Country Facts
Location: Eastern Asia
Size: Slightly smaller than the US
Population: 1,321,851,888 (July 2007 est.)
Climate: Extremely diverse; tropical in south to sub artic in north.
Ethinic Group: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%
Language: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect),
Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages
Religions: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2% note: officially atheist (2002 est.)
Literacy total population: 90.9%
Unemployment rate: 4.2% official registered unemployment in urban areas in 2005; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2005)
Population below poverty line: 10% (2004 est.)
Government: Communist state
Economy (Agriculture & Industry):
Economy: rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, apples, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish
Mining and ore processing, metals, machine building, weapons, textiles and apparel, consumer products, transportation equipment, telecommunications equipment, commercial space launch vehicles, satellites.
Currency Yuan, also referred to as Renminbi
Culture
Family life:
• The extended family is the basis of Chinese family life. In urban areas, housing units are small and can only accommodate a nuclear family. Family members usually live close together and continue to care for and help each other.
• Unmarried adult children, unless they are assigned their own quarters, remain at home until married.
• Chinese seniors are revered for their wisdom and experience and are usually cared for by their families; some urban seniors with good pensions may move into seniors' residences.
• In rural areas, houses are larger. Family members work together as a team, and commonly several generations live under one roof. Every member, young or old, contributes to the family's welfare. Recent agricultural reforms have brought more wealth to rural dwellers. Many new houses dot the countryside and those who can afford to now sometimes live separately from their parents or children. Increasing unemployment has also compelled people to urban centres.
• Women's lives have changed dramatically since the establishment of a communist government. Traditionally, Chinese women were expected to be delicate and submissive, resigned to dependence. Communist policies gave women equal rights and equal protection. Both urban and rural women work outside the home, many doing jobs that were previously done by men. At home, women are mostly treated as equal partners by their husbands, who help with housework and cooking. Although these changes have been less profound in the countryside and many patriarchal values persist, the position of rural women has greatly improved.
• In 1979, the government introduced a one-child-per-family policy to control China's population explosion. Because many families-especially in the countryside-want a male child, some families pay high fines to have extra children; in addition, there continues to be an increase in abortion and infanticide of girl children. In urban areas, however, the policy has been extremely successful; people have been willing to forego having more children to ensure a better standard of living.
Food: Chinese cuisine is incredibly diverse. Over 2,000 years ago, the Chinese were printing cook books, importing ingredients, dining in restaurants and developing sophisticated cooking techniques to highlight the taste of the wide variety of available foodstuffs. There are over 100 terms simply to specify differences in applying heat to foods.
Chinese people are fond of fresh food and prefer to shop almost daily. When both parents work, bought or pre-cooked foods are the norm, especially for breakfast. Lunch is usually eaten in work or school canteens, where cooked food is always available. Dinner is the main family meal, in which people share several dishes at a round table.
Sports: Table tennis, basketball and soccer are the most popular sports in China. Arts For centuries, painting, writing and collecting antiquities were considered cultured activities in China.
• The highest form of visual art has traditionally been calligraphy, the art of writing Chinese characters-an art form with no equivalent in the West
• One of the most well-known contemporary Chinese arts is filmmaking.
Holidays
• January 1 Solar New Year
• January/February Lunar (Chinese) New Year
• March 8 International Women's Day (women only)
• May 1 International Labour Day
• May 4 Youth Day (ages 14-20)
• June 1 International Children's Day (children under 13)
• July 1 Birthday of the Communist Party
• August 1 Army Day
• October 1 National Day
