China

Chinese civilization is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. It has the world's longest continuously used written language system. The stalemate of the last Chinese Civil War has resulted in two political states using the name China: the People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, which controls mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau; and the Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, which controls the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islands. The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has summer daytime temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius and winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate continental climate with very hot summers and cold winters. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical climate with very hot summers and mild winters. China has become a major tourist destination, especially since its opening to the world in the late 1970s. The number of tourists coming to China expanded from 63.5 million in 1998 to 97.9 million in 2002. The most popular tourist attraction in China is the Great Wall of China. Also popular are the Forbidden city in Beijing, which was the center of Chinese Imperial power, and the Terracotta Army of the Qin Dynasty Emperor's mausoleum in Xi'an, a vast collection of full-size terracotta statues of Chinese Imperial soldiers and others.