungle to plant rice, sugar, and tea in the fertile volcanic soil, bringing their Min dialect and their worship of Matsu, goddess of the sea. But unity with China was not to last. In 1895, a resource-hungry Japan seized Taiwan as a colony. It was returned after the World War II, only to be cut off once again by the tides of revolution.

The Cold War is over, but the Straits remain divided, perhaps more than ever before. Recent democratic reforms have awakened a new sense of identity among the Taiwanese, many of whom desire complete independence. China has made it clear that such a move would mean a war. But China’s efforts to attract Taiwanese investment, to Fujian in particular, have not gone unrewarded. The Straits may be the smallest of the Nine Nations, but this region is the richest in China, and its two economies have grown increasingly intertwined. Like magnets, Fujian and Taiwan alternately attract and repel each other, pulled together by economic opportunity, pushed apart by identity and ideology. Which of these trends will prevail remains to be seen, but the answer will have a profound impact on China’s future.

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THE BACK DOOR

(Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong, Hainan)
Territory: 231,963 km2 (2% of total)
Population: 112 million (8% of total)
Per Capita GDP: $6,910
Exports as % of GDP: 82%

In Chinese, the “back door” refers to a way of doing business outside the normal, approved channels. The South Sea coast is China’s Back Door, far enough from the centers of power that nobody will notice if you bend a few rules. As locals put it, “The sky is broad and the emperor is far away.” Officials who were exiled to Yueh, as this land was once known, found it a fearful place whose inhabitants spoke strange dialects—Cantonese, mainly—and feasted on snakes, cats, and monkeys. But its clan-based villages, lush jungles, and rocky inlets offered ideal shelter for smugglers and secret societies to flourish. Unlike their staid northern cousins, these freebooters learned to take risks and profit from them. Other Chinese regard southerners as clever, sharp, and a bit slippery. But as rebels and renegades, emigrants and entrepreneurs, they infuse much needed flexibility and creativity into an otherwise rigid system.

The Back Door might be troublesome to China’s rulers, but it has also been useful. When China was closed to the outside world, enclaves like Canton, Macau, and Hong Kong offered safely removed points of contact and exchange. So when Deng Xiaoping wanted to open China’s economy to trade and investment, the Back Door offered an ideal laboratory. If reforms failed, they could be disowned and contained without contaminating the rest of China. In fact, they succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest expectations, transforming the region into an export juggernaut and a model for the rest of China.

The Back Door’s very success, however, poses a dilemma. Now that the rest of China has applied its example, is a laboratory really necessary? The region may have found a new purpose as a playground for Chinese tourists who gamble in Macau’s casinos, frolic at Hainan’s beach resorts, and ride the rides at Hong Kong’s new Disneyland. But there are others who think the experiment isn’t over, that the Back Door still has vital lessons to teach about democracy and rule of law. Perhaps China still needs a few rebels—at a safe distance, of course.

Scion, your posts are very informative :okay:

^^ Thanks, but I didn't write them, they are from the article from the Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911u/china-nine-nations

Excellent articles, Scion. At first I thought you wrote them then what a brilliant and professional writer you are! Anyhow thank you very much for such informative efforts.

I love this article. Excellent.

The Back Door might be troublesome to China’s rulers, but it has also been useful. When China was closed to the outside world, enclaves like Canton, Macau, and Hong Kong offered safely removed points of contact and exchange. So when Deng Xiaoping wanted to open China’s economy to trade and investment, the Back Door offered an ideal laboratory. If reforms failed, they could be disowned and contained without contaminating the rest of China. In fact, they succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest expectations, transforming the region into an export juggernaut and a model for the rest of China.

The Back Door’s very success, however, poses a dilemma. Now that the rest of China has applied its example, is a laboratory really necessary? The region may have found a new purpose as a playground for Chinese tourists who gamble in Macau’s casinos, frolic at Hainan’s beach resorts, and ride the rides at Hong Kong’s new Disneyland. But there are others who think the experiment isn’t over, that the Back Door still has vital lessons to teach about democracy and rule of law. Perhaps China still needs a few rebels—at a safe distance, of course.

I'm a Hong Kong native, but I never knew that Hong Kong is the "back door" of China. :)

^^ yeah, ive always seen Hong Kong as the entry into China, a bit like a gate way, much like when people in taipei used HK enroute to the mainland and vice versa

I'm a Hong Kong native, but I never knew that Hong Kong is the "back door" of China. :)

That is just one man's opinion..not a fact :)

I don't like the way he/she puts it like that...Gansu wasn't a frontier as well as parts of Inner Mongol, Ningxia and Qinghai lol and HK+Guangdong certainly isn't back-door.

great thread very interesting! ;)

Understanding China

The West has gotten it wrong on China for decades -- even as it embraces a market economy, it has shunned Western-style freedoms. And its power is only growing.

