Table of Contents

Introduction...................................................................................................1
1. Traditional Food........................................................................................3
2. Traditional Clothing..................................................................................4
Manchu........................................................................................................................4

Han...............................................................................................................................4

3. Climate.......................................................................................................7
4. Population..................................................................................................8
5. Main Industries.........................................................................................9
6. Famous People.........................................................................................10
Yao Ming ..................................................................................................................10

Qin Shi Huang............................................................................................................11

7. Famous Sites & Places............................................................................12

Forbidden City..........................................................................................................12

Oriental Pearl Tower..................................................................................................13

8. Chinese Currency ...................................................................................14

9. Landscape and Geographical Location.................................................15
10. Canada’s Trade with China..................................................................16
Journal.........................................................................................................17
Bibliography................................................................................................22
Websites Used............................................................................................................22

Search Engines Used.................................................................................................22

Introduction

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 China is a country in East Asia. China’s full name is the Peoples Republic of
China. China includes four parts, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and
Taiwan. It is one of the world’s oldest civilizations, and is said to be the source of
some of the world’s greatest inventions, including paper, gunpowder, the
compass, and printing.

China is most commonly called Zhongguo in mandarin Chinese. The first

character, Zhong (中) means middle, and Guo (国) means country. China has this
name because in ancient times, everybody in China thought that China was in
the middle of the world, and all the other countries were around it.

China has a long history of about five thousand years. In total, there were
about 17 ruling families, which are called dynasties. The first dynasty was the Xia
(Hsia) Dynasty started at 2205 BC, followed by the Shnag, Zhou (Chow), Spring
and Autumn Annals, Warring States, Qin (Chin), Han, Three Kingdoms, Jin (Tsin),
Southern and Northern, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, Song (Sung), Yuan, Ming, and
the Qing (Ching) Dynasty, which ended at 1911 AD. After the Dynasties came the
Republic of China, and finally, the present People’s Republic of China.

While in China, I have researched about traditional food, traditional clothes,

climate, population, main industries, famous people, famous sites, currency,
landscape and geographic location, and last off all, Canada’s trade with China.

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1. Traditional Food

The Chinese have a reputation for cooking and making some of the most
delicious foods in the world. Some of the worldwide known Chinese foods include
dumpling, spring rolls, and Niangao. Most of the traditional Chinese foods are
eaten on the Lunar New Year. Here are some traditional Chinese foods.

Dumplings -- a dumpling is made of a filling wrapped in thin sheets of flour-

covered dough. Usually, the filling includes beef or pork, Chinese cabbage, and
sometimes carrots. It can be steamed, boiled or stir-fried.

Spring rolls -- spring rolls are made of filling rolled into a thin dough sheet. It is
then fried, making it crunchy. Spring rolls are the best when eaten hot. Most of
the time, the filling consists of Chinese cabbage, mushrooms, and carrots.

Niangao -- niangaos are usually made of rice flour. It is sticky and gooey, and
sometimes filling is added into it. Niangao is sometimes referred to as pudding.
Niangao also sounds like happy year in Chinese.

Chinese food is usually steamed, boiled, and stewed. Chinese food seldom
cooked on a barbeque grill. Chinese people use chopsticks to eat and spoons to
drink. Soy sauce is the most popular dipping sauce.

A Plate of Yummy Dumplings

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 Crispy Spring Rolls

2. Traditional Clothing.

There are many types of traditional Chinese clothing. Most of these clothes
are similar to robes, with skirts for men and women. Ancient clothes consisted of
two pieces, the skirt and the top. These clothes are usually very popular while
filming Kong Fu movies or movies with Chinese characters in them. Here are two
examples of two types of Chinese clothes.

Manchu
• Upper Part: Consists of a “Pao”. They have secured lapels on the collar
and no side openings.

