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China, officially known as the People's Republic of China is a vast country in Eastern Asia (about the same size as the United States of America) with the world's largest population. With coasts on the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, in total it borders 14 nations. It borders Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam to the south; Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to the west; Russia and Mongolia to the north and North Korea to the east. Only Russia has more land borders in Asia.

People

China is a very diverse place with large variations in culture, language, customs and economic levels. Indeed, it has 56 officially recognized ethnic nationalities, 55 of which officially enjoy affirmative action for admission to universities, exemption from the one-child policy and other social benefits. The economic landscape is particularly diverse. A majority of Chinese still live in rural areas although only 10% of all land is arable. The major cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shanghai are rich and modern. However, more than half the population, some 800 million rural residents, still farm with manual labor or draft animals. The government estimates for 2005 report 90 million living on under ¥924 (US$112) a year; 26 million were under the official poverty line, ¥668 (US$81) a year; the poorest are well below that.

The cultural landscape is unsurprisingly very diverse given the sheer size of the country. Of the 56 ethnic groups recognized by the PRC government, the Han Chinese comprise about 91.5% of the population, although the Han are far from homogeneous and speak a wide variety of mutually unintelligible local "dialects". Many customs and divinities are specific to individual regions and even villages. Indeed even the lunar new year and other nationwide festivals are celebrated in drastically different ways in different parts of the country. After the Han, the Zhuang, Manchu, Hui and Miao round out the top five. Other notable ethnic minorities include: Koreans, Tibetans, Mongols, Uyghurs and Russians. In fact, China is home to the largest Korean population outside Korea and is also home to more ethnic Mongols than Mongolia.

Climate

The climate is extremely diverse, from tropical regions in the south to subarctic in the north. Hainan Island is roughly at the same latitude as Jamaica, while Harbin, one of the largest cites in the north, is at roughly the latitude of Montreal.There is also a wide range of terrain to be found in China with many inland mountain ranges, high plateaus, and deserts in center and far west; while plains, deltas, and hills are to be found in the east. On the border between the province of Tibet and the nation of Nepal lies Mount Everest, at 8,850 m, the highest point on earth. The Turpan depression, in northwest China's Xinjiang is the lowest point in the country, at 154 m below sea level. This is also the second lowest point on land in the world after the Dead Sea.

Holidays

China is a huge country with endless travel opportunities. However, during holidays, millions of migrant workers return home and millions of other Chinese travel, so travelers may want to think seriously about rescheduling. At the very least, travel should be planned well in advance. Every mode of transportation is crowded and tickets of any kind are hard to come by, so it may be necessary to book well in advance (especially for those traveling from remote western China to the east coast or in the opposite direction). Train and other tickets are usually quite easy to buy in China, but difficulties arising from crowded conditions at these times cannot be overstated. Some travelers who have been stranded at these times, unable to buy tickets have managed to get airplane tickets, which tend to sell out more slowly.