Review Materials for General Information of China 2024 PDF

Review Materials for General Information of China Intro 1. China is one of the four oldest recorded civilizations in the world, Characterized by a long history without being interrupted. 2. Four oldest civilizations include Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India. 3. National day: 1 Octob...

Review Materials for General Information of China Intro 1. China is one of the four oldest recorded civilizations in the world, Characterized by a long history without being interrupted. 2. Four oldest civilizations include Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India. 3. National day: 1 October. The Chinese celebrate October 1^st^ as the national day in honor of the founding of the People\'s Republic of China. 4. National Flag: red five-star flag. The design of the four smaller stars surrounding a bigger one signifies the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist party of China. 5. National Anthem: *March of the Volunteers* 6. Beijing is famous for its many places of historic interest and scenic beauty, like the Forbidden City, the largest and best preserved collection of ancient buildings in China; the Temple of Heaven, a platform for the Ming and Qing emperors to perform sacrifices and solemn rites; the summer palace; the Ming Tombs, the Badaling section of the great wall. 7. Located in the East of Asian continent on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean, the PRC has a land area of about 9.6 million square kilometers, and is the third largest country in the world, next only to Russia and Canada. 8. China is bordered by the DPRK, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. 9. China has 4 municipalities, 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and 2 special administrative Regions, namely Hongkong and Macao. 10. China is shaped like a crowing rooster with Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia as its comb, Hainan Island and Taiwan Island as its claws, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as its tail. 11. The Yangtze River is the longest river in China and third longest in the world. China's second longest river, the Yellow River, originating in Qinghai province, is the most heavily silt-laden river in the world. The Yellow River is seen as the cradle of Chinese civilization and the spiritual home of the Chinese people. 12. China has a recorded history of nearly 4,000 years and is one of the four homes of the world's earliest civilization. 13. Chinese dynastic history can be divided into two periods: the ancient period (ancient times---1840) and the modern period ( 1840---present). 14. Chinese history began with two legendary figures--- Emperor Huang and Emperor Yan, who, together with their tribes, inhabited the drainage area along the middle reaches of the Yellow River. By the time of the Xia dynasty, after centuries of living side by side, these two tribes had gradually merged into one. Consequently the Chinese people call themselves the "descendants of Yan and Huang". 15. It was during the Xia dynasty that the institution of slavery began. There are many legends describing the life of the people in this period, esp. of the three sage kings Yao, shun and Yu. Yu was famous for conquering the floods. He worked ceaselessly for 13 years and succeeded in controlling the floods. Legend has it that he was so busy that "thrice had gone past his own house without even looking in". 16. Yu was the first emperor of Xia dynasty. It was Yu's son, Qi, who abolished the abdication system of throne and take up the hereditary system. 17. Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BC); The Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771BC); The Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods (770-221 BC) 18. The Qin dynasty (221-206 BC): the first united, centralized, multi-ethnic feudal monarchy. 19. In 221 BC, Ying Zheng, the highly gifted, ambitious king of the Qin Kingdom ended the turmoil and chaos among the dukes and kings in the Warring States. 20. Emperor Qinshihuang styled himself "Shi Huangdi (meaning the First Emperor)". 21. Emperor Qinshihuang unified the language, the measurement system and the currency, set up the prefecture-county system, constructed the famous Great wall, and build extravagant palaces and mausoleums. 22. Ancient period: the Han dynasty (206 BC- AD 25); Three Kingdoms period (AD 220- 265); the Jin dynasty (AD 265- 420); the Southern and Northern dynasties( AD 420- 589); the Sui Dynasty (AD 581- 618 ); the Tang Dynasty (AD 618- 907); the period of the Five dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms (AD 907- 979); the Song dynasty ( 960- 1279); the Yuan dynasty( 1271- 1368): Mongol Empire, headed by Genghis Khan & Kublai; the Ming dynasty (1368-1644); the Qing dynasty (1644- 1911) 23. Modern period: The Opium War was the turning point in Chinese history which marked the close of the ancient period and beginning of the modern history. 24. The Qing dynasty, the last of China's feudal dynasties, was finally overthrown in 1911. The last emperor, Puyi, was removed from power. 