intro 1, 2

Introduction

• Greetings!

  • 你好！ (Nǐ hǎo!) - Hello! or how do you do?

  • 我叫 (Wǒ jiào) - I’m called [name]

  • 你呢? (Nǐ ne) - And you?

Features of China

General Features

1. Land Area

   • China (People’s Republic of China - PRC) is a large country.

   • Total land area: 9.6 million square kilometers.

   • Size comparison: nearly the same as the USA.

2. Population

   • Approximately 1.4 billion people.

3. Economy

   • The second-largest economy in the world.

Geographical Features

• Map of China (Contains highlights of major cities and geographical features)

Historical Features

1. Long History

   • Chinese civilization: only uninterrupted civilization in the world.

2. Coastal Line

   • China has extensive maritime borders with South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

3. Great Wall

   • Length: 21,196 kilometers.

Cultural Features

1. Diversity

   • 56 ethnic groups, with 55 minority groups.

2. Bordering Countries

   • 14 countries share borders with China: Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Laos, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Tajikistan, North Korea, and Bhutan.

Contributions of China

1. Gunpowder

   • Initially used in fireworks, later for military purposes.

2. Paper

   • Invented by Cai Lun in Han Dynasty; spread throughout Asia and the world.

3. Compass

   • Discovered magnetite while mining; used for navigation.

4. Printing

   • Developed fixed-type engraved printing around 600 AD.

Videos about China

1. Introduction of China - Video Link

2. National Geographic documentaries 2015 - Video Link

Today’s China

• Modern and Traditional Mix

• Rapid economic development in the past 30 years.

• Video about today's China - Video Link

Changes of China

• Shenzhen

  • Notable development from 1980 to 2012.

Shanghai

• Overview of Shanghai's past and current status.

Modern Innovations

1. e-Payment Method

   • Videos illustrating methods in Shenzhen and Guangzhou

   • Shenzhen Video

   • Guangzhou Video

2. Clean Energy

   • China is the biggest producer of clean energy in the world.

3. Electric Vehicles

   • Leading in pure electric car sales in early 2024.

Chinese Language

1. Official Language

   • Pǔtōnghuà (普通话) - Standard Mandarin.

   • Dialects based on the Beijing dialect and Northern dialects.

2. Various Dialects

   • Regions and their associated dialects:

     • Gan - Jiangxi

     • Kejia - Guangxi

     • Min - Fujian and Taiwan

     • Wu - Shanghai

     • Xiang - Hunan

     • Yue - Guangdong and Hong Kong

   • Writing characters remain the same despite pronunciation differences.

3. Unique Characteristics

   • Earliest characters (甲骨文) date back over 3700 years from Shang Dynasty.

Chinese Writing System

1. Symbols - Characters

   • Logographic writing system using symbols to represent meanings.

2. Phonetic Differences

   • Unlike phonetic languages (e.g., English), it does not have a syllabic system.

Pronunciation - Pinyin

• Consists of:

  • 23 Initial Consonants

  • 36 Final Vowels

  • 5 Tones (声调)

• Chinese language is tonal; each character corresponds to a single syllable.

Chinese Words

1. Word Structure

   • Contains:

     • Image (character)

     • Pronunciation (Pinyin)

     • Meaning

Conclusion about Chinese Language

1. Pinyin

   • Uses 26 Roman letters to represent sounds of Chinese characters.

2. Writing System

   • Logographic; symbols convey meanings rather than phonetics.