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Location: Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing , China (6835 miles from home)

Time Zone: Thirteen hours ahead of Eastern Std

Metropolitan Population of 7mm,13mm and 13.8mm in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, respectively with a country population of 1.3 billion in an area slightly smaller than the United States of America. (Keep in mind that the world's population is about 6.5 billion.)

Official Language: Mandarin Chinese based on the Beijing dialect, however in Hong Kong the standard is Cantonese and traveling to various provinces will highlight that there are several minority ethnic languages. (For example, "Shanghai-nese")

Government: Communist State with the northern city of Beijing as its capital. Chief of state: President HU Jintao (since 15 March 2003) and Vice President ZENG Qinghong (since 15 March 2003) Head of government: Premier WEN Jiabao (since 16 March 2003)

Elections: 18 years and suffrage is universal, president and vice president elected by the National People ' s Congress for five-year terms

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, China was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China ' s sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life at great human cost. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping gradually introduced market-oriented reforms and decentralized economic decision making. Output quadrupled by 2000. Political controls remain tight while economic controls continue to be relaxed.

The base of the flag design adopts the well-known symbols of communism, the color red, and yellow stars symbolizing, as stated in a government published magazine, “the modest and majestic yellow not only harmonizes itself with the red, but also symbolizes the yellow race of the Chinese nation". The largest star symbolizes the leadership of the Communist Party, and four smaller stars for the four classes, as mentioned by Mao Zedong, workers, peasants, petty bourgeoisie, patriotic capitalists.

Economy: As mentioned, Chinese leadership began moving the economy from a sluggish, inefficient, Soviet-style centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented system. Whereas the system operates within a political framework of strict Communist control, the economic influence of non-state organizations and individual citizens has been steadily increasing. The authorities switched to a system of household and village responsibility in agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted a wide variety of small-scale enterprises in services and light manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978 and measured on a purchasing power parity basis, or in absolute output that doesn't consider the ratio of workers (4.25/1), China in 2003 stood as the second-largest economy in the world ($6.4 trillion 2003 GDP). In per capita terms the country is still poor (GDP/Capita $5,000). Agriculture and industry have posted major gains especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong, opposite Taiwan , and in Shanghai , where foreign investment has helped spur output of both domestic and export goods. The leadership, however, often has experienced - as a result of its hybrid system - the worst results of socialism (bureaucracy and lassitude) and of capitalism (growing income disparities and rising unemployment). China thus has periodically backtracked, retightening central controls at intervals. China has benefited from a huge expansion in computer internet use and foreign investment remains a strong element in the country's remarkable economic growth. Shortages of electric power and raw materials will hold back the expansion of industrial output along with the governments desire to slow the pace of economic growth to manageable levels. China enjoys a 141.8 mm person labor force, $1.95 trillion budget and a 6.2% unemployment rate.