The incredibly rich cultural heritage of
China has fascinated the world for centuries. It has been one of the world's oldest civilizations and the home of a proud and colorful people with a
history of revolution and internal turmoil. Present
China is an amalgamation of the glorious ancient
Cathay of legends and the modern unflinching unapologetic
superpower of the future.
China 's present identity is overwhelmingly
Communist . After the fall of the erstwhile
Soviet Union ,
The People's Republic of China (
PRC ) remains the
largest communist state anywhere in the world. The
Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo , as it is officially known, came into being on October 1, 1949.
It is the
fourth largest country in the world in terms of land area with
Beijing as its capital city. It is divided into 23 sheng or
provinces, 5 autonomous zizhiqu or regions and 4 shi or municipalities. The Chinese terrain is mostly mountainous. There are vast deserts like the
Gobi in the West while fertile deltas and plains lie mainly in the east. The largest river is the
Yangtze Kiang.
Having the largest population in the world,
China has several ethnic nationalities – the
Han being the largest group followed by
Zhuang ,
Uygur ,
Mongols ,
Manchu ,
Tibetans and others. The official language is
Mandarin Chinese , dialects like
Cantonese and
Hakka are also popular in some regions. Though China is officially atheist, there are Buddhists, Taoists and a small minority of Christians and Muslims.
The
Chinese flag denotes its
Communist heritage. It is a vibrant red representing the revolution, with a large yellow star on the top left denoting the
Communist Common Program and four smaller stars in an arc representing the
workers ,
peasants , the
bourgeoisie and the
patriotic capitalists . The
National Anthem is the 'Yiyonggjun Jinxingqu' or the
March of the Volunteers , and was adopted in 1949 when the Communist Government came into power. The song expresses the
Chinese people's desire to dedicate themselves to their country and for national liberation. The anthem is more popularly known as 'Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Guoge' or the
Song of the People's Republic of China .
Modern China has one of the
fastest economic growths in the world. With its emphasis on economic and industrial growth, an era of cosmopolitan and
liberal communism is coming in. However, the state mechanism still retains tight control over the flow of information, fundamental rights and the movement of people.
