North West Community Campus

Social Subjects – BGE

An Introduction to China

Where is China Located?

China is a country which is located in South East Asia. It is the third largest country in the works and has a population of over 1.3 Billion! This is about one-fifth

of the world’s population.

Interesting facts about China

• The capital of China is Beijing.

• The Chinese fag is red with five yellow stars (each with 5 points) in the

upper left hand corner.

• China is the third largest country in the world.

• China’s land area of 9.6 million km2 is:

o About the same as the USA

o One and a half times larger than Europe

o Nearly 40 times larger than the UK.

• It has the world’s largest population with more than one in five (21%) of

people living within this one country.

• China’s population of 1.3billion is:

o Two and a half times larger than that of Europe

o 5 times larger than the USA’s

o 20 times larger than the UK’s.

• China has a variety of different landscapes. For instance, it has lots of

mountains, deserts and large coastlines.

• The climate in China can vary. There are dry seasons in the summer

(periods without any rainfall) and wet monsoons in the winter (periods

with very heavy rainfall).

• China is so large and there are many differences between the people who

live in the urban areas and the people who live in the rural areas.

Use the space below to research (if you can) at least 6 other facts about China.

Colour the flag of China below.

Colour China on the map of the world below:

The Famous Cities of China Read the paragraph below and complete the missing words using the map of

China and the word bank below.

The Capital City of China is .......................... There are approximately

................... people living here. This city hosted the 2008............................ These

games were a source of national pride for China. As a result, public support for

the Chinese........................ was strengthened.

China’s largest city is.......................... This city is one of the .................. cities in

the world! It has a population of approximately....................... This city is very

famous for its fascinating............................ It is the business and trading centre

of China.

Life in China Life in China is different from life in Scotland.

Names

In China individuals place the family name first. For example in the name Mao

Zedong, Mao is the surname. Chinese women keep their maiden name when

they marry; it is only the child that takes the father’s name. Most families

consist of only one child due to government regulations.

Writing

The Chinese do not use an alphabet, but characters.

These characters can be altered to make different words.

Education

Attending school is compulsory for all children. However, some children in the

countryside fail to get a proper education and some girls fail to attend school at

all. In general, children start school at six years old and complete nine years of

education. Some children many also attend ‘kindergarten’ or nursery.

Holidays

There are many official festivals and holidays in China

including: New Year Day, Chinese New Year (three days),

Children’s Day, Army Day and National Day. There are no religious observation

days as the practice of any religion is not encouraged.

Recreation

Hobbies can vary from traditional Chinese activities to those that

are more familiar to us. For example older people can be seen

doing Tai Chi in parks; younger people play pool outdoors; people play table

tennis and football, and in the countryside people watch travelling street

theatre and other open-air shows. Many individuals also keep goldfish as pets as

they are supposed to be lucky.

Use the table below to compare life in Scotland to life in China.

China Scotland

Names:

Family name first and then person’s

name

First name than family name

Writing:

Education

Holidays

Recreation

The Three Gorges Dam

The three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric river dam that spans the Yangtze River. It is the largest hydroelectric power station in the world. Construction was started on the dam on the 14th of December 1994 and it wasn’t fully completed until May 2012.

There are many advantages and disadvantages of building the Three Gorges

Dam.

Read the statements below and colour code them if you think they are an

advantage or disadvantage of building the Three Gorges Dam.

Advantage

Disadvantage

Ancient China – Chinese Terracotta Warriors

Until 220BC, there was no actual country called China. Instead China was a large

collection of states in which people spoke the same language and lived similar

lifestyles.

By 221BC Qin Shi Huang had defeated all of his other rivals from different tribes.

He brought together these states in to one united state. China was now united

under one powerful ruler, Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

Emperor Qin ordered the building of a huge wall. This wall required hundreds of

thousands of men to build and is thought to be the very first version of the

Great Wall of China.

In 1974, China discovered Qin’s burial site and an entire army belonging to him.

Archaeologists discovered huge pits seven metres deep. Inside the pits were

Qin’s soldiers. Each figure was made from clay and had a determined expression

on his face – as though they were going to battle! Each warrior was perfectly

persevered for over 2,200 years and were lined up in perfect, organised rows!

Tourism If you were a tourist and wanted to visit China what sort of things might you

suggest that they do?

If you can research different tourist attractions and makes notes about what

you would suggest in the space below.

The One Child Policy Deng Xiaping introduced the One Child Policy to China in 1979. It was

introduced to limit the number of children a married couple could have to just

one child. The policy was designed to try and reduce China’s growing

population.

The conditions of the policy include:

o A child could only be born to a married couple with a permit.

o Contraception was widely available.

o National advertising campaigns were launched to remind people that it

was better to only have one child.

Read the statements below and colour code them if you think they are an

advantage or disadvantage of the one child policy.

Advantage Disadvantage

Woman take fewer maternity breaks More money will be spent on the child

Single pregnant women were tortured

and lost their babies.

More women will be promoted due to

fewer maternity breaks

Families of women who were having

unauthorised babies were also

tortured.

More women in the work force as

they are cheap labour

Less money needs to be spent on

child care costs

Children without a permit would not

receive a name, passport or an

education.

Poster Task

Now you have learned lots about China you can create a poster about the

country, cities, history, politics and tourism.

You should include information on the following:

• Where China is in the world

• China’s flag

• 10 facts about China

• What life is like in China compared to Scotland

• The Three Gorges Dam

• What tourists might like to see in China

• The one child policy

The poster should also be neat, tidy and colourful.

Good Luck!