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Arts in Education Grant—Fall 2013-14 McDougle Elementary School PTA <br /> *China is the third largest country in the world with a landmass slightly larger <br /> than that of the US and slightly smaller than that of Canada. <br /> _, •In terms of population China has more people than any other country on Earth <br /> with more than 1.3 billion inhabitants.The majority of these people are Han <br /> } Chinese but there are 55 additional officially recognized ethnic groups or <br /> minzu"as they are called in Mandarin. <br /> .° • One out of every five people in the world is Chinese or of Chinese origin. <br /> Q Construction on The Great Wall of China was started in the 7th Century BC and <br /> continued for more than 2000 years.In Chinese the structure is called"Chang <br /> Chang-or"Long Wall."It is often said that the structure was built to keep out <br /> invaders from the north,but the original,smaller walls were erected by feudal <br /> warlords to protect their lands.Over the years these walls were joined together <br /> and by the time of The Ming Dynasty(1368-1644)the structure extended for <br /> approximately 6,000 kilometers or 3,600 miles. <br /> •Only slightly less impressive than The Great Wall is The Grand Canal,which <br /> connects Beijing in The North with Hangzhou in The South.The oldest parts <br /> of the canal date back to the Sth century BC,and the various sections were <br /> finally combined during the Sul Dynasty (581-618 ALA). Its length is just over <br /> 1,100 miles. The Grand Canal allowed trade over great distances and also meant <br /> that soldiers stationed in the north of the country did not have to devote a lot <br /> of their time and resources to agriculture. Today the canal is used more for the <br /> transport of building materials such as bricks,gravel and sand,or fuels such as <br /> coal and diesel. <br /> • China Is divided into 29 provinces the biggest of which is Xinjiang or"The New <br /> Territory„(sometimes called Sinkiang in The West)and Xizang which we know <br /> as Tibet.Guangdong Province in the south is the most populated province with <br /> almost 100 million people! <br /> Despite an economic boom over the last two decades,China today is still largely <br /> a bicycle culture.People use their bikes to get to and from work,to take their <br /> children to school,for shopping, or to transport goods such as food,clothing <br /> and even furniture!Bicycles share the many smaller city streets with cars, <br /> trucks,traveling vendors and pedestrians. <br /> Page 18 of 21 <br />