China Destination Travel Guide

China travel Guide - THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA is the third largest country in the world in terms of area and the largest in terms of population. Its total area is 9.6 million square kilometers and its population is 1.2 billion. China has shared borders for centuries with Korea, the formerly Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

China is the most populous country in the world, with 1.25909 billion people at the end of 1999, about 22 percent of the world's total. This figure does not include many Chinese in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Taiwan Province and Macao Special Administrative Region.

China Cities Travel Guide

China, China Map, Beijing, Changchun, Changsha, Chengde, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dali, Dunhuang, Guilin, Haikou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Nanning, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Taian, Tianjin, Weihai, Wuyisha, Xiamen, Xian, Yangzhou, Zhuhai

The population density in China is 130 people per sq km. This population, however, is unevenly distributed. Along the densely populated east coast there are more than 400 people per sq km; in the central areas, over 200; and in the sparsely populated plateaus in the west there are less than 10 people per sq km.

The following table gives an overall view of the composition of the population of China:

Urban/rural: The population in cities and towns makes up 30.4 percent; and that in rural areas, 69.6 percent.
Sex: The male population is 50.8 percent; and the female population, 49.2 percent.
Age: People 14 years or younger make up 25.7 percent; those from 15 to 64, 67.6 percent; and those 65 or older, 6.7 percent.

The following table gives an overall view of the composition of the population of China:
Urban/rural The population in cities and towns makes up 30.4 percent; and that in rural areas, 69.6 percent.

Sex: The male population is 50.8 percent; and the female population, 49.2 percent.

Age: People 14 years or younger make up 25.7 percent; those from 15 to 64, 67.6 percent; and those 65 or older, 6.7 percent.

When New China was founded in 1949, China had a population of 541.67 million. Owing to China’s stable society, rapid production development, improvement of medical and health conditions, insufficient awareness of the importance of population growth control and shortage of experience, the population grew rapidly, reaching 806.71 million in 1969. In the early 1970s, the Chinese government realized that the over-rapid population growth was harmful to economic and social development, and would cause great difficulties in the fields of employment, housing, communications and medical care; and that if China could not effectively check the over-rapid population growth, and alleviate the tremendous pressure that the population growth was exerting on land, forests and water resources, the worsening of the ecology and the environment in the coming decades would be disastrous, thus endangering the necessary conditions for the survival of humanity, and sustainable social and economic development. Then the Chinese government began implementing a family planning, population control and population quality improvement policy in accordance with China’s basic conditions of being a large country with a poor economic foundation, a large population and little cultivated land, so as to promote the coordinated development of the economy, society, resources and environment. Since then birth rates have steadily declined year by year. China’s birth rate dropped from 34.11 per thousand in 1969 to 15.23 per thousand at the end of 1999; and the natural growth rate decreased from 26.08 per thousand to 8.77 per thousand, thus basically realizing a change in the population reproduction type to one characterized by low-birth, low-death and low-increase rates.

Modern tourism in China sprang up in the early 1950s. In 1954, the China International Travel Service was established, with 14 branches in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and other major cities. In 1964, the State Tourism Administration of China was formally established. Since the initiation of the policies of reform and opening to the outside world in 1978, China’s tourism has entered a stage of rapid development. In 1999, the number of tourists entering China reached 72.8 million, of which 8.43 million were foreign tourists, 40 times the figure for 1978. Consequently, the foreign exchange income from this industry reached US$14.1 billion, 54 times that of 1978. Currently, China has become an important tourism destination in Asia, and the fifth large fourism country in the world. Domestic tourism is also growing vigorously. In 1999, the number of domestic tourists reached 719 million, spending a total of 283.2 billion yuan—14.3 percent and 105.9 percent increases over 1995, respectively. With the i

Sunrise on Mount Taishan

mprovement of the Chinese people’s living standards, Chinese citizens have an increasingly strong interest in traveling abroad. In recent years, Chinese citizens have traveled to Southeast Asia and Europe. Foreign travel agencies are now opening offices in China to attract Chinese to travel abroad.
Now, China is fast on its way to becoming a country with developed tourism, and constantly improving tourism facilities and services. It is estimated that, by 2020, China will be the world’s No. 1 tourism destination and the fourth-largest nation of tourists.