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China

ARRIVAL GUIDE

GEOGRAPHY

China is situated in eastern Asia, on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. It has a total area of 9.6 million square km. China's territory stretches about 5,000 km from east to west, or a total of 60 degrees of longitude. From north to south, the distance is about 5,500 km, or about 50 degrees of latitude. China's land boundary is 22,800 km long, including a coastline of 18,000 km. In China's vast sea territory, there are 6,536 islands and island groups. Hainan Island has an area of 34,380 square km.

POPULATION

China is the most populous country in the world. The census taken on April 11, 1989, showed the population of the Chinese mainland had exceeded 1.1 billion. In China's 432 cities, the urban population totals over 300 million. Promotion of a birth control program among the people is a fundamental policy of the nation, and the "one-child per family" is encouraged.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION

Confucius Picture
"It is a pleasure to have friends coming from afar". Confucius

Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China. The nation is divided into 23 provinces, five autonomous regions and three municipalities directly under the central government (Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin). There are altogether 2,800 counties (including cities and districts under the jurisdiction of a city).

NATIONALITIES

China has long been a unified multi-national nation. There are 56 nationalities. Apart from the majority Han people, there are 55 minority nationalities, including the Mongolian, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Koran and Manchu Peoples. Article 4 of China's Constitution stipulates: "All nationalities in the People's Republic of China are equal. The state protects the lawful rights and interests of the minority nationalities and upholds and develops the relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all of China's nationalities.

RELIGIONS

The so-called three great religions of the world - Buddhism, Islam and Christianity - all find their adherents in China, though a great number of people are non-believers. Buddhism is the most prevalent religion, which originated in China, and has followers mainly among the Han nationality. The state protects the freedom of religious beliefs of its citizens.

EDUCATION

China's school enrollment at all levels amounts to over 180 million. The country's 1,075 colleges and universities have a total enrollment of over 2 million students.

HEALTH

China has over 205,988 medical institutions with some 2.5 million beds and over 4.6 million medical personnel. Employees in government offices and state-run enterprises, members of the People's Liberation Army and students of higher education institutions all enjoy free medical care. A cooperative medical system operates widely in rural areas.

Table 1 - Distances In China - Kilometers (Km)
  Beijing
Beijing -- Shanghai
Shanghai 1462 -- Tianjin
Tianjin 137 1325 -- Guangzhou
Guangzhou 2313 1811 2450 -- Nanning
Nanning 2565 2063 2702 1334 -- Changsha
Changsha 1587 1187 1724 726 978 -- Shaoshan
Shaoshan 1718 1216 1855 755 1007 131 -- Wuchang
Wuchang 1229 1534 1366 1084 1336 358 489 -- Nanjing
Nanjing 1157 305 1020 2116 2368 1492 1521 1229 -- Wuxi
Wuxi 1334 128 1197 1939 2191 1315 1344 1406 177 -- Suzhou
Suzhou 1376 86 1239 1897 2149 1273 1302 1448 219 42 -- Hangzhou
Hangzhou 1651 189 1514 1622 1874 998 1027 1356 494 317 275 --
Jinan 494 968 357 2284 2536 1558 1689 1200 663 840 882 1157
Quingdao 887 1361 750 2677 2929 1951 2082 1593 1056 1233 1275 1550
Xi'an 1165 1511 1302 2129 2381 1403 1534 1045 1206 1383 1425 1700
Kunming 3179 2677 3316 2216 1501 1592 1503 1950 2982 2805 2763 2488
Chengdu 2048 1353 2185 2544 1839 1920 1831 1887 2048 2225 2267 2542
Chongqing 2552 2501 2689 2040 1325 1416 1327 1774 2552 2729 2771 2312
Zhengzhou 695 1000 832 1618 1870 892 1023 534 695 872 914 1189
Shijiazhuang 283 1266 420 2030 2282 1304 1435 946 961 1138 1180 1455
Dalian 1238 2426 1101 3551 3808 2825 2956 2467 2121 2298 2340 2615
Shenyang 841 2029 704 3154 3406 2428 2559 2070 1724 1901 1943 2218
Changchun 1146 2334 1009 3459 3711 2733 2864 2375 2029 2206 2248 2523
Harbin 1388 2576 1251 3701 3953 2975 3106 2617 2271 2448 2490 2769

Mandarin Phrases