25. After the anti-Japanese War and the Liberation War, the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. 26. Chinese Characters as known as "block characters (方块字)" one of the oldest characters in the world. 27. Pictographs draw on a picture or symbol to represent a word or phrase. 28. Examples of pictographs: 日(sun), 月(moon), 水(water)、火(fire). 29. Self-explanatory characters use indicative, iconic and abstract symbols or illustration to express a given meaning, such as "上(upward)" and "下(down)". 30. Associative compounds combine two or more identical or different ideographic symbols to form new Chinese characters with predictable meanings. 31. Picto-phonetic characters make up more than 80 percent of all characters in modern Chinese. 32. Picto-phonetic characters are perfect combinations between form and pronunciation, and they might give readers clues about how to pronounce the characters. 33. The Chinese character "福" is a picto-phonetic character with the left part indicating its form and the right part indicating its pronunciation. 34. In most case, one half of a picto-phonetic character is related to meaning while the other half is associated with pronunciation. 35. At present, the Chinese writing system involves two forms of writing: the simplified Chinese and the traditional Chinese. 36. The simplified Chinese characters have been used since the 1950s. 37. Chinese surnames involve single and double surnames. 38. 诸葛 (zhūgě)、司马 (sīmǎ)、欧阳 (ōuyáng)、司徒 (sītú) are all examples of double surname. 39. A Surname might be based on the ancestral totem, fief, place of residence, official position, profession and color etc. 40. In modern China females remain their surnames even after marriage. 41. In Hong Kong, the husband's surname will be added in the front of the wife's. (张徐小丽) 42. Chinese given names may reflect gender, periods of history, the generations names designated from the genealogy, and even good wishes. 43. In Chinese culture red stands for joy, passion, luck and celebration. 44. The number "9" stands for extremity and supremacy in Chinese culture. 45. Odd numbers stand for yang while even numbers stand for yin. 46. Short for Stem-Branch or Gan-Zhi, the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are the most important counting system in the Chinese calendar. There are 10 Stems and 12 Branches. 47. The 10 heavenly stems are Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren and Gui. The 12 earthly branches are Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai. Each heavenly stem is paired with an earthly branch to form the Gan-Zhi sexagenary cycle that starts with Jia-Zi 48. Birth sign or zodiac sign symbolizes the year in which a person is born. 49. Chinese zodiac is a 12-year cycle labeled with animals, starting with a rat and ending with a pig. 50. Chinese zodiac has no association with constellations. 51. The Chinese dragon is symbol for power, strength, and wealth. 52. There are 24 solar terms in Chinese lunisolar calendar. 53. There are two seasonal division points in each month according to the 24 solar terms. 54. As China's capital, Beijing is one of the four municipalities. 55. 京(jing) is short for Beijing. 56. There are 16 districts in Beijing. 57. In Yuan dynasty Beijing is known as Dadu. 58. The Forbidden City remains the seat of supreme power for over five centuries (1406-1911). 59. The Forbidden City was first built between 1406 and 1420 by the Ming emperor Zhu Di(朱棣). 60. The Forbidden City has witnessed two dynasties, namely, Ming(明) and Qing (清). 61. The Forbidden City Features a central axis, symmetrical design. 62. The Forbidden City is also referred to as zijincheng. *Zi* mean purple, *jin* means forbidden, and *cheng* means walled city. 63. Three ceremonial halls go along the majestic avenue. They are the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. 64. The hall of Supreme Harmony functions as the site for the enthronement of the new emperor and his imperial wedding, and for the emperor to dispatch generals to war, to announce the result of imperial examinations and to entitle the empress and crown prince. 65. Like the vessels of the city, Hutongs are the small narrow alleys seen in Beijing. 66. Hutong is characterized by their chessboard pattern. 67. Beijing Quadrangles are formed by four inward-facing houses, linked by enclosing walls. 68. The principal room is where family rituals take place and distinguished guests are welcomed. 69. Facing the entrance gate, a screen wall is usually built to prevent outsiders from peeping in. 70. From ancient China, the quadrangle has been the basic form used for residences, palaces, temples, monasteries, etc. 71. The Temple of Heaven was once the place where the Ming and Qing emperors worshipped the god of heaven and prayed for good harvests. 72. Two walls enclose the Temple of Heaven. The northern wall is semicircular while the southern wall is square, which reflects the ancient Chinese belief that Heaven is round and Earth is square. 73. The Summer Palace is the largest imperial garden in the world. 