Located in the Eastern Asia,
bordering with Afghanistan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea,
Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, China
is the third largest country in total area in the world after Russia and
Canada.
China boasts a total land area of approximately 9.6 million square
kilometers (3.7 million square miles), across four time zones. Beijing,
the capital of China, is located in the Eastern 8th Zone, "Beijing Time"
is the standard for the whole country. From north to south, the
territory of China stretches from the center of the Heilong River north
of the town of Mohe to the Zengmu Reef at the southernmost tip of the
Nansha Islands, stretching a distance of 5,500 km. From east to west,
the nation extends from the confluence of the Heilong and Wusuli rivers
to the Pamirs, covering a distance of 5,200 km.
China's mainland coastline measures approximately 18,000 km, with a flat
topography, and many excellent docks and harbors, most of which are
ice-free all year round. The Chinese mainland is flanked to the east and
south by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas, with a
total maritime area of 4.73 million sq km. The Bohai Sea is China's
continental sea, while the Yellow, East China and South China seas are
marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean.
Landscape:
China covers a vast land of about 9.6 million sq km, and is the
third-largest country in the world, next only to Russia and Canada.
China's landscape is vast and diverse, with forest steppes and the Gobi
and Taklamakan deserts occupying the arid north and northwest near
Mongolia and Central Asia, and subtropical forests being prevalent in
the wetter south near Southeast Asia.
The terrain of western China is rugged and elevated, with the Himalaya,
Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separating China from
South and Central Asia. The world's apex, Mt. Everest (8,848 m), lies on
the China–Nepal border, while the world's second-highest point, K2
(8,611 m), is situated on China's border with Pakistan. The country's
lowest and the world's third-lowest point, Lake Ayding (−154 m), is
located in the Turpan Depression.
The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third- and sixth-longest in the
world, have their sources in the Tibetan Plateau and continue to the
densely populated eastern seaboard. China's coastline along the Pacific
Ocean is 14,500 kilometres (9,000 mi) long (the 11th-longest in the
world), and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East and South China Seas.
The land of China is pockmarked by historical sites and cultural relics.
Beijing, Xi'an, Nanjing, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Hangzhou and Anyang are
seven ancient capitals. China awaits to take its visitors on journeys of
discovery through a galaxy of cultural legacy by following in the
footsteps of celebrated historical figures like Confucius, Qinshihuang
and Gengghis Khan, and give them the opportunity to contemplate the
immensity and profundity of human glory.