Endowed with terra firma grandeur, China is reputed as the single oldest uninterrupted civilization in the world. With a population of 1.3 billion, China covers an area of 9,600,000 square kilometers.

Topographically speaking, China is high in the west and low in the east. Consequently, the flow of major rivers is directed eastward in a general pattern. The land surface from west to east may be classified as the plateau, the mountain, and the plain categories.

In the respect of administration, there are altogether 23 province, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities and 2 special administrative regions directly under the jurisdiction of the Chinese central government. The 23 Provinces are Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, and Taiwan, which is to be unified in due course. The 5 autonomous regions are the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, The Tibet Autonomous Region, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The three municipalities are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. The 2 special Administration regions are the Hong Kong Special Administration Region and the Macau Special Administration.

There are altogether 56 nationalities in China, of which the Han nationality makes up major part, nearly 93 percent of the total population of China. The 56 nationalities with its own characteristics and traditional custom make china a charming and fascinating country that is popular with people from all over the world.