China, in its current form, is the third largest country in terms of landmass (roughly the size of Europe) and is the most populous, being home to more than 1.2 billion citizens and 55 different ethnic minorities. Its coast stretches over 11,000 miles and it has borders with 14 countries. Obviously any country of this size, with topography so diverse that it covers lush tropical jungle in the south, dessert in the north, beaches in the east and the Tibetan plateau to the west, has to have loads to see. For sure, China won't disappoint. China has a wonderfully rich and colourful history that has, at times, seen it being one of the world's most influential nations and at others, humbled by the advances of foreign armies. China, as we know it today, dates from BC 221 when Emperor Qin who had his capital in Xian set out and unified China. He was the first of many Emperors to reign over this vast land and his memorial is his tomb in Xian, which is protected by the magnificent Terracotta Warriors. China, prior to the inception of The People's Republic, was ruled by Imperial Dynasties and has had a host of Emperors (and one Empress) oversee its, sometimes violent, growth and development. Emperor Qin's legacy along with the unification of China, was the introduction of standardised systems of writing, currency and weights and measures whilst early attempts to develop a national infrastructure were put in place. The canal system that can still clearly be seen in the area around Hangzhou and Suzhou was an important start in building communication and transport links between the far flung provinces. Some areas of wall fortification in the north became the beginnings of the construction of the Great Wall. It was during the following Dynasty (Han Dynasty BC 200 - AD 200) when China started to be exposed to foreign trade and foreign influences. The Silk Road, which started in Xian and headed westwards through Central Asia brought gold into China in exchange for the silks that were exported. At about the same time, China was being opened to new religious influences with Islam and Buddhism helping to balance the Confucian outlook that the Imperial Court had been propagating. The Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) retained China's capital in Xian, which was by now the world's largest city, whilst maintaining the earlier Dynasties' lust for new land. New bureaucratic styles of government had been established and with the introduction of a civil service it helped immensely in bringing a greater degree of order to the country. The Tang Dynasty was a key influence in developing China's artistic and scholarly professions and to this day Tang era poetry is revered throughout China. After a period of great anarchy the Tang Dynasty ended abruptly and a gentler period in China's history beckoned. The Song Dynasty (960 - 1279), which eventually moved the capital to Hangzhou, oversaw a great transformation in the cultural and economic livelihood of China. Advances were made in areas such as mathematics, medicine and astronomy whilst the creative arts of poetry, calligraphy, painting and philosophy flourished. Agricultural productivity improved and new industries such as copper, coal and iron emerged. This led to a golden era for China and with advances in the manufacturing of paper and silk, foreign trade soared and secured the role of the merchant class in China's future growth. To the north, the Mongol Emperor Genghis Khan was getting a bit jealous of these advances and in 1211 invaded northern China, which by 1276 took him to the gates of the Song capital in Hangzhou. For the next 160 years China was ruled by the Mongols (Yuan Dynasty) who made Beijing their capital and who concentrated on opening the country to further foreign trade. Land routes through Central Asia were developed and it was at this time