About China


China

Chinese National Flag
China is a country with a population of 1,353,821,000 citizens.
With a land area of 9,706,961 km2. It`s the 2nd largest country by area. 
China has a lot of history about it, going back 2000 years BC.

China's Government is ruled by the Communist Party.
China's capital City is Beijing where the 2008 Olympics were held.

Food

Different types of food


With Chinese food there are plenty of snacks, staple foods, and meals. One of the most favoured dishes is the simple fried rice and it’s famous because of how many wheat farms there are so the amount you get is large and it’s a staple food. There are also different types of pork, chicken, dumplings, spring rolls and noodles. Pork dishes include; sweet and sour pork, Dongpo pork, twice cooked pork and Char siu (barbecued pork) .The different types of chicken include honey chicken and lemon chicken. Dumplings varies from Baozi (steamed buns with filling), Dim sum (a style of Cantonese Cuisine), Goutie (fried dumplings), Jaiozi (steamed or boiled dumplings), Mantou (boiled dumplings), Wonton (sphere-shaped dumplings usually served boiled in broth or deep-fried), Xiaolongbao ( a specialty of the Shangai Cuisine) and Zongzi (glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves, usually with a savoury or sweet filling). Spring rolls are a filling with anything from crab to chicken. Noodles are strings of pastry cooked in flavored broths.

The use of Chopsticks


Chopsticks were introduced to China as early as the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BCE). To use chopsticks is to hold the lower chopstick stationary and to hold them is like holding a pencil or pen and you move the upper chopstick down, so the two chopsticks connect, then move the toward your mouth. It is considered rude to put chopsticks in your mouth, so put them as close as you can to eat the food.

Different types of drink


Tea is most popular in Hong Kong because of the British rule. After 150 years the Chinese started to import tea leaves from Brittan. The places they sold tea leaves were known as “tea houses”. There was and still is a habit of “morning tea and newspaper” which is also done in Brittan and Australia. The first tea house in Hong Kong was established in the 19th century. At that time people bought tea leaves to bring home for visiting guests.


Information from www.travelchinaguide.com, Wikipedia, www.asiasociety.org



Festivals

Chinese New Year Lantern Festival

Lanterns
These are two festivals from China. Many people celebrate these festivals. The first festival of the year is the Chinese New Year. Unlike Australia they celebrate it with dragons, lanterns and fireworks. The Chinese New Year is celebrated around the end of January.  The Chinese people celebrate it on the streets.  Chinatown also celebrates the Chinese New Year because it was made by Chinese people. The Lantern Festival is celebrated like the New Year on the same day but at night and with lanterns. 



Dragon Boat Festival.

Dragon boats
The Dragon Boat Festival is held on the 5th day of the 5th month according to the Chinese lunar calendar. The Dragon Boat Festival is to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan.  There are many customs in the Dragon Boat festival including Dragon boat racing, eating Zongzi  which is traditional Chinese food, putting pouch’s on children with 5 different coloured strings attached to the pouch and there is the hanging of Mugwort leaves and Calamus which is said to prevent diseases from entering the house. 


 

Winter Solstice Festival

Tangyuan or glutinous rice balls
The Winter Solstice Festival is one of the most important festivals in China. This festival is originated from the yin and yang story because of the balance between harmony and chaos. Some traditional activities are where you do them with family which include making and eating of tangyuan or glutinous rice balls, in Northern China people eat dumplings because of the Han Dynasty. The festival also reminds us that we are a year older and should act more mature.




Information sourced from www.china.org.cn, Wikipedia and www.travelchinaguide.com

Famous Landmarks

The Great Wall

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall Of China was made by emperor Qin Shi Huang to keep the Mongolians out of China because there were plenty of attacks daily, so they built a wall of bricks, tamped earth and wood. Only a little of that is left. People built it during the Ming Dynasty. Now it is an international landmark. Tourists from different countries and people in China visit it everyday.


Forbidden City, Beijing


The Forbidden City, Beijing
Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 720,000 m2. The Forbidden City was an imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty, home to all emperors after it was built. It wasn’t an imperial palace during the Qin Dynasty and after. It is located in the center of Beijing. Now the Forbidden City is a palace museum. The Forbidden City was declared a world heritage site in 1987.


Yellow River

Yellow River
Yellow River Map
The Yellow River also known as He Huang or the Cradle of Chinese Civilization is the second largest river in Asia after the Yangtze and sixth largest in the world. The estimated length of the Yellow River is 5,464 km. The Yellow River is used for fishing and hydroelectric electricity power plants. It’s a fact that the Yellow River has 1.6 billion tons of silt and deposits it in the ocean.




Information from Wikipedia


Mythical Creatures

T`ien-Lung

Chinese Dragon

The Chinese Dragon is an extraordinary creature with; a head of a horse, horns of a stag, eyes of a demon, body of a snake, ears of a cow, belly of a clam, paws of a tiger, claws of an eagle and scales of a carp. There are different types of dragons. They are the Red (Futs-Lung) which are dragons of the Underworld guardians of treasure and metal. Yellow (T`ien-Lung) celestial dragon guard the gods. Blue ( Shen-Lung) spiritual dragons control weather and seasons. Green (Ti-Lung) earth dragons control rivers and streams. If the Chinese Dragons don’t have a lump(chimu) on their head or wings they will not be able to fly.

Ti-Lung 
Shen-Lung
Futs-Lung 











Feng Huang

Feng Huang or Phoenix Bird or King of Birds was actually a male (Feng) and female (Huang) until they morphed together making Feng Huang. It was said in ancient times that a Feng Huang had; a beak of a rooster, the face of a swallow, the forehead of a fowl, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of a tortoise, the hind legs of a stag and a tail of a fish. In more modern times it is said to have a mixture of birds in appearance including, a head of a Golden Pheasant, the body of a Mandarin Duck, the tail of a Peacock, legs of a crane, the beak of a parrot and wings of a swallow. When they die they get burnt to ashes and are reborn in the ashes as a youngling again so they never die unless wanting to, or they are hunted.



Hou


A Hou or Wangtianhou has rabbit shaped ears but lion looking. They roar very loudly and resemble a dragon but are not considered a descendent of one. They stand guard at an emperor’s palace. Hou`s stand on a pillar with wings out spread, when an emperor leaves his palace, the Hou will remind the emperor not to act recklessness and become un-cultivated. A Hou is highly respected among the people near the palace.






Information from Wikipedia, Dragon World book, and
www.chinawhisper.com