Today, there is a very popular song in China starting with "there was a dragon in ancient East, and her name was China."[1] The song is not only loved by the Chinese people at home, but also popular among the overseas Chi-nese worldwide. The dragon was the totem of the ancient Chinese people, and all the Chinese in modern world still regard themselves as the descendants of the dragons.
China is a land of abundance. Pleasant climate, fertile soil and vast expanses of grassland and forests have created favorable living environment for the Chinese people and paved way for China's social, economic and cultural prosperity. Ancient China in the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-AD 220) and Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279), when the country saw flourishing economy and peaceful society, was the world's No.1 power at the time.
However, it has to be stressed that the Chinese civilization has its distinctive features when compared to the world's other ancient civilizations like Nile civilization, Mesopota-mian civilization and Indus civilization.
The Chinese civilization has an incessant history of more than 5,000 years. The standardized Chinese characters de-veloped 2,000 years ago are slightly different from those that are used today, which is indeed a cultural wonder.
China has always been a highly unified country no matter how many feudal dynasties existed within the Chinese terri-tory, which has been the basic feature of the Chinese history.
The Confucianism, established by Confucius over 2,000 years ago, advocates such concepts as “benevolence' means loving your fellow men," "peace is valued" and "harmony between the heaven and human" that are still cherished to-day and even draw worldwide attention.
The presence of the said virtues is greatly ascribed to Chi-na's unique geographical environment.
Geographically speaking, China is situated in the east of the Eurasian Continent, the world's largest continent, and the Pacific Ocean, the world's biggest ocean, lies to the east of the country. Despite a part of the Eurasian Continent, it has unsmooth transport connections with the rest of the con-tinent. Adjacent to the thousands-of kilometers-long Taiga Forest in the north, China faces vast and sparsely populated desert in the west and towering mountains in the southwest. Tibetan Palaua the world's highest patau, and Himalayay, the world's highest mountain, constitute a natural barrier that separates China from South Asia Sub-Continent.[2]
Several significant events of communication between the east and the west once appeared in history. For instance, Zhang Qian of the Western Han Dynasty(206 BC- AD 25) visited the Western Regions; Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) made his way to the West for Buddhist scriptures; The Italian named Marco Polo traveled around China in the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368); And Zheng He led seven expedi- tions to what the Chinese called "the Western Ocean" (Indian Ocean) during the rule of Emperor Chengzu (1403-1424). of the Ming Dynasty Such connections with the West, however, were few due to geographical conditions. For the Western people, China has always been located in the so-called "re - mote East" and is a nation shrouded in mystery.
The relatively independent and closed geographical envi-ronment of China serves as barriers that keep itself from the intrusion of other alien powers. This further helped shape a unique culture that is lasting and quite different from those of the Western nations.
But the separation gave rise to closed minds in the past.
Nowadays, China has actively adopted the opening-up policy, welcoming all the foreigners who want to come to China and all forms of foreign capital and technologies. In the meantime, China strives to go international as well.
Knowing China's geography is a must for those who de-sire to know China. This pamphlet about China's geography is designed to introduce all the geographical sections of China and their respective geographical facts to those who are willing to know China. When finishing this book, you will get fresh, all-ided knowledge about China, the country in the "remote East."
[1] Most sections of the Gireat Wall we see today were built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and located in northern China. The photo shows the Great Wall at Jiankou section in Beijing.
[2] Pit No.1 of Emperor Qinshihuang's Terracotta Warriors and Horses, where more than 1,000 pieces of terracotta warriors, horses and chariots were unearthed. The photo shows a rectangle army of infantry.