History

China is one of the oldest enduring civilizations in the world, with archaeological and historical records dating back over three-thousand years. From the 7th through 14th centuries China claimed the world's most advanced civilization, and its capital once stood as the most economically developed and populous multicultural urban center the world had seen, contributing many of the innovations and technologies that have changed the course of world history, including papermaking, printing, gunpowder, porcelain, silk and the magnetic compass, to name just a few.

China is a land as vast as it is varied, distinguished by remarkable natural features like Mount Qomolangma (later named Everest by the British), the highest mountain peak in the world, and the Yangzi (Yangtze) and Yellow Rivers, the third and fourth longest rivers in the world. China is a land whose people have produced some of the most notable monuments left to mankind, such as by the Grand Canal, the world’s longest canal system, and the Great Wall, the longest wall in the world, which is visible from space. UNESCO, acknowledging China's natural and cultural heritage for its outstanding universal value to humanity, has already inscribed thirty sites on the World Heritage List, more than any other non-European country.

Once called a "slumbering giant" by Napoleon Bonaparte, China is now more often referred to as the "waking giant," and most recently economists around the world have begun to acknowledge that China is already awake, some going so far as to name the twenty-first century as "China's Century." Indeed, China has already stepped onto the world stage with recent ascension to the World Trade Organization in December, 2001. Beijing is positioned to host the twenty-ninth Olympiad in 2008, and Shanghai to host the World's Fair in 2010, making this an exciting time to be in this dynamic and fascinating country.

To be sure, China has taken a central position on the world stage, demanding the attention of global media coverage. In March 2005 the British Broadcasting Corporation dedicated an entire week of its television, radio and website coverage to programming about China. This program, called China Week, marks the first time the BBC has devoted an entire week of reporting to profile a single country. In the words of Adrian Van Klaveren, Deputy Director of BBC News, "China is changing fast and opening up, so this week of special output gives us a chance to reflect on what's happening and what it means for the world." Soon after the BBC program aired, and "With China set to become the world's largest economy by mid-century, and with its international influence on the rise," the Cable News Network in America launched its own week of programming dedicated to China in May, 2005, called Eye on China (and again in April, 2006, CNN scheduled another weeklong special report called Eye on China). The same month CNN launched this project, Newsweek issued a special report on China on May 9th, China's Century, and "with this issue Newsweek will start a series of periodic reports on the next superpower that will continue through the 2008 Beijing Olympics. If the 20th century was America's," asks the magazine's editor, Mark Whitaker, "will this one be China's?"



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