English说chinese culture.docVIP

Facts and Statistics Location: Eastern Asia bordering Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea 1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Mongolia 4,677 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605 km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km Capital: Beijing Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north Population: 1,298,847,624 (July 2004 est.) Ethnic Make-up: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1% Religions: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 1%-2%, Christian 3%-4% Government: Communist state The Chinese Language Chinese is a family of closely-related but mutually unintelligible languages. These languages are known variously as f¨?ngy¨￠n (regional languages), dialects of Chinese or varieties of Chinese. In all over 1.2 billion people speak one or more varieties of Chinese. All varieties of Chinese belong to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages and each one has its own dialects and sub-dialects, which are more or less mutually intelligible. Why not learn some useful Manadarin or Cantonese phrases before your visit? Chinese Society Culture The Importance of Face .?The concept of face roughly translates?as honour, good reputation or respect..?There are four types of face:1)?Diu-mian-zi: this is when ones actions or deeds have been exposed to people.2)?Gei-mian-zi: involves the giving of face to others through showing respect.3)?Liu-mian-zi: this is developed by avoiding mistakes and showing wisdom in action.4)?Jiang-mian-zi: this is when face is increased through others, i.e. someone complementing you to an associate..?It is critical you avoid losing face or causing the loss of face at all times. Confucianism Confucianism is a system of behaviours and ethics that stress the obligations of people towards one another based upon their relationship. The basic tenets are