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t: 01209 211 800
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History of China
With a history that dates back to the Xia period of 2200/1750 BC, China has cultural heritage unequalled by any other civilization. Dominated by the various feudal dynasties from 2200 BC through to the early 1900’s AD, including Mongolian control from 1279 to 1368 and Manchu control from 1644 to 1911, the Chinese people can boast the fabulous terracotta warriors of Xi’an (2200 yrs old), the Great Wall of China, stretching from Shangaiguan in the east, to Jiayugan in the west, covering eight provinces, whose origins go back to a period before the first Emperor, Qinshihuang, and the monumental Forbidden City, home to the Emperors, at the heart of Beijing, amongst its national treasures.
Republican China from 1911 to 1949 put an end to the feudal monarchies of the previous centuries, and was in turn replaced in the 1950’s by the People’s Republic of China, led by Chairman Mao. In the 1970’s Deng Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-orientated economic development and by the year, 2000 output had quadrupled.
A vast country, with a rich heritage and a history that dates back to 2200 BC, China is complex, vast, dynamic and mesmerising. It’s main borders are with North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Laos and Vietnam and it’s cultural and geographical diversity reflect the contrasting peoples and landscapes involved. China occupies a large part of eastern Asia, some 9.6 million square kilometres, and is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the east.
The northern and southern regions experience very different weather conditions, the western Quinghai-Tibet Plateau is covered by snow all year round, the southern Yunan-Guizhou Plateau is spring-like in all seasons, whilst the north western inland regions can see great temperature variation within one day. There is a 40 degree centigrade temperature difference between the north and south of the country. Cities such as Beijing experience temperature variations from 28oc in the winter, rising to 80oc in July, Shanghai temperatures vary from 40oc to 82oc depending on the time of year, whilst Urumqi goes from 5oc in the winter to 78oc in July.