• Lower Part: Consists of pants or trousers called “Ku”

• Collars: Consists of parallel vertical collars with parallel diagonal lapels,

that overlap

• Sleeves: the sleeves of a Manchu are narrow and tight.

• Buttons: there are many buttons and can be seen.

• Fittings: Buttoning system used to fit the collar around the neck and upper
torso.

Han
• Upper Part: Consists of “Yi”. They have loose lapels and are open.

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 • Lower Part: Consists of skirts called “Chang/Shang”

• Collar: The collars overlap, with the left crossing over the right.

• Sleeves: The sleeves of a Han are long and loose.

• Buttons: there are very few buttons and cannot be seen.

• Fittings: Belts and sashes were used to close the Han around the waist.

An example of a traditional Chinese Garment and the parts that is consists of

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Another example of Chinese Clothing, and the parts in consists of

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3. Climate

The climate of China varies greatly during different seasons. The northern
part of China, which contains Beijing is very hot (over 30 degree’s Celsius) during
the summer, and has Arctic-like weather conditions during winter. The central
part of China, which contains Shanghai, really hot summers and cold winter. The
southern part of China, containing Guangzhou has a subtropical climate with very
hot summers and mild winters.

Precipitation in China is normal each year. The place with the most rain is
Huoshaoliao, Taiwan. The average annual precipitation can reach over 6,000
mm!

Every spring, there is a sand storm in Beijing. All the sand blows over from
the Gobi Desert. During the sand storm, outside it might look like a badly
developed picture.

Also, if you ever go to Beijing, you might want to bring face and hand cream,
winter jackets, and a large supply of water. Beijing can be really cold, windy, and
chilly sometimes. Also, if you stay in Beijing for the summer, bring a fan,
sunscreen, lots of water, and a hat, because the Sun can be dangerous and if
you don’t get sunscreen on, you can get seriously sunburned.

A Beijing Sandstorm

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4. Population

The last census done in China was in 2004, and the population found was 1.3
billion. The main religions are Daoist (Taoist) 6%, Buddhist 6%, Christian 3%-4%,
Muslim 1%-2%, and most people are nonreligious.

Age structure:

0-14 years: 20.4%

15-64 years: 71.7%

65 years and over: 7.9%

There are many ethnic groups in China, such as Han, Hui, and Yi. Han people
make up about 91.9% of Chinese people, and other ethnic groups make up 8.1%
of the population.

The crowded streets of China

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5. Main Industries

China’s main industries are manufacturing, mining, electrical power

generation, and building and construction.

China is rich in mineral resources, including some important industrial

minerals. The world’s largest coal mining industry is China. Many small
coalmines are scattered through out the country, but the main producers are
found north of the Yangtze River, mostly in Shanxi. Coal is in a large portion of
freight trains.

China is currently producing a great amount of steel products, including

tungsten steel, stainless steel, heavy steel plate, and seamless pipe. Some main
producing areas are Manchuria, North China, and the Yangtze Valley.

Among China’s heaviest industries are shipbuilding, making trains, and

making tractors. Other important manufactures are cement, paper, bicycles, cars,
sewing machines, watches, and cameras.

China is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electricity. Although

this is true, there is still not enough electricity, especially in big cities. 18% of
electricity is hydro electricity, and the rest is made from coal burning plants.

One of the power plants in China

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6. Famous People
Yao Ming

Yao Ming is a Chinese professional basketball player, and is one of the

best in the NBA. Standing at 2.29 meters tall, he is a five-time NBA All- Star
winner. He is on the Houston Rockets, and his former team was the Shanghai
Sharks.

Yao Ming was born on September 12, 1980. Yao Ming is genetically tall,
and he does not have pituitary gigantism, or Acromegaly.

Yao Ming played for 5 years in the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association),
achieving many records such as Most Dunks in A Career, Most Blocks in a
Career, Most Blocks in a Season, and Most Blocks in a Game. All four records
still stand today.

