China By: Marissa Mottola

GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA  China is a very diverse land including deserts, mountains, and rivers  Because China is so large, it has a vast array of climates throughout the land  While some northern areas may have temperatures below zero, the south could have extremely warm weather.

Landmarks and Tourist Attractions One of China’s biggest tourist attraction is the Great Wall of China. The Great wall was built in the 7th century B.C. t o prevent the Huns from attacking. The great wall spans across over 5,500 miles. Another intriguing site in China is the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. This museum contains 700,00 terra cotta statues of the emperors soldiers, who are meant to protect him.

 The Chinese New Years celebration for the year 2012 will be on January 23,  The animal sign for 2012 is a dragon.  Celebration for the new year takes place across 15 days with each having their own special traditions.  On the first day of celebrations, many Chinese people abstain from meat as a symbol of good luck.  The second, third, and fourth days are for praying to your ancestors and gods.  The fifth day is called Po Woo, if your visit or are visited by another family, then it is thought that you will have bad luck for a year.  The sixth through the twelfth days are for visiting relatives, feasting, and praying.  On the thirteenth day, a traditional bland meal is prepared to cleanse the palate.  The fourteenth day is to prepare for the biggest celebration on the fifteenth day, also called The Lantern Festival.

The most popular religion in China is Buddhism Buddhism focuses on finding the inner peace in one’s self. The Chinese language is very unique and different than English. Instead of just having individual letters to build words, Chinese has symbols called characters. Some are individual letters; however, others are separate words.