This page to discover China

History

China corresponds to one of the major centers of civilization, and it became from the first dynasty of Qin a vast politically and linguistically relatively unified zone, with an advanced culture, ahead of the rest of the world in many fields such as the arts, the medicine and technology.

For two millennia, China has been subject to the alternating influence of centrifugal and centripetal forces. When the central power of the emperor was crumbling and the court was prey to rival factions and intrigues, when the administration could no longer remedy famines and natural disasters and when it could no longer contain the pressure of the "barbarians" who carried out vast raids in the border regions, movements of revolt by starving peasants tore the country apart, millenarian sects were born and the distant provinces found themselves under the thumb of a warlord who no longer recognized the authority of the emperor. Finally these proclaimed themselves Sons of Heaven, dividing the empire into rival kingdoms engaged in incessant wars and thus showing that the Mandate of Heaven.

When a warlord, sometimes from the peasantry, proved to be more skilful than the others and managed to regain control of the entire country, the Chinese considered that he had received a new Mandate from Heaven and he could found a new dynasty. China also had two foreign dynasties: that of the Yuan, Mongol, and that of the Qing, Manchu.

The Chinese dynasties that succeeded in stabilizing the country during long periods of peace are those of the Han, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing. They do not necessarily correspond to the most fertile periods of Chinese creativity but, with the exception of the last one (the Manchu Qing), they correspond to periods of prosperity during which one can consider that China was the greatest, the most stable and wealthiest state in the world.

Even during periods of unity, China has always consisted of a fabric of very diverse cultures, and the variety of cuisines, dialects, habits and ways of life should not be eclipsed by the astonishing cultural, administrative unity and politics of this country on a continental scale. This unity and continuity can largely be attributed to a peculiarity of Chinese writing: relatively detached from phonetics, it allows very different languages ​​and dialects to be noted in the same way. During the Industrial Revolution initiated in England, Qing China chose to close itself to foreign influence (which was not the case under the other dynasties, in particular that of the Tang), and we can consider that this decision dates its economic and technological decline.

During the 20th century, it was subjected to very strong pressure from Western economic, military and colonial powers. Forced by force of arms to accept the Unequal Treaties, which gave foreigners rights to settle and trade within the country, it was divided into zones of German influence (in Shandong), French (in Yunnan) or English (elsewhere).

In 1911, the empire was abolished under the pressure of progressive intellectuals and politicians, and the republic was proclaimed in 1919. A period of uncertainty and chaos followed, then national unity was found against the Japanese invader. Japan defeated by the Allies, China is divided again, mainly between the Communist partisans of Mao Zedong and the nationalist party of Chiang-kai-shek (the Kuomintang).

The red army, after trials of the Long step, ends up pushing back the nationalists in the sea, and these fold up on the island of Taiwan. Mao Zedong proclaims the People's Republic of China in 1949 on the place Tian' anmen. Hanging the second half of the XXth century, the mainland China is aimed by the Communist Party Chinese. At the instigation of Mao Zedong, big movements will be thrown, as Big bound forward or Cultural Revolution, consequences of which to the Chinese people are controversial.

Official Chinese position acknowledges that the Big bound forward had harmful consequences to certain parties of the population, and certain analysts consider that this try « to catch industrial England in ten years » was one of the rare episodes, otherwise the only one, or this profoundly agrarian and fecund Chinese earth was abandoned not so as to can any more nourish his "children «: from 1959 till 1961, the Big bound forward made, according to estimates, between 20 and 43 million victims.

The Communist Party officially acknowledged that Cultural Revolution was an error of Mao, that the personality cult which accompanied it was exaggerated, and that the country was plunged into chaos and anarchy. During this civil almost civil war, classical Chinese culture is put in the stocks and western influence is condemned. Intellectuals are tortured or sent to the « camps of re-education by job » laogai), numerous temples are burned, monuments are ransacked by the Red Nurses, these young persons were fanaticized and recruited into the worship of "thought Mao Zedong". The conflict of factions, put down then by the army, would have drawn away the death of more than 5 million Chineses. Watchers as Simon Leys (in his work Chinese Shades, on 1974) very early alerted conscience on this human drama, but the western intellectuals (particularly French) who defended the Maoism and Cultural Revolution in this epoch were numerous. After the death of Mao, China remained by name communist, but, under impulsion particularly of Deng Xiaoping, it progressively evolved towards a more free, said economy « socialist of market », allowing the deployment of Chinese commercial and industrial activity, which make it ' « plant today of the world » and a émergeante potency to whom the growth rate goes up regularly of 10 %.

Geography

China is the third largest country in the world in area (after Russia and Canada) and has a wide variety of climates and landscapes. To the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, are vast, very densely populated alluvial plains; the shores of the South China Sea are more mountainous, and South China is dominated by hilly areas and low-lying mountain ranges.

In the center-east are the deltas of China's two main rivers, the Huang He and the Chang Jiang. Other important rivers include the Xi Jiang, Mekong, Brahmaputra, and Amur. To the west, major mountain ranges, including the Himalayas with the highest point in China (and the world), Mount Everest, as well as high plateaus supporting very arid landscapes such as the Takla-Makan deserts and the Gobi Desert.

Due to prolonged drought, and possibly poor agricultural practices, dust storms are now common during the spring in China. According to the Chinese Environmental Protection Agency, the Gobi Desert has expanded and is a major source of the dust storms that affect China as well as other parts of northeast Asia, such as Korea and the Japan.

Economy

From the end of 1978, the Chinese government initiated reforms to move from a Soviet-type planned economy to a so-called “socialist market” economy, in which freedom of enterprise is supervised by the Communist Party.

For example, the authorities introduced a household responsibility system in agriculture to replace the old collectivization, they increased the authority of local officials and factory managers in industry, allowed a large variety of small-scale service and light manufacturing enterprises, and opened the economy to more foreign trade and foreign investment.

The consequence was a transformation from a command economy to an original mixed economy system, often called "socialist market economy". In order to promote the exchange of skills and capital with foreign countries while closely monitoring them, the Beijing government has created more than 2,000 special economic zones (SEZs) where investment laws are relaxed and the arrival of foreigners is encouraged.

The result of the policy of economic openness has been the quadrupling of the GNP since 1978. In 1999, with its 1.25 billion inhabitants and a GNP of only $800 per capita, China became the sixth economic power in the world. in terms of exchange rate and the second after the United States in terms of purchasing power. Moreover, China joined the WTO in 2002.

China is also part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The GNP at the beginning of 2005 is evaluated by the BSN (National Bureau of Statistics) at 1600 billion US$. In comparison, that of France is 1660 billion US$, as is the United Kingdom. However, we can already consider China as the world's fourth largest economy. Indeed its currency remains modeled on the dollar which is in the current situation weak compared to the euro.

The Chinese economy marks an easing in its economic overheating following the austerity measures taken by the government, although the risk remains present. Investments in fixed assets were indeed reduced in 2004 compared to 2003, while consumption increased. However, China is already facing new economic problems such as rising inflation and more glaring inequalities between the countryside and the cities.

Energy supply remains one of the major stakes for the energy of Chinese economy in the course of next ten years and one of the most fragile points of its economy. Finally if the place of Chinese economy in the world is not any more questioned and what that ci became an inevitable commercial partner, there remain numerous points of désacord particularly on the opposition to change of his currency fluctuating in comparison with the dollar, situation that can only be profitable has Beijing given the weakness of that ci and the importance of exports in Chinese economy. If the economic system in 2005 cannot be any more compared with a planned economy of Soviet type and what freedom to undertake is acquired the control of economy today and of a big number of its levers by central power an ubiquitous reality stays, manifests it the presence as members of the central party of numerous new Chinese multimillionaires.

When to leave?

The best seasons to travel to China are autumn (September and October) and spring (end of April-beginning of June), periods during which you can wear light clothes, with a small jacket or a sweatshirt.

Transport

China has long favored rail over road. Nevertheless, in recent years considerable progress has been made. However, the state of the roads remains extremely uneven across the country due to maintenance problems and the impertinence of the natural elements.

Sleep/Eat

Two daily meals spread over a year will never exhaust the full range of dishes, tastes, flavors and consistencies offered by this kingdom of gourmands. We are witnessing the expansion of hotel chains such as Jinjiang Inns, Home Inns, Motel 168 and Green Tree Inns. These offer functional hotels, small or medium-sized, located in the heart or on the outskirts of major cities.

Purchase

You can find everything from Chinese crafts or not. many copies

Useful websites

• Le routard (In french)
• Lonelyplanet

Tourist Office

• Tourist Office