74. The Ming Tombs are situated at the foot of the Heavenly Longevity Mountain in the northwest of Beijing. 13 emperors of the Ming dynasty were buried here. 75. Generally speaking, there are three essential standards by which Chinese cooking is judged, namely, color, aroma and taste, with taste being the most important. 76. Color refers not only to the beautiful color of the food, but also to the layout and design. 77. Aroma refers to the fragrant and appetizing smell of the dishes served on the table before eating. 78. Taste is not only associated with tasting the food itself, but also with the appreciation of seasonings and texture. 79. Chinese cooking methods include boiling, stewing, frying, stir-frying, quick-frying, deep-frying, frying and simmering, sauteing, smoking, roasting or barbecuing, baking, steaming, scalding, etc. 80. In China light dishes are suggested for summer while rich ones for winter. 81. The people in the south of China prefer rice for staple food while the people in the north prefer noodles. 82. There is an old saying in china "sweet in the south, salty in the north, sour in the west and spicy in the east". 83. There are many tastes: salty (salt, soy sauce), sweet (sugar, honey), sour (vinegar), fragrant (sesame oil, coriander, wine), spicy (chilli, garlic, ginger), tangy (monosodium glutamate or MSG), bitter (dried tangerine, bitter apricot kernel), etc. 84. The idea of having "five tastes in harmony" reflects Chinese people's pursuit of flavor and their cuisine philosophy. The five tastes are sourness, sweetness, bitterness, pungency and saltiness. 85. Each kind of food has its own characteristics of yin or yang. Yin foods are thin, cold and low in calories. Yang foods are rich, spicy, hot and high in calories. Boiling makes food yin while frying makes food yang. 86. Over the centuries, the Chinese have explored the world of plants, roots herbs, fungus and seeds in search of the medicinal function. 87. Examples of medicinal food: ginger can be used to soothe an upset stomach and as a remedy to relieve cold. 88. There are eight schools of cuisine: Lu Cuisine (Shandong Cuisine), Chuan Cuisine (Sichuan Cuisine), Yue Cuisine (Guangdong Cuisine), Min Cuisine (Fujian Cuisine), Su Cuisine (Jiangsu Cuisine), Zhe Cuisine (Zhejiang Cuisine), Xiang Cuisine (Hunan Cuisine), Hui Cuisine (Anhui Cuisine). 89. For a large number of guests, the elderly or people of high status are usually allocated specific seats, which are at the northern side of the table or directly face the entrance to the room. 90. The concept of "honored south, humble north" is closely related with traditional Chinese etiquette. 91. How to use chopsticks: Hold the upper chopstick with the index finger, the middle finger, and the thumb. Put the other chopstick between the bottom of the thumb and the tip of the ring finger. Move the upper chopstick only when you pick up food. 92. Silver chopsticks were once used in China to detect poison. 93. Inserting chopsticks in a bowl upright may bear the ominous implication of offering sacrifices to ancestors. 94. Two notable restaurants featuring Beijing Roast Duck include Quanjude and Bianyifang. Quanjude is known for using the hung oven roasting method while Bianyifang uses the oldest technique of closed oven roasting. 95. Hotpot belongs to Sichuan Cuisine. 96. Five basic types of tea: green tea, black tea, oolong tea, compressed tea and scented tea. two minor types: white tea and yellow tea. 97. Dumpling has been an indispensable Chinese dish of the reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve, especially in the northern regions. 98. The Spring festival, also called the Chinese New Year, falls on the first day of the first lunar month each year. 99. The Lantern Festival marks the end of the New Year celebration. 100. Custom demands the eating of yuanxiao, or rice dumplings on the Lantern Festival. 101. The Qingming Festival is a day for mourning the dead. 102. The major custom of the Qingming Festival is tomb sweeping. 103. The Dragon Boat Festival, also called the Duanwu Festival, is celebrated in memory of Qu Yuan. 104. Mid-Autumn Festival activities include the eating of moon cakes and moon watching. Traditional Sports and Wushu 105. Sporting scenes have been recorded over the dynasties in sepulchral mural paintings, stone paintings, brick paintings, poems, etc. 106. Cuju is regarded as the origin of ancient football. 107. Legend holds that the race originates from the idea of the people who rowed their boats to rescue Qu yuan, a patriotic poet in the Warring States Period, after he drowned himself in the river. 108. Chinese martial arts are also knowns as Kung fu or Wushu. Literally, wu means military while shu means strategies or arts. 109. Intrinsically, 武 is made up of 止 and 戈, The former means "stop" while the latter means "dagger-axe" or "any kind of weapon". The combination of the two means "stop martial actions". 110. Today, the military function of Wushu has faded while it\'s physical welfare and athletic functions become dominant. 111. Shaolin kung fu is the mainstream of Chinese kung fu.