牛人超强英文解说：10分钟了解中国（视频）（在线收听）

What is China ?

　　The People's Republic of China,commonly known as China,is located in east Asia, and borders 14 nations or any other county in the world.

　　It is the most populous state in the world with a 1.3 billion citizens,while the world's population is 6.8 billion.That means other every 5 people in the world,one is Chinese.

　　China's made of 56 distinctive(显著的，特殊的) ethnic groups(民族)with Han Chinese making the 92% of its whole population.

　　China is a single party state govemed by the Communist Party of China,whose power is enshrined in Chinese constitution.

　　Though China is officially an atheist country,its religious roots lie within Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism,and from these most social and moral values are derived(衍生，起源_).There are also a significant number of Chinese Muslims,who arrived via the silk road trade route and still retain (保持，保留)their distinct culture.

　　History

　　China is one of the world oldest civilizations,dating back more than 5 million year and was ruled by successive(持续的) dynasties until 1912.

　　During these time,many great discoveries in tields(领域) of science and technology were made,including the inventions of printing,paper,gun power and compass.

　　This period also saw the construction of many landmarks such as the great wall which streches(延伸，扩展)over 4000 miles,equals to 30 return travels from London to Paris.

　　After a period of foreign occupation and civil war(内战),the Communist Party of China led by Mao gained control of mainland China in 1949 and established PRC.

　　The modern China of today is as much shaped by its past as its rapidly looking to the future.While many of its big cities are comparable to(类似) any in the wast,the underlying culture is still vastly different.Traveling outside large urban areas also highlights(使显著) the growing disparity between rich and poor(贫富差距).

　　Language

　　Chinese which is the most widely spoken language in the world as well as one of the most impenetrable(难以理解的)for foreigners.There are many regional dialects of Chinese although the most widely spoken is Mandarin(普通话) and Cantonese(粤语).

　　Chinese characters(汉字) evolved over time from earlier forms of hieroglyphs(象形文字). Chinese contains over 40,000 characters,but a well-educated person can recongnize around 6000 characters,some 3000 are required to read a newspaper.

　　Chinese calendar

　　Chinese Zodiac(十二宫图)'s a scheme(计划、方案) that relates each year to an animal.This is the year of the rabbit.

　　Chinese new year is the most important of traditional Chinese holidays.Windows and doors will be decorated with red color paper-cuts(剪纸) and couplets with popular themes of happiness,wealth,and longevity(长寿).On the Eve of Chinese New Year,supper is a feast with families.The family will end the night with firecrackers.Early the next morning,children will meet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year,and receive money in red paper envelops

　　Chinese people love red color,which symbolizes prosperity(繁荣) and good luck.

　　The period around Chinese new year is also the time of the largest human migration and between 150 and 200 million migrant workers(农民工) in China bring home their earnings and go to have a unit dinner with their families on Chinese new year eve.