CHINA COUNTRY

CHINA'S DIVERSITY

China's Diversity of Scenery

China has :

1. Two of the world's longest rivers (the Yellow River and the Yangzi)
2. The vast Qinghai-Tibet plateau and the huge plains of North China. The climate varies from the subtropical south, with a heavy monsoon rainfall, to the arid North-west; in winter the temperature can be -30°C in the North-east, yet 15°C in the far South.
3. The world's highest mountain (Qomolangma Feng - Mt Everest)
4. Two of the largest deserts (the Gobi and the Taklamakan)

Yellow River & Yangzi River

Highest mountain (Qomolangma Feng)

China's Diversity Of People

There are over 50 different nationalities living in China. The majority (94 percent) are Han Chinese; the other groups include Tibetans, Mongolians, Uyghurs, Zhuang, Li and Miao whose languages and customs are quite different from those of the Han.

1. She Minority People (Fujian and Zhejiang provinces)

The She are an ethnic group that lives primarily on the border region between the coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang in southeast China, with smaller numbers in Guangdong, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces. They have mixed with the Han for a long time and most speak Han languages. They cultivate rice and tea. The She live primarily on steep slopes in river valleys or hilly area at elevations between 500 and 1, 500 meters. They inhabit an area the highlands of southeast China, where, it is said, the mountains are not high but are dark green, and the rivers are not wide but run vertically and horizontally. The climate is mild and humid, the frost season brief, and the land fertile. She are mostly farmers. They grow rice, potatoes, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, wheat, rape, beans, tobacco, tea, oil tea, dried and cured bamboo shoots, peanuts, ramie, camphor and medicinal herbs. The She worship their ancestors and believe in ghosts. Among their most important celebrations are ceremonies that honor family ancestors. In these a picture of Pan Hu is hung in the ancestor hall and the names of all living lineage males are written on a banner. Other festivals honor folk heros and gods. Part time shaman are consulted for treatment of diseases and the exorcism of ghosts. The dead have traditionally been cremated but now they are often buried.

2. Tibetan People

• Introduction 

The Tibetans first settled along the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet. Evidence of the new and Old Stone Age culture was found in archaeological excavations at Nyalam, Nagqu, Nyingchi and Qamdo. According to ancient historical documents, members of the earliest clans formed tribes known as "Bos" in the Shannan area. Under the rule of feudal serfdom, which combined political and religious powers, the Tibetans' social life and customs and habits bore obvious marks of their historical traditions and distinctive culture.

• Tibetan Name 

As a rule, a Tibetan goes only by his given name and not family name, and the name generally tells the sex. As the names are mostly taken from the Buddhist scripture, namesakes are common, and differentiation is made by adding "senior," "junior" or the outstanding features of the person or by mentioning the birthplace, residence or profession before the names. Nobles and Living Buddhas often add the names of their houses, official ranks or honorific titles before their names.

• Clothing 

All Tibetans, men and women, like to wear ornaments. Men usually wear a queue coiled on top of the head. Some cut their hair short, like a canopy. Women, when coming of age, begin to plait their hair into two queues or many tiny queues which are adorned with ornaments. Both men and women wear felt or fine fur hats. They wear long-sleeved silk or cloth jackets topped with loose gowns which are tied with a band on the right. Women in some farming areas wear sleeveless gowns or home-spun wool. Herdsmen and women do not wear jackets, but are clad in sheepskin robes, with sleeves, collars and fronts edged with fine fur or dyed cloth laces. Men wear trousers and women wear skirts. All men and women wear woolen or leather boots. Men have long waistbands while women in farming areas wear aprons with beautiful patterns. They use woolen blankets as mattresses or cushions and their quilts are made of sheepskin or wool. Poor peasants and herdsmen have neither mattresses nor quilts.

• Food 

Zamba, roasted qingko barley or pea meal mixed with tea, is the staple food of Tibetan peasants. Tea with butter or milk is the favorite of all Tibetans. Buttered tea is made in a wooden tub. In pastoral areas, the staple foods are beef and mutton. They eat out of wooden bowls and with short-handled knives which they always carry with them.

FAMOUS FOOD IN CHINA

Dumplings are a famous traditional northern Chinese food. They are half-moon-shaped, soft, stuffed pasta — like ravioli. Dumplings are named according to their various fillings and cooking methods (fried, heated in boiling water, or steamed).

Dumplings have also become a common type of food in southern China, where people don't grow/eat wheat as a rule. "Southern dumpling” skins are typically made of rice.

An Important Chinese New Year Food

Dumplings are a traditional Spring Festival food in northern China, but not in the south. On the eve of the Spring Festival, dumplings have an irreplaceable place in many New Year's Eve banquets, though some areas choose to eat dumplings after New Year's Eve.

Dumplings are a representative Chinese cuisine, with both shape and filling having cultural meaning. That's why they're essential for some during Spring Festival, as they express their aspirations for a better life, and hopes for certain blessings.

Symbolizing Wealth

Eating dumplings at the Spring Festival is said to bring good fortune financially, as dumplings look like ingots, the currency used in old times.

Symbolic Dumpling Stuffings

Celery stuffing represents industriousness and (resulting) wealth. Reason: 'Celery' (芹菜 qíncài /chin-tseye/) sounds like 'industrious wealth' (勤财 qíncái). Leek stuffing represents long-term wealth. Reason: 'Leek' (韭菜 jiǔcài /jyoh-tseye/) sounds like 'industrious wealth' (久财 qíncái). It also represents a wish for the family to be in good health, harmony, joy and happiness 久: 日久生情, 永久和平 'familiarity breeds fondness', 'enduring peace').

Cabbage stuffing represents the blessing for a well-off life for a hundred years. 白菜 báicài /beye-tseye/ 'white vegetable') sounds like 'hundred wealth' (百财 bǎicái). It also represents the enduring love between new couples (from the popular saying including : 白头到老 'white head until old'… to live in conjugal bliss until the white hairs of old age; “until death do us part”).

Mushroom stuffing is the mascot for increasing wealth and luck. Reason: Mushrooms are shaped like an up arrow showing, for example, the stock market's growth, progress, increasing quality of life, or wishes for the younger generation to grow taller and improve in their studies, etc.

Fish stuffing means surplus wealth. Reason: 'Fish' (鱼 yú /yoo/) sounds the same as 'surplus' (余 yú). Eating fish dumplings means wishing you have a lot of remaining money. "年年有（鱼）余 'surplus year after year' " is a popular saying in China, which express a desire that expects every year remaining food.

Beef stuffing represents strong economic growth. The bull symbolizes strength, and is favored by stock investors. 'Bull market' (牛市) in Chinese refers to a period of rising stock prices. The popular saying牛气十足('bull energy ten sufficient') wishes good health and happiness.