1. A Very Brief History of China: From Empire to Communist Nation. Mao Zedong (Tse-tung)

2. What do you know about China? http://www.history.com/topics/great-wall-of-china/videos#deconstructing-history-great-wall-of-china

3. For thousands of years, China was ruled by emperors, then in 1911, the last Chinese empire, The Qing Dynasty, collapsed. After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, Chinese nationalists, who wanted a unified China, fought Chinese warlords who wanted to control individual parts of China. Chinese nationalists asked for aid from western nations. Their requests were unanswered. Instead, the Soviet Union offered aid, in hopes of possibly spreading communist ideas to China.

4. By 1945, there were two Chinese governments The Communist government of Mao Zedong in Northern China Soviet Union supported. The Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek based in southern and central China United States supported.

5. In 1946, a civil war broke out between the Nationalists and the Communists. Many peasants were attracted to the Communists by the promises of land. By 1949, the People’s Liberation Army, commanded by Chairman Mao had defeated the Nationalists. Chiang Kai-shek and two million followers fled to the island of Taiwan.

6. Officially, in 1949, the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, took over China. Today, communism is still the government of China, but changes have taken place since 1949. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june11/china2_04-04.html http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/beijing-air-pollution-forces-20-million-people-indoors- 18204753

7. Facts About China That Might Surprise You By 2025, China will build TEN New York-sized cities. By 2030, China will add more new city-dwellers than the entire U.S. population. There are already more Christians in China than Italy, and China is on track to become the largest center of Christianity in the world. China still hasn't rid itself of Europe's medieval plague. China executes three times as many people as the rest of the world COMBINED... and uses mobile execution vans for efficiency. China averages 274 protests PER DAY. The majority of Chinese drink polluted water. http://www.businessinsider.com/15-facts-about-china-that-will-blow-your-mind-2010-2?op=1