中国与中国文化CHNA and CHINESE CULTURE.docVIP

中国与中国文化CHINA and CHINESE CULTURE (References and Links at the End) 1. Population: 1.3 billion (2001) People: Majority – “Han” (94% on the Chinese Mainland, 97% on Taiwan – so Taiwan is “more Chinese” than the Mainland) Other 55 minorities, mostly in southwest and northwest China 2. Language: Chinese – written and spoken Written Chinese: Chinese characters (汉Han 字Zi) have been used since between Shang and Zhou dynasty 16th-11th century B.C. Spoken Chinese: Mandarin is the biggest group; eight others (dialects) like Cantonese (spoken in Guangdong/Canton and Hong Kong), Fujianese (or “Hokkieness”, spoken in Fujian/Hokkien and Taiwan), etc., most of which spoken in southern China. Each major dialect in turn has smaller “branches” that deviate a little bit from one another The Chinese dialects have almost the same grammar, with differences in pronunciations. Therefore, Cantonese is NOT another language from Mandarin, nor is Fujianese/”Hokkienese” – they are only dialects or variations in pronunciations in the big group of Chinese. 3. Land: 9.6 million sq km (3.7 million sq mi) 3rd largest in the world (following Russia and Canada) about the same shape as the U.S. Beijing is about where Philadelphia is Shanghai – about at the coast of N. Carolina Hong Kong – about Houston Taiwan – about south Florida My hometown Xiamen – about north Florida (100 miles to Taiwan) wide variation of climates and terrene 4. Economy: 2003 GDP - 11.69 trillion Yuan (about $1.4 trillion), sixth largest in the world (following US, Japan, Germany, France, and UK) GDP growth rate 2003 – 9.1% GDP per capita – about $1050. GDP per capita using “purchasing power parity” – about $4,500-5,000 Total import/export - $600 billion Total manufacturing GDP: 5.36 trillion Yuan ($650 billion), among which 1.94 trillion Yuan ($234 billion) were from state-owned companies (about 36%). Therefore, China’s major sector of economy – manufacturing – is only about 1/3 owned by the government, a far cry from ne