China+Chapter+1

Read Chapter 1 in your China book and post 4 things from the following categories.

1. An image that reflects some topic covered in the book. 2. A statistic from the chapter that you have updated with the latest data. 3. A piece of information that you predict will be critical to our understanding of China and why you think its important.

Sam Wickham:

1) The geography of China varies distinctly from east (Macau beach) to west (Qinling mountain range).

2) As of today, 92% of the Chinese population is comprised of the Han, or pure chinese. This differs from the 94% reported in the book.

3) I think it will be important to realize that China has been relatively isolated geographically from other major civilizations throughout its history. This fact may help us explain various developments in chinese government and culture that are unique to the Chinese. Another fact that I think is worth noting is that at the time the book was published, 80% of the chinese population still lived in the countryside. It will be interesting to see how this trend of "decentralized industry" (away from the major cities) has shaped Chinese commerce bot internally and externally.

Adam Grey 1) A map of China's various ethnic groups. I wanted to find a picture of the sunken roadways and cart tracks in the North but I couldn't.

2) As of 1988, China's total population was 1.07 billion. Today, it's 1.34 billion.

3) The impact of the Qinling mountain range will be important in our understanding of the developement of China's history. It divides China into north and south and, consequentially, both regions have developed very differently. We will probably find that how China came to be the way it is is due in large part to the effect the Qinling mountain range had on Chinese history.

Jeffrey G. Rosenberg:

1.)

2.) As of 1995, China's population density was approximately 156 people per square mile (Excluding Farther Tibet and Outer Mongolia). As of 2006, China's population density was approximately 360.475 people per square mile.

3.) By identifying differences in climate between northern and southern China, we will discover how climate affects agriculture, which in turn affects the development of each region's infrastructure and economy; for example, one factor that allowed southern China to prosper was that it was warm, moist, and had a growing season as long as nine months.

Derek Crowley 1.) 2.) As of the year 2005 40.4% of China's population live in cities rather than in small towns or villages which is up from 20% of the population like it says in the book.

3.) It will be important to realize that China has only recently started major industrialization and even though so many people live in China's cities there are still more people living in rural towns and villages today. It will be important to learn about what caused the delay in industrialization and how that affected the speed in which China had to industrialize. It will also be interesting to learn what affects industrialization and the change in urban population had on China's people.

Alexander Stravinski

1. http://ieas.berkeley.edu/images/gas/Woo_Yangzi_River.jpg

This is the Yangzi river. It's the longest river in China.

2.The book said the Yangzi is the sixth longest river in the world at 3,200 miles long. It is now the third longest river at 3,917.

3. I believe the fact that China being made up of multiple ethnic groups will play into history since they will have trouble finding a national identity and will also have troubles with nationalism.

Jason Purnell 1. http://www.c-ref.de/gallery/albums/maps/special/China_agricultural_1986.jpg 2. The book says "Yet another greater dam is planned within the three gorges"(p6). However today the three gorges dam is complete. It was finished October 30, 2008. 3. I think it is important to know about China's vast differences in dialect throughout different regions. Because the book stressed the fact that "it might easily in the course of its history have broken up permanently"(p5). Yet it has not despite its difference in spoken language throughout the country.

Sebastian Bellisario

1. http://www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/images/arbigimages/2343e2410b581e201c50db01a2b7e9d5.jpg

2. China's area was said to be second only to that of Russia and tied with the United States. In actuality it is third behind, Russia and Canada, and tied with the United States.

3. An in important fact to recognize is that until recently, the majority of Chinese interaction with the outside world has come through southern China, and because of the drastic differences between the north and the south, outside opinion of China could be radically different from the truth of Northern China.

Tim Robinson

1. http://www.lvwo.com/bbs/attachments/month_0611/china%20physical%20map.._QJNSZ7Diq6VZ.jpg (an elevation map of China illustrating a constant downward slope from east to west)

2. China's density population (including Tibet and Mongolia) in the book is recorded as 120 persons per square mile. Today it is said to be over 136 persons per square mile.

3. With national spoken language being used by more and more citizens China is becoming increasingly more unified than it has ever been in the past. The repercussions of this will prove very interesting in the upcoming years.