China Highlights CHINA VIDEO COMPILATION China latest version reduced China long version General Information CHINA LATEST VERSION https://www.doubledutchworldsafari.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/China-Overland-75-reduced-235-mb-1-1.mp4 2. CHINA LONG VERSION For more details, blogs & Pictures click here; https://www.doubledutchworldsafari.au/our-journey/asia-2/china/ 3. General Information Ever since the world discovered China through the writings of adventurer Marco Polo more than 700 years ago, we’ve come to regard this large Asian country as the embodiment of all that is mysterious and exotic. The contrast between China’s ancient customs and the new ultra-modern state that is developing is amazing. China the worlds most populous country with around 1.4 billion people, all governed by the Communist Party of China. It now also includes Hong Kong and Macau. China’s economy has been one of the fastest growing in the world. For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest and major famines, military defeats and foreign occupation. After World War II, the communist regime under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring Chinas sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by the year 2000, output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the opportunity for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight. China`s population is around 1.4 billion. China is rich in coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury, tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, aluminium, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world`s largest). It has a lot of environmental issues to address; air pollution and greenhouse gasses; reliance on coal produces acid rain; water shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development; desertification and trade in endangered species. They have a lot to contend with as they move forward. China also has a lot of natural hazards like frequent typhoons (about five per year along the Southern and Eastern Coast); it also has damaging floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and drought. During our visit we experienced floods and in another part of the country and an earthquake. We also covered Tibet in a separate trip from the Kyrgyzstan border to Nepal border. Ever since the world discovered China through the writings of adventurer Marco Polo more than 700 years ago, we’ve come to regard this large Asian country as the embodiment of all that is mysterious and exotic. The contrast between China’s ancient customs and the new ultra-modern state that is developing is amazing.