China

ABriefIntroductiontoChina--GeographyandHistoryMountEverest中国全景中国的全称是中华人民共和国，首都在北京，陆地总面积为960万平方公里，是世界上面积最大的国家之一。ThePeople’sRepublicofChinaisthefullofficialnameofChina,whosecapitalisBeijing.Ithasalandareaofabout9.6millionsquarekilometersanditisoneofthelargestcountriesinlandsizeinthewholeworld.PanoramicView中国位于亚洲东部、太平洋的西岸，陆地边界长达2万余千米，东邻朝鲜，北邻蒙古人民共和国，东北和西北与俄罗斯、哈萨克斯坦接壤，西和西南邻阿富汗、巴基斯坦、印度、尼泊尔、锡金和不丹，南邻缅甸、老挝和越南。ChinaislocatedinEastAsia,onthewesternshoresofthePacificOcean.Ithasacontinentallandboundaryofmorethan20,000kilometersandadjoinsKoreaintheeast,thePeople’sRepublicofMongoliainthenorth,RussiaandKazakhstaninthenortheastandnorthwest,Afghanistan,Pakistan,India,Nepal,SikkimandBhutaninthewestandsouthwestandBurma,LaosandVietnaminthesouth.大陆海岸线长达18000余千米，隔着大海，跟日本、菲律宾、马来西亚、印度尼西亚以及文莱等国家和地区遥遥向望。Thecontinentalcoastlineismorethan18,000kilometerslongandlooksacrosstheseastowardsJapan,thePhilippines,Malaysia,IndonesiaandBrunei.中国西部有世界上最高的山脉和高原，丘陵、山脉和高原占国土面积的66%以上。Over66%ofChinaisuplandhill,mountainsandplateauswhilethehighestmountainsandplateausarefoundtothewest.青藏高原是世界上最高最大的高原，素有世界屋脊之称。喜马拉雅山脉的珠穆朗玛峰位于中国和尼泊尔边界，海拔8848.13米，是世界上最高的山峰。TheQinghai-TibetPlateauisthehighestandlargestplateauwhichiscommonlyknowasthe“roofoftheworld”.QomolangmaintheHimalayasMountainsislocatedontheborderbetweenChinaandNepal,beingtheworld’shighestpeak,havinganelevationof8848.13meters.中国目前的主要行政划分包括4个直辖市、23个省、5个自治区，香港和澳门被划为特别行政区。ThemainadministrativedivisioninChinatodayarethefourmunicipalitiesdirectlyunderthecentralgovernment,thetwenty-threeprovincesandthefiveautonomousregions.HongKongandMacaoarethetwoSpecialAdministrativeRegions.长江长江，也称扬子江，长6300千米，是中国第一长河，世界第三长长河。它发源于青海省的唐古拉山脉。ThelongestriverinChina,andthethirdlongestriverintheworld,isthe6300-kilometer-longChangjiang,morecommonlyknowintheWestastheYangtzeRiver.TheChangjiangRiverrisesintheTanggulaMountainsofQinghaiProvince.TheChangjiangRiver/YangtzeRiver长江是中国的生命线。它流经10个省市，有700多条支流，流域面积为180余万平方公里，占中国陆地总面积的19%。长江流经中国的主要工业区，形成华南人口密度最大的三角洲。TheYangtzeRiverisChina’slifeline.Theriverflowsthroughtenprovinces,withover700tributaries,coversanareaof1.8millionkm,whichis19percentofthetotallandareaofChina.TheriverflowsthroughthemajorindustrializedareainChina,andformsthemostdenselypopulateddelta.黄河黄河是中国第二大河，发源于中国西部的巴颜克拉山脉，南北迂回，长达5464千米。向东注入大海，流域面积为745000余平方千米，养育着1.2亿人口。古代中国的文化就发源于黄河流域的中部。黄河是世界上泥沙沉积最严重的河流，因其河水终年呈黄褐色而得名。TheYellowRiverHuangheRiver,ortheYellowRiveristhesecondlongestriverinChina.Originatedinthenation’sfarwest,itloopsnorth,andbendssouth,andfloweastfor5,464kmuntilitemptiesintothesea,drainingabasinof745,000km,nourishingsome120millionpeople.Thousandsofyearsago,Chinesecivilizationemergedfromthecentralregionofthisbasin.Asthemostheavilysilt-ladenriverintheworld,theYellowRivergotitsnamefromthemuddinessofitswater.HistoryChinesecivilizationoriginatedinvariousregionalcentersalongboththeYellowRiverandtheYangtzeRivervalleysintheNeolithicera,buttheYellowRiverissaidtobetheCradleofChineseCivilization.ThewrittenhistoryofChinacanbefoundasearlyastheShangDynasty(ca.1700BC–ca.1046BC).OracleboneswithancientChinesewritingfromtheShangDynastyhavebeenradiocarbondatedtoasearlyas1500BC.TheoriginsofChineseculture,literatureandphilosophydevelopedduringtheZhouDynasty(1045BC-256BC).TheZhouDynastybegantobowtoexternalandinternalpressuresinthe8thcenturyBC.TheabilityoftheZhoutocontrolitsregionallordslessened,andthekingdomeventuallybrokeapartintosmallerstates,beginningintheSpringandAutumnPeriodandreachingfullexpressionintheWarringStatesperiod.In221BC,QinShiHuangunitedthevariouswarringkingdomsandcreatedthefirstChineseempire.SuccessivedynastiesinChinesehistorydevelopedbureaucraticsystemsthatenabledtheEmperorofChinatodirectlycontrolvastterritories.TheconventionalviewofChinesehistoryisthatofalternatingperiodsofpoliticalunityanddisunity,withChinaoccasionallybeingdominatedbyInnerAsianpeoples,mostofwhomwereinturnassimilatedintotheHanChinesepopulation.CulturalandpoliticalinfluencesfrommanypartsofAsia,carriedbysuccessivewavesofimmigration,expansion,andculturalassimilation,arepartofthemoderncultureofChina.TimelineofChina1Prehistory1.1Paleolithic1.2Neolithic2Ancientera2.1XiaDynasty(ca.2100-ca.1600BC)2.2ShangDynasty(ca.1700-1046BC)2.3ZhouDynasty(1066-256BC)2.4SpringandAutumnPeriod(722-476BC)2.5WarringStatesPeriod(476-221BC)3Imperialera3.1QinDynasty(221-206BC)3.2HanDynasty(202BC–AD220)3.3WeiandJinPeriod(AD265–420)3.4WuHuPeriod(AD304–439)3.5SouthernandNorthernDynasties(AD420–589)3.6SuiDynasty(AD589–618)3.7TangDynasty(AD618–907)3.8FiveDynastiesandTenKingdoms(AD907–960)3.9Song,Liao,Jin,andWesternXiaDynasties(AD960–1234)3.10YuanDynasty(AD1271–1368)3.11MingDynasty(AD1368–1644)3.12QingDynasty(AD1644–1911)4Modernera4.1RepublicofChina4.21949toPresentXiaDynasty(ca.2100-ca.1600BC)TheXiaDynastyofChina(fromca.2100BCto1600BC)isthefirstdynastytobedescribedinancienthistoricalrecords.Althoughthereisdisagreementastowhetherthedynastyactuallyexisted,thereissomearchaeologicalevidencepointingtoitspossibleexistence.ShangDynasty(ca.1700-1