By Martin Jacques

Los Angeles Times
November 22, 2009

The dynamics of President Obama's trip to China were markedly different from those evident on visits made by President Clinton and President George W. Bush. This time the Chinese made clear that they were unwilling even to discuss issues such as human rights or free speech. Why? The relationship between the countries has changed: America feels weak and China strong in their bilateral ties. This is not a temporary shift that will reverse itself once the U.S. has escaped from its mountain of debt. Rather, it is the expression of a deep and progressive shift in the balance of power between the two nations, one that is giving the Chinese -- though studiously cautious in their approach -- a rising sense of self-confidence.

Nor should we be surprised by the Chinese response. They may have appeared more conciliatory on previous visits by American leaders, but that was largely decorative. The Chinese have a powerful sense of their identity and worth. They have never behaved toward the West in a supplicant manner, for reasons Westerners persistently fail to understand or grasp.

Ever since the Nixon-Mao rapprochement, and through the various iterations of the Sino-American relationship over the subsequent almost four decades, there has been an overriding belief in the West that eventually China would become like us: that, for example, a market economy would lead to democratization and that a free media was inevitable. This hubristic outlook is deeply flawed, but it still prevails, albeit with small cracks of self-doubt starting to appear.

The issue here is much deeper than Western-style democracy, a free media or human rights. China is simply not like the West and never will be. There has been an underlying assumption that the process of modernization would inevitably lead to Westernization; yet modernization is not just shaped by markets, competition and technology but by history and culture. And Chinese history and culture are very different from that of any Western nation-state.

If we want to understand China, this must be our starting point.

The West's failure to understand the Chinese has repeatedly undermined its ability to anticipate their behavior. Again and again, our predictions and beliefsabout China have proved wrong: that the Chinese Communist Party would fall after 1989, that the country would divide, that its economic growth could not be sustained, that its growth figures were greatly exaggerated, that China was not sincere about its offer of "one country two systems" at the time of the hand-over of Hong Kong from Britain -- and, of course, that it would steadily Westernize. We have a long track record of getting China wrong.

The fundamental reason for our inability to accurately predict China's future is our failure to understand its past. Although China has described itself as a nation-state for the last century, it is in essence a civilization-state. The longest continually existing polity in the world, it dates to 221 BC and the victory of the Qin. Unlike Western nation-states, China's sense of identity comes from its long history as a civilization-state.

Of course, there are many civilizations -- Western civilization is one example -- but China is the only civilization-state. It is defined by its extraordinarily long history and also its huge geographic and demographic scale and diversity. The implications are profound: Unity is its first priority, plurality the condition of its existence (which is why China could offer Hong Kong "one country two systems," a formula alien to a nation-state).

The Chinese state enjoys a very different kind of relationship with society compared with the Western state. It enjoys much greater natural authority, legitimacy and respect, even though not a single vote is cast for the government. The reason is that the state is seen by the Chinese as the guardian, custodian and embodiment of their civilization. The duty of the state is to protect its unity. The legitimacy of the state therefore lies deep in Chinese history. This is utterly different from how the state is seen in Western societies.

If we are to understand China, we must move beyond the compass of Western reality and experience and the body of concepts that has grown up to explain that history. We find this extremely difficult. For 200 years the West, first in the shape of Europe and then the United States, has dominated the world and has not been required to understand others or The Other. If need be it could always bully the latter into submission.

The emergence of China as a global power marks the end of that era. We now have to deal with The Other -- in the form of China -- on increasingly equal terms.

China, moreover, is possessed, like the West, with its own form of universalism. It long believed that it was "the land under heaven," the center of the world, superior to all other cultures. That sense of self, which has engendered a powerful self-confidence, has been persistently evident over the last 40 years, but with China's rise, it is becoming more apparent as the country's sense of achievement and restoration gains pace. Or to put it another way, when the presidents of China and the United States meet in Beijing in 2019, with the Chinese economy fast approaching the size of the American economy, we can be sure that the Chinese sense of hubris will be far stronger than in 2009.

But long before that, we need to try and understand what China is and how it behaves. If we don't, then relations between China and the United States will never move beyond the polite and the formal -- and that will be a bad omen for the future relationship between the two countries.

Martin Jacques is the author of "When China Rules the World: the End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-jacques22-2009nov22,0,6682428.story

^^ The article has been written as if the west is some good old teacher to a young primary school lad who has gone haywire and she is unable to understand his misbehaviour. She is trying her level best to put him in the right path, but sadly he is disobidient and messed up and finally tries to understand his problem and his life to make sense of his crazed behaviour .

The worst part is we are ready to accept such absurd prejudices as critical unbiased news reporting

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