China

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Your vacations in China

China is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia.

The last Chinese Civil War (with major combat ending in 1949) has resulted in two political entities:

The People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, has control over mainland China and the largely self-governing territories of Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999).
The Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, has control over the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu.
China has one of the world's oldest civilizations and has the oldest continuous civilization. It has archaeological evidence dating back over 5,000 years. It also has one of the world's oldest written language systems, and is viewed as the source of many major inventions. Historically, China's cultural sphere has extended across East Asia as a whole, with Chinese religion, customs, and writing systems being adopted to varying degrees by neighbors such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The first evidence of human presence in the region was found at the Zhoukoudian cave and is one of the first known specimens of Homo erectus, now commonly known as the Peking Man, estimated to have lived from 300,000 to 550,000 years ago.

Official language

National: Mandarin (Putonghua) Regional: Wu (Shanghaiese), Cantonese (Yue), Mindong (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages

Currency

Yuan Renminbi

Electricity

220 volts, 50 cycles

Shopping

China excels in handmade items (porcelain, furniture, carpets, Jade, carpets and art or fine art), partly because of long traditions of exquisite handmade items, partly because labor is still cheap relative to other countries. Take your time, look closely at quality and ask questions (but don't take all the answers at face value!)