After leaving the CBA, Yao Ming entered the NBA. At the NBA, he is a
five-time NBA All-Star winner, a two-time All NBA winner, a TSN NBA Rookie of
the Year, and NBA Western Conference's Player of the Month. He plays center
position in the Houston Rockets and he has an accurate jump shot from as far as
6.1 meters, though he usually shoots from 3 to 3.7 meters away from the net.
Being as tall as he is, he has an advantage of shooting the ball higher than the
defender can reach. Yao Ming wears size 18 shoes.

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 Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huang was the first Emperor of China. He was born on 260 BC, in
the State of Zhao. Before he became Emperor, he was the King of the largest
state during the Warring States dynasty. He conquered all of China and made it
one large country. Before, China was separated into seven warring states. Also,
the name China may have also been derived from Emperor Qin’s name. During
his life, he ate many mercury pills, which he thought would let him live forever. At
the end, instead of living forever, the mercury made the Emperor die of mercury
poisoning during a road trip. Emperor Qin was buried in a large mausoleum,
along with his favourite girls and the makers and designers of the tomb. Also
buried with him were many terracotta soldiers that he thought would protect him
when he passed on to the next world. None of the soldier’s faces were alike.
After his death, his second son forged a will, since his father did not write one,
and forced Qin’s first son to commit suicide. Emperor Qin’s second son became
the new emperor. The new Emperor, Qin Er Shi was not as good as an emperor
as his dad. Soon after, China went into a civil war again.

A portrait of Emperor Qin Shi Huan

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7. Famous Sites & Places
Forbidden City

The Forbidden City is located in Beijing, China. It used to be the Imperial

Palace of China from the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing
Dynasty. The Forbidden City now houses the Palace Museum.

The Forbidden City consists of 800 buildings with a total of 8, 886 rooms.
The whole palace covers 720, 000 square meters.

The Palace Museum is not the same as the National Palace Museum in
Taipei. Both museums are from the same institution, and they were separated
after the Chinese Civil War.

Construction of the Forbidden Palace was started during 1406, and lasted
fourteen years. It took about 200,000 men to build. For pillars of the most
important halls, Phoebe zhennan was used. This type of tree would be found in
western Asia, and are very precious. The original pillars are now gone, as they
were newly constructed with multiple pieces of plank wood.

A 7.9 m tall wall and a 52 m wide moat surround the Forbidden City. The
surrounding walls are 8.62 m wide at the base, thinning into 6.66m at the top.
These walls were specially made to withstand canon fire. The bricks used were
specially baked, and mortar was used in the cracks.

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 Oriental Pearl Tower

The Oriental Pearl Tower is located in Shanghai, China. It is beside the

HuangPu River. Designed by Jia Huan Cheng, the tower stands at 468 m high.
Construction started during 1991 and ended during 1995. It is the tallest Tower in
Asia, and the third tallest tower in the world. The tower belongs to the World
Federation of Great Towers.

The tower features eleven spheres, which are big and small. The two
largest ones are the lowest and the second lowest ones. The diameter of the
biggest sphere is 50 m and the other is 45 m.

One of the highlights of the Pearl Tower is the revolving restaurant. At the
height of 267 m, it provides a grand 360 view of Shanghai. Other highlights
include a shopping mall, exhibition facilities, and a twenty-room hotel between
the two large spheres.

The design of the tower is based on a verse in a Chinese poem by Bai

Juyi. The verse is about pearls big and small falling onto a jade plate. There are
eleven spheres on the tower, representing the pearls falling on the jade plate,
and the jade plate is the HuangPu River.

The Oriental Pearl Tower

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8. Chinese Currency

The official currency used by Mainland China is renminbi. The People’s

Bank of China issues it. The currency is used everywhere in China except for
Hong Kong and Macau.

The People’s Bank of China in December 1948 first issued Renminbi.

