China

China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a sovereign state in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of over 1.35 billion. The PRC is a one-party state governed by the Communist Party, with its seat of government in the capital city of Beijing. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces; five autonomous regions; four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing); two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau); and claims sovereignty over Taiwan.

Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometers, China is the world's second-largest country by land area, and either the third or fourth-largest by total area, depending on the method of measurement. China's landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes and the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts in the arid north to subtropical forests in the wetter south. The Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the world, run from the Tibetan Plateau to the densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long, and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.

China (footballer, born 1982)

João Pedro dos Santos Gonçalves (born 15 April 1982 in Beja), known as China, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Cypriot club Nea Salamis Famagusta FC as a left back.

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China (China album)

China is the debut studio album by hard rock band China, released in 1988, through record label Vertigo. The singles of this album were "Hot Lovin' Night", "Shout It Out" and "Wild Jealousy".

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China (The Office)

"China" is the tenth episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 136th episode overall. It originally aired on NBC on December 2, 2010. The episode was written by Halsted Sullivan and Warren Lieberstein, and directed by Charles McDougall. The episode guest stars Mark Proksch as Nate and Hugh Dane as Hank.

The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. In this episode, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) reads an article about China growing as a global power and decides it must be stopped before it takes over the United States. Pam Halpert (Jenna Fischer) threatens to move Dunder Mifflin to a new building after everyone in the office complains about Dwight Schrute's (Rainn Wilson) building standards. Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson) is sick of Andy Bernard's (Ed Helms) annoying text messages.

The episode received largely positive reviews from television critics, many of whom felt that the confrontation between Oscar and Michael was realistic and humorous. "China" was viewed by 7.31 million viewers and received a 3.7 rating among adults between the age of 18 and 49, marking a slight drop in the ratings when compared to the previous week. Despite this, the episode was the highest-rated NBC series of the night that it aired, as well as the highest-rated non-sports NBC broadcast for the week it aired.

History of China

Written records of the history of China can be found from as early as 1500 BC under the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC). Ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian (ca. 100 BC) and the Bamboo Annals describe a Xia dynasty (c. 2070–1600 BC), which had no system of writing on a durable medium, before the Shang. The Yellow River is said to be the cradle of Chinese civilization, although cultures originated at various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys millennia ago in the Neolithic era. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization.

Much of Chinese culture, literature and philosophy further developed during the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). The Zhou dynasty began to bow to external and internal pressures in the 8th century BC, and the kingdom eventually broke apart into smaller states, beginning in the Spring and Autumn period and reaching full expression in the Warring States period. This is one of multiple periods of failed statehood in Chinese history, the most recent being the Chinese Civil War that started in 1927.

Religion in China

China has long been a cradle and host to a variety of the most enduring religio-philosophical traditions of the world. Confucianism and Taoism, plus Buddhism, constitute the "three teachings", philosophical frameworks which historically have had a significant role in shaping Chinese culture. Elements of these three belief systems are incorporated into folk or popular religions. Chinese religions are family-oriented and do not demand exclusive adherence, allowing the practice or belief of several at the same time. Some scholars prefer not to use the term "religion" in reference to belief systems in China, and suggest "cultural practices", "thought systems" or "philosophies" as more appropriate terms. The emperors of China claimed the Mandate of Heaven and participated in Chinese religious practices. Since 1949, China has been governed by the Communist Party of China, which, in theory, is an atheist institution and prohibits party members from belonging to a religion. During Mao Zedong's rule, religious movements were oppressed. Under following leaders, religious organisations have been given more autonomy. At the same time, China is considered a nation with a long history of humanist and secularist, this-worldly thought since the time of Confucius, who stressed shisu (Chinese: 世俗; pinyin: shìsú, "being in the world"), and Hu Shih stated in the 1920s that "China is a country without religion and the Chinese are a people who are not bound by religious superstitions". The Party formally and institutionally recognises five religions in China: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism (though despite historic links, the Party enforces a separation of the Chinese Catholic Church from the Roman Catholic Church), and there has been more institutional recognition for Confucianism and the Chinese folk religion.