What Makes China?

CULTURE AND HERITAGE

One of the main things that makes up China is the culture and heritage there. 

China is a really big country and travelling to Anhui which is only a tiny part of China will not allow us to know what China is. However, going to Anhui allowed us to understand what China is within the small city of Anhui. Experiencing the culture is something that we will not be able to experience through the books in the library or the videos on youtube. What is the culture and heritage of China? Going to 包公祠 and 李鸿章部居 which were based in Anhui allowed us to understand this. The reasons behind the separate corridor and the main walkway, the steps in front of every door, the shape of the artefact etc. Walking on the uneven roads, listening to the guide talking about how the people used to live and being able to picture it in front of us is a brand new experience that we have never felt. Watching dramas related to the history of China certainly does not allow us to experience this. The explanation by the guide allowed us to understand and learn how the people then survived with the meagre amount of money they earned. The culture and beliefs that rain signified money and that separate walkways were built for servants who had low status to use allowed us to picture the culture at that point in time and compare he vast difference between now and then. The culture of China is what makes tourists want to visit in order to understand the events that happened in the past and experience how it feels like being there where everything in the past seems to unfold in front of your eyes.  

GOVERNMENT

The government of China is run by a single party -- the Communist Party of China. People's Congress members at the county level are elected by voters. The provincial People's Congress in turn elects members to the National People's Congress meets each year in capital Beijing. The President of China is the titular head of state while the Premier of China is the head of government. As a single-party state, the Communist Party of China holds ultimate power and authority over state and government. Today the authority of China's leaders is much more tied to their institutional base and less personal, because it has been hard for the Central Government to assert its authority. The government has played an integral part in shaping the country's economy. It has owned many businesses, having control over them, though this number has declined greatly. Now, the President is Xi Jinping, overseeing a population of 1.351 billion as of 2012. The government considers itself a Socialist state. 

HISTORY

China has a history of a few thousand years and is full of cultures. At the same time, in the rich histories, many famous and patriotic people had appeared who embody many values that educate the future descendants. In china, famous people's houses, or their cemetery were preserved so that they can act as a form of education for us to inculcate us with the values they hold and wished to pass down. Such as 包公祠，李鸿章故居，those people contributed a lot of china in a way or another and the government had saved their properties and preserved them for us to see and learn their values such as impartial, selfless.

There are many ancient villages like 西递，宏村that was well preserved. Although the timespan of each person is differed and the place was also not the same,however,the culture is still the same. They all cherish water as if it's gold and sliver. They all have many rules and values to teach their descendants and future generations down,such as filial piety and loyalty and more. This shows although china had made the effort to improve and adapting things with other countries, they still preserved the culture in china and he values that should be implanted in every Chinese mind. Also, the houses in the olden china days were very different from houses now. China had changed the houses however preserved the important historical ones probably so that we can visit and understand.

These are only history of an hui and imagine looking at the whole China's history, how big can it get? The history of china definitely moulded china to what it is now, and Chinese preserved them and cherish them a lot. The richness in china is definitely an important part of what makes china! 

ECONOMIC

China has one of the worlds fastest economic growth over the years.In 1978,China was one of the poorest countries in the world and was very backward.Forward to the 21st century,it has the second largest economy in the world.China’s economic might depends on the size of its workforce and its productivity.They have produced more factories,manufacturing machinery,etc. to produce more goods.They have also increased the efficiency of the workers by investing in the education of its workforce.Over the years,new machinery, better technology, and more investment in infrastructure have helped to raise output,increasing the revenue for China.From 1978 was when they held economic reforms and accepted the changes.For example,they created the open door policy and this helped them to work and trade with other countries and maintained good relationships with others.Hence,through exchanging ideas and learning from each other,China improved drastically.For example,Meiling set up branches in different countries to reach out and sell it to other customers and earn more money.