By Pooneh Seyedi

 China is officialy know as the People’s Republic of China.  China has the largest population in the world, with over 1.3 billion people (1,343,239,923) as of July  China is the 3rd largest country by area at 9,706,961 square km (3,747,879 square miles).

This is a picture of China’s flag.

 This is a picture of China’s map.

 Most of the ancient Chinese people were Buddha.  The early people in China settled mostly along the Yangtze River and Yellow River. Different pockets were ruled by different kings.  The rich picture of China’s past began about 4,000 years ago.

 The Shang Dynasty was the first dynasty in China.  It began between B.C.  During the Shang Dynasty bronze was used for many kinds of tools,cups, and weapouns, as well as trade goods.

 During the Shang Dynasty,early people living close to the town Anyang, found shells and bones of tortoises with Chinese writing on them which they believed were dragon bones (from the earlier civilsations).It turned out to be Oracle Bones to predict the future.  Shang people were the first to make written records. Besides shells and bones they also wrote on bronze and stone.

 There are more than 3,000 dialects of Chinese being spoken.  Chinese writing symbols are all the same across the regions.  People from different provinces in China speak different dialects, but use the same written language.  Chinese writing characters go back more than 3,000 years.  The symbols began as pictures. They were pictographs or pictures that represent words.

 This is a picture of chinese writing.

 The Chinese worked on the Great Wall for over 1700 years.  In turn, each emperor who came to power added pieces of the wall to protect their dynasties. But the wall was not a solid wall.  The wall was a line of disconnected barricades. Most of the people that were working on the wall died while building it.

 Dragons are an important part of many Chinese festivals, including Chinese New Year.  In ancient China, dragons did not breathe fire. Dragons were wise and caring. They guarded the wind, the rain, the rivers, precious metals and gems.

 The Forbidden City was the former imperial palace which was the home to twenty-four Chinese emperors over 491 years between 1420 and 1911.The Forbidden City is now known as the Palace Museum and is open to Beijing's visitors.  Wear comfortable walking shoes as the palace is 960 meters long and 750 meters wide.  It has 9,999 rooms - a room being the space between four pillars.

 In 1974 people in China could dig their backyard and find a perfect clay- made Terra Cotta soldier. By the time archaeologists had finished digging, they had uncovered over 6000 life-size terracotta soldiers!  Some of the statues they found are kneeling with terracotta bows, ready to shoot. Some have moustaches. Some have armor.

 The Zhou dynasty was the longest dynasty. It lasted for more than 800 years. It was separated into two periods.  The earlier period was the called the Western Zhou because the goverments capital city was in Hao in western China.The second period was the Eastern Zhou.This period of time reffered as the ”golden age” in China.

The Himalayan Mountains are not located in modern day China. They run along the border to the south. In ancient times, these mountains helped to protect the early Chinese people from invasion. The Himalayan Mountains to the south are very rugged. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. But Mount Everest is not the only high peak in the Himalayan Mountains. The Himalayas include10 of the highest peaks in the world.

 China has two major river systems - the Yellow River (Huang He) and the Yangtze River (Long River).  The Yangtze (Long River) is the third longest river in the world. It is about 4000 miles long. It floods each year and leaves fertile soil along the banks. The Yangtze River has high banks, which keeps homes safe from the annual flooding.  The Huang He (Yellow River) is about 3000 miles long. It also floods each year. The banks along the Huang He River are low. Civilization in ancient China began along the Yellow River about 5000 years ago.

Huang HeYangtze

Some traditions are:Lantern festival,Tomb Sweeping Day or Qinming Festival,Ghost Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Moon Festival or Mid Autumn Festival, and of course,the Chinese New Year.

 These are some traditional dresses of China.

 China belongs to the continent of Asia. Bordering countries include Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam.  The capital city is Beijing, while the most populated city is Shanghai. Other major cities include Chongqing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

 This is a Chinese panda.

 Thank you for your attention. I hope you enjoyed.