2013-526 Arts - The Arts Center for 2013 Fall Art Agreement $1,500

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® j s • China is the third largest country in the world with a landmass slightly larger than that of the US and slightly smaller than that of Canada. • In terms of population China has more people than any other country on Earth with more than 1.3 billion inhabitants. The majority of these people are Han Chinese but there are 55 additional officially recognized ethnic groups or "minzu" as they are called in Mandarin. • One out of every five people in the world is Chinese or of Chinese origin. • Construction on The Great Wall of China was started in the 7th Century BC and continued for more than 2000 years. In Chinese the structure is called "Chang Cheng" or "Long Wall." It is often said that the structure was built to keep out invaders from the north, but the original, smaller walls were erected by feudal warlords to protect their lands. Over the years these walls were joined together and by the time of The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) the structure extended for approximately 6,000 kilometers or 3,600 miles. • Only slightly less impressive than The Great Wall is The Grand Canal, which connects Beijing in The North with Hangzhou in The South. The oldest parts of the canal date back to the 5th century BC, and the various sections were finally combined during the Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD). Its length is just over 1,100 miles. The Grand Canal allowed trade over great distances and also meant that soldiers stationed in the north of the country did not have to devote a lot of their time and resources to agriculture. Today the canal is used more for the transport of building materials such as bricks, gravel and sand, or fuels such as coal and diesel. • China is divided into 29 provinces the biggest of which is Xinjiang or "The New Territory" (sometimes called Sinkiang in The West) and Xizang which we know as Tibet. Guangdong Province in the south is the most populated province with almost 100 million people! Despite an economic boom over the last two decades, China today is still largely a bicycle culture. People use their bikes to get to and from work, to take their children to school, for shopping, or to transport goods such as food, clothing `T and even furniture! Bicycles-share the many smaller city streets with cars, trucks, traveling vendors and pedestrians.