Hong Kong has its own currency, the Hong Kong dollar, but allows bank
members to hold renminbi in bank accounts. Macau has its currency the pataca.
Banks in Macau can issue credit cards based on the renminbi, but not loans.
Renminbi based credit cards cannot be used in Macau's casinos. In Taiwan, it is
illegal to use renminbi. The Chinese government believes bad things will happen
if there is too much usage. Tourists are allowed to bring 20,000 renminbi when
visiting Taiwan, and must convert that money into New Taiwan Dollar upon
arrival.

Chinese Renminbi

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9. Landscape and Geographical Location

The geographical location of China is 35°00′N, 105°00′E. it is bordered by

Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos,
Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. The total
area of China is 9,596,960 km², the land area is 9,326,410 km², and the water
area is 270,550 km². China is the fourth largest land in the world after Russia,
Canada, and USA. Since it would take me hours to describe the whole landscape
of China because of it’s massive size, I will only describe the landscape of
Beijing. In the north, northeast, and west, the are mountains. At the northwestern
part of Beijing, especially Yanqing Country and Huairou District, is dominated by
the Jundu Mountains, while the west part of Beijing is surrounded by the Xishan
Mountains. The Great Wall of China stretches along the northern part of cities,
and took advantage of the rugged terrain to defend China from invaders. Some
rivers that flow through Beijing are the Yongding River, and the Chaobai River.

A satellite image of China showing the terrain

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10. Canada’s Trade with China

Families in Canada benefit greatly from importing goods from China.

China seems to be making more and more goods each day, and exporting more
to Canada each day. The electric equipment, shoes, watches, clothes, furniture,
and toys make up a large part of the things that China exports. This keeps the
prices down in stores, and raises the wages of workers because they are
shipped in large quantities and are cheap. Canada’s stores also benefit from the
low prices of the goods that China makes, which allows them to save money and
keep their competitiveness in the market.

Currently, China is the fourth largest market in the world for Canada. While
exports for other countries have only risen 20% in the last five years, exports to
China have risen 91%. If there was a cutoff in exports and imports to and from
China, billions of dollars could be lost.

Trading with China is a win- win situation. Canadian people win as

consumers, because of the low prices, and as workers, because it doesn’t cost a
lot to buy goods from China so employers will have more money to pay
employees. Chinese people win because they can get money from exporting,
and China will have a better reputation in the world’s markets.

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Journal

Day 1 (April 18)

Just took off from Toronto at 11 a., m., and we have bad
luck already! Major thunderstorms are blasting our balloon while
we try to climb above the clouds were it isn’t so wet. Our
altimeter shows that we are at 1000 feet in the air, and our
compass is showing that we are heading south. Jay is navigating
the balloon to Trinidad, while Muhammad is bailing out water so
we can keep a decent ascent rate. It’s my break time right now,
so I am writing my journal.

Day 2 (April 19)

Finally made it to Trinidad, and we have landed in Port- of –

Spain. I don’t think I will ever let Jay fly the balloon again. He just
made a terrible landing, and the rough pavement of the airport
has bore a hole in the basket of the balloon. While Jay is
researching, we will go off to get postcards and to find materials
to fix our balloon. When Jay comes back, we will setup sleeping
bags near our Hot Air Balloon.

Day 3 (April 20)

So we are off again. Last nights sleep was everything but

comfortable. The grass near our hot air balloon was filled with
bugs, and that’s were we set up our sleeping bags. After

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successfully fixing our balloon with the help of friendly civilians,
we are on the go to Pakistan. Along the way, we will stop in Mali
to stock up on supplies. It is a beautiful day to be flying the wind
is calm, and skies are clear. Visibility is about 80 kilometers.
Muhammad is flying the balloon to Pakistan, and it is a much
smoother ride. We encountered some nasty turbulence during
ascent, but we made it through.

Day 4 (April 21)

We just came back from stocking up goods in Mali. There

are some very nice street vendors there that provided us food at
a discount price, as we are running low on saved money. The sun
is scorching hot here. We bought a lot of water during the trip in
Mali, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

Day 5 (April 22)

It’s really getting hot up here from all that sun. My shirt is
sticking onto me, and I bet I could squeeze out a million gallons
of water out of this. Isn’t a really good day for flying, as the winds
are blowing at 20 km an hour and there seems to be much more
turbulence today than on any other day.

Day 6 (April 23)

Finally made it to Pakistan. While Muhammad goes off to do

his thing, Jay and me get to buy postcards and enjoy the

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delicious foods of Pakistan. We just filled our bellies with some
curry chicken from a local restaurant, and we are now trying to
see if there is traditional Pakistani drink we can get. When
Muhammad gets back, we might go to a hotel for a try.

Day 7 (April 24)

And we are off again. This time, I am navigating the ship. I

can already see my destination, China, because it is right beside
Pakistan. This afternoon, we should be landing and staying at a
hotel for the night, and I will begin my research on China the next
day.

Day 8 (April 25)

I woke up early, and careful not to wake up my tired friends,

I set out to do my research. First, I went to the Forbidden Palace,
and what an amazing place that was. There were beautiful and
tall columns, stone carvings of lions, and really nice chairs. It
took me about an hour to rush around parts of the massive place
and take notes. Next, I went to meet a professor who new many
things about China. He invited me to go to the revolving
restaurant on the Oriental Pearl Tower to discuss things. When
we finally got there on the busy streets, there was a long line of
people waiting to get their tickets. When we finally got our
tickets, we took and exhilarating ride up the tower on the fast
elevator. As we entered the restaurant, I saw a fantastic view of
Shanghai. As we found a seat by the window, we started

19
discussing about China. A waitress came, and the professor
ordered all the traditional foods he could find on the menu. The
first dish to come was the dumplings. They were delicious. Nest,
came spring rolls. Those were even better than the dumplings. As
we ate, we drank tea, which many Chinese people do, and he
told me many things I never new about China, like how much
people there are (there’s so much numbers that I can’t
remember without writing it down!). He told me about Chinese
history, and all about and ancient emperor called Qin Shi Huan.
He also told me many interesting facts that he new about his
favourite basketball player, Yao Ming. Finally, it was time for me
to go back to our hot air balloon. When I got back, I found Jay and
Muhammad playing with some little souvenirs they found at
street vendor stalls. We found a hotel with untaken rooms, and
we slept and prepared ourselves for the long trip tomorrow.

Day 9 (April 25)

It is finally time to go home. We are all excited to tell our

teacher about our trips and adventures. We are going to take
shifts navigating the balloon. Jay went first, then Muhammad, and
then me. The weather today is a beauty. The sun is bright, there
is a slight cool breeze, and visibility is almost unlimited. Jay’s
navigational abilities still aren’t very good, and I bet we will go of
course.

Day 10 (April 26)

20
 Jay is crazy, and he flew the balloon so fast that we had
even had time to make a stop in Paris to get supplies and stay
around for a while. It’s Muhammad’s turn to navigate today, and I
can almost see the Atlantic Ocean looming up ahead. The
weather is gray and fogged in. Visibility is only a few kilometers,
and we all need to keep a look out for any obstacles.

Day 11 (April 27)

We have finally made it back. The landing was sort of

rough, but that was because of the high crosswinds. Now, Jay
won’t stop bothering me about that landing and how it was worse
than when he landed in Paris. I think my nerves are going to blow
soon.

George

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Bibliography
Websites Used

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/climate.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China#Geography_and_climate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_money

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_China#location

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Chinese_clothing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Pearl_Tower

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang_Di

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1462681

http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/explore/nations/china.html#fw..ch122500.a10.c30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yao_Ming

Search Engines Used

http://www.google.ca/

http://www.askforkids.com/

http://www.yahoo.com/

http://www.live.com/

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