Covering more than 9.600.000 square kilometres and with over 1.3 billion people the inhabitants of this huge nation account for more than 22% of the world's population. Having endured a 4,000 year history of feudalism it enters the modern world as a socialist society with an economic growth rate approaching 8%. Chinese inventions include the printing press, gunpowder, paper manufacturing, seismological measuring devices and the compass. Regarded in the past as a manufacturer of disposable products such as silk flowers, toys and clothing is has gained a reputation of producing some of the best precision instruments in the world.

Forty percent of the population live in and around its major cities and the rest of the population in rural area being responsible for providing agricultural products to feed this great nation. It is administered through 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions (including the much debated Tibet), 4 municipalities with populations exceeding 10 million (including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing), and since 1997 two special administrative regions being Hong Kong and Macau, former British and Portuguese enclaves.

Possibly the least known but most populous Municipality is Chongqing in Sechuan province with a population exceeding 31 million. It is interesting to note that Taiwan is included as a province on the "China Today" web site with an explanation as to how this small island has continued to claim independence from China since 1940.

92% of China's population are Han Chinese with the remainder being divided amongst 55 ethnic minorities two of which, the Manchu and the Mongols were past rulers of China.

Most of China is open for tourism and major tour groups operate services throughout the land. With massive mountain ranges extending east from the Himalayas and some 50,000 rivers this is truly a scenic land.

Naturally the most popular tourist attractions are: The Ming Tombs; The Forbidden City; The Great Wall; Tiananmen Square and the Mao Mausoleum; The Great Hall of the People and last but not least The Terra Cotta Warriors of Xian.