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shoes
and warm clothing, as the Wall was built as a
military fortification atop steep, exposed mountain
ridges.
China has a population of 1.265 billion, the
largest of any country on earth, and holds
about 22 percent of the earth's total
population. It is an extremely diverse
nation consisting of 55 different ethnic
groups. The Chinese speak eight major
dialects: Putonghua (Mandarin), Yue
(Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan
(Taiwanese), Gan, Xiang, and Hakka and many
sub-dialects. In addition, ethnic groups such as the
Mongolian, Naxi, Tibetan, Yi, Uygur, and other
ethnic groups have their own native languages. The
language spoken in Beijing is often referred to as
Mandarin or Putonghua. Putonghua, which means
"common language" is the country's main language and
is spoken by more than 70 percent of the population.
Putonghua is also referred to as the "Han language"
(Hanyu) or simply Chinese. Because of the increased
economic migration across China during the past two
decades years, the use of Mandarin has increased.
In recent years, as tourism to China has grown, the
use of English has increased across the country. In
major cities, staff in stores and hotels can speak
fluent or at least basic English. However, it is
best for English-speaking tourists to have a
translator, as knowledge of English is by no means
universal, especially in rural areas where
approximately 2/3 of China's population lives.
China, officially called the People's Republic of
China (PRC), is the third largest country on earth.
Only Russia and Canada are larger. China has a land
area of 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000
square miles), and a widely varying climate. Before
you leave, find out what seasonal climates to expect
in the region you are going to visit, and pack
accordingly. China has a marked continental monsoon
climate with great variety in temperature and
rainfall. The greatest part of China is in the
northern temperate zone while the southern areas are
in the tropical or subtropical zone and northern
areas in the frigid zone.
In most of China there is a clear division between
seasons. In winter, northerly winds from high
latitude areas keep the northern region cold and
dry, while in summer, monsoons from southern coastal
areas bring warmth and humidity. In north China,
such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, summer is dry
and sweltering while winter is bitingly cold.
Sandstorms often occur in spring in this area,
especially in the Inner Mongolia and Beijing area.
The red dust from these storms can be picked up by
high-altitude winds are travel around the world. In
Russia, pink snow was reported in the winter of 2006
as this far-flung red dust mixed with local
precipitation.
On the Tibet-Qinghai plateau, which has an elevation
of approximately 4,000 meters above sea level,
winter is long and extremely cold while summer is
short and moderately warm. There is little
precipitation here and a great temperature
fluctuation between day and night. Visitors to Tibet
should bring warm clothing even in summer.
In central china, such as Yangtze River area, summer
is long, hot and humid while winter is short and
cold. In the areas south of the Yangtze River,
temperature rarely falls below freezing. In the
near-tropical far south, such as the area around
Guangzhou, the summer is long, humid and hot while
the winter is short and mild. The rainy season runs
from May through August and typhoons frequently
occur in the southeast coast between July and
September.
Chinese currency is called Renminbi
(people's money), abbreviated as RMB, issued
by The Bank of China. The unit of Renminbi
is a yuan and with smaller denominations
called jiao and fen. The conversion among
the three is: 1 yuan equals 10 jiao which
equals 100 fen.
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The safest way to bring
currency to China is in travellers' checks.
Be sure to keep your currency exchange
receipts because you will need to show them
when you change RMB back to your own
currency when you leave China.
Credit cards are often not accepted in remote areas,
so be sure to carry sufficient RMB and travelers'
checks to cover your requirements.
About the Author -
J Schipper is interested in traveling Living on a
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