Browse listings of B&B, Home Exchange, Vacation Rentals (furnished apartments, villas, cottages, condos, farmhouses and other types of accommodations) of China:
Last Minute Tips Before you Travel to China
- Time Zone: GMT/UTC +8
- Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz (bring an adapter/transformer for your hair drier, laptop, cellullar phone etc.)
- Currency: Renminbi ('People's Money') (Y)
- Country Dialing Code: 86
Must See - Properties on UNESCO World Heritage List by
- Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
- Mogao Caves
- Mount Taishan
- Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian
- The Great Wall
- Mount Huangshan
- Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area
- Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area
- Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area
- Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains
- Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa
- Mountain Resort and its Outlying Temples, Chengde
- Temple and Cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion in Qufu
- Lushan National Park
- Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area
- Ancient City of Ping Yao
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou
- Old Town of Lijiang
- Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing
- Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing
- Dazu Rock Carvings
- Mount Wuyi
- Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui – Xidi and Hongcun
- Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
- Longmen Grottoes
- Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System
- Yungang Grottoes
- Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas
- Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient Koguryo Kingdom
- Historic Centre of Macao
China
Location
Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Capital
Beijing
Population
1,306,313,812 (July 2005 est.)
Regions
23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5 autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular and plural)
: provinces: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
: autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet)
: municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin
note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau
Climate
extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Ethnic groups
Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%
Religions
Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4%
note: officially atheist (2002 est.)
Languages
Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages (see Ethnic groups entry)
Government type
Communist state
Background
For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.
Visitor's Impressions
If you would like to share your experiences of traveling to China or to other countries, please send us your article and we will gladly post it at this site.
