| China is a great place to travel. From shop-till-you-drop metropolises to the epic grasslands of Inner Mongolia - with deserts, sacred peaks, astounding caves, and imperial ruins - it's a land of cultural and geographic schisms!
Conventional long form: People's Republic of China
Conventional short form: China
Abbreviation: PRC
Capital - Beijing
Beijing is located in the northeastern corner of China.
It is the capital of China and also the political, economic, cultural and scientific center of China.
With a 3000-year-old history, it is the home of 2660 temples, 51 interesting historical sites and 24 key national relic units under state protection.
National Flag
Red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner.
Language
The offical language is Putonghua, which also known as Mandarin. About 70% of the population speak Putonghua.
Others include Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects and minority languages.
Geographic Location
Located in Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam.
Geographic Coordinates
35 00 N, 105 00 E
Area
Total: 9,596,960 sq km
Population
1.2 billion (mainland)
Han Chinese (93%), plus Mongol, Zhuang, Manchu and Uighur minorities
Climate
Most of China is situated in the temperate zone. Some parts of south China are located in tropical and subtropical zones while the northern part is near the frigid zone.
In north China, summers are warm and short and winters long and cold. In the tropical and subtropical south, trees and other vegetation remain green all year. The eastern coastal regions of China are warm and humid and have four distinct seasons. But the temperatures in the interior areas of northwest China change greatly during the daytime.
Currency
The Chinese currency is the Renminbi (RMB) or people's money.
The basic unit is the YUAN which is divided into 10 JIAO and the JIAO is again divided into 10 FEN issued in bills and coins.
The bill denominations are 100, 50, 10, 5, 2 and 1 yuan but be careful not to confuse the lesser bills of one, two and five jiao.
They are issued by the People's Bank of China.
Time Zone
GMT/UTC plus eight hours
(the whole of China is set to Beijing time)
Electricity
220 V, 50 AC;
Plugs can be three-pronged angled, three-pronged round, two flat pins or two narrow round pins.
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