Destination: China

The People’s Republic of China, or simply China, is situated in the eastern part of Asia, on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. China has a total land area of 9,6 million square kilometers, next only to Russia and Canada.

From north to south, it measures some 5,500 kilometers, stretching from the central line of the Heilong River north of the town of Mohe to the Zengmu Reef at the southernmost tip of the Nansha Islands. From west to east, the territory of China extends about 5,200 kilometers from the Pamirs to the confluence of the Heilong and Wusuli rivers.

China’s land border is 22,800 kilometers long. The nation is bordered by Korea in the eash; Mongolia in the north; Russia in the north east; Kazakhstan, Kirghizia and Tadzhikistan in the northwest; Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan in the west and southwest; and Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam in the south. Across the seas to the east and southeast are the Republic of Korea, Japan the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Chinese mainland is flanked by the Bohai, the Huanghai (Yellow Sea) and the East China and South China seas in the east and south. The territorial waters of China extend 12 nautical miles out from the base line drawn where China’s land territories and interior waters border the sea. More than 5,400 island are scattered over China’s vas territorial seas of 4.73 million square kilometers, the largest being Taiwan with an area of 36,000 square kilometers, and the next largest, Hainan with an area of 34,000 square kilometers. Taiwan and Hainan are two provinces of China.

China coast is 32,000 kilometers long, including 18,000 kilometers of the coast of the mainland and 14,000 kilometers of the coast of the islands. The coast of the mainland is dotted with excellent harbors and ports, the most famous of them, form north to south, being Dalian, Qin haung dao Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Nantong, Shanghai, Nignbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Zhanjiang and Beihai. Among them Shanghai is the largest city in China as well as a famous metropolis in Asian and in the world. It has well developed industry, commerce, finance and ocean transportation.