China, one of the countries with the longest history in the world, China lies in the eastern part of Asia to the west of the Pacific Ocean. It covers an area of about 9.6 million square kilometers, almost the size of whole Europe, taking the 3rd place in the world. China has land boundaries totaling over 20,000 kilometers, some 5,000 kilometers across from east to west, spanning over 60 longitudinal degrees and with 4 hours difference. It is 5,500 kilometers from north to south, spanning over 50 latitudinal degrees. Most of the area lies in the North Temperate Zone. While still a world of ice and snow in the northeast, spring is already in the air south of the Yangtze River. It is even greener in the country of Guangdong and Guangxi areas. Chinas coastline totals over 18,000 kilometers, embracing more than 5,000 islands of varying sizes. Known as "China's treasure island", Taiwan is the largest island in China, with an area of 35,700 square kilometers.

China is a unitary multi-national state with 1031.80 million industrious and courageous people of '56 nationalities. The Han nationality makes up 94 per cent of the total population, while the remaining 6 per cent are taken up by over 50 fraternal nationalities, including the Mongol, Hui, Tibetan, Uygur, Miao, Yi, Zhuang, Bouyei, Korean, Manchu, Kazak and Dai. The Han language is in common use, while spoken and written languages of minority nationalities are also used in areas where various nationalities live in compact communities. China has 22 provinces (including Taiwan Province), 5 autonomous regions and 3 municipalities directly under the Central Government (Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin). There are altogether 2,137 counties and autonomous counties.

Beijing, capital of China, lies in the northern part of the North China Plain, covering an area of 16,800 square kilometers with a population of 9.23 million. It is the nation's political, cultural and communication centre and one of the world's famous ancient cities, with a history of over 3,000 years. It has been the provisional capital of the Liao dynasty and capital of the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, totalling over 700 years. It has a large number of historical relics and beautiful gardens, such as the magnificent Great Wall (Badaling), the resplendent architectural complex of the Palace Museum, the Summer Palace, Beihai Park, the Ming Tombs and the Lama Temple, etc., which have always been tourist attractions for both Chinese and foreign visitors.

Textual research by archaeologists shows that there were traces of ape-men - human ancestors in China about 1.7 million years ago. China has a recorded history of 4,000 years. The older generations of the industrious and ingenious Chinese people have created a glorious and brilliant culture for the Chinese nation. As is known to all, China is the earliest country that invented compass, paper-making, printing and gunpowder. The Great Wall of China is a gigantic structure on earth visible from space. It has been standing on the land of China for over 2,000 years.