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China

China3rd largest country in the world in area

9.6 million km2

Largest population1.3 Billion

4000 years of historyDiverse landscape

Mountains, plains, desertDiverse population

55 ethnic groups

China’s GeographyWestern China is sparsely populated

Mountainous to the southwest (Himalayas)Desert to the north (Gobi and Takla Makan)

3 main rivers that flow from the mountains down into the coastal plainsYellow River (Huang)Yangtze RiverPearl River (Xi)

China’s ClimateNorth (Beijing) similar to TorontoSouth (Guangzhou) tropicalIn winter, cool dry winds blow from the

west, so little precipitationIn summer, warm, moist monsoon winds

blow in from the Pacific, so very wet along the coast

Chairman MaoChinese communist revolutionarySeizes power in 1949Uses violence to overthrow landlords,

converts China into a series of communesResponsible for an estimated 40 – 70

million deaths during his reign (many during the Great Chinese Famine)

Brutal regime quashes all dissent

Chairman MaoMany failed policies

Believed large population is good for China, under his regime China’s population almost doubled (550 million to over 900 million)

Believed industrialization was important to China’s economic growth, so puts farmers to work in factories

What do you think happened when you had twice as many people, but substantially less food producers?

China’s EconomyStrictly communist during Mao’s reign

No private propertyNo private businessGovernment decides what crops to grow,

who grows what, and then distributes the food to the people

China’s EconomyMao dies in 1978 and Deng Xiaoping takes

overPopulation control implemented (1 child

policy)China moves from a pure command

economy to a socialist market economyCentral government still exhibits tight control

over all aspects of life, but private property and profit are allowed

China TodayCurrently the world’s second largest

economy behind the United StatesSome forecasters predict it will be the

world’s largest economy by 2016Emphasis on manufacturing and agriculture

Cheap labour is the cornerstone of Chinese economy

China TodayChina exports a massive amount of goods

because of their cheap labourThey also import massive amounts of

materials to fuel growth (metals, cement, oil and gas)

China vs. CanadaChina’s GDP is 8 times bigger than

Canada’sCanada’s GDP per capita is 5 times larger

than China’sWhat does this mean?

ChallengesAs the government pulls back, people

who used to be guaranteed a job are now without work

Rapid growth is causing pollution and environmental degradation

Impacts of the 1 child policyMale heirs are preferred, so large number of

aborted baby girlsToday there are about 60 million more males than

females in ChinaRatio of working people to retired people will

move from 9:1 to 4:1 by 2025

Tourism in China?Nonexistant between 1949 and 1978Mao Tse-Tung’s policies were isolationist

Very few people allowed into ChinaAbout 125,000 invited guests visited over 29

yearsTo be caught in China without permission

meant imprisonmentThose who did visit only saw what the

government wanted them to see

Tourism in ChinaToday China is the fourth most popular

tourist destination in the worldExpected to be most popular by 2020Mao’s cultural revolution destroyed much

of China’s cultural artifactsUnder Deng Xiaoping tourism was given

high priorityHistoric sites restored: Great Wall, Terracotta

Army, Ming Tombs

The Great Wall of China

The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century.

Tourism in ChinaRemember who’s #1 worldwide?

France: annual growth rate of tourism industry is 0.1%

China’s growth rate for tourism is about 27%

More an Chinese Tourism later…Recap:

What are the main geographic regions of China?

What’s China’s climate like?What was the effect of Mao’s death an

China’s economy and tourism specifically?What are the problems associated with

China’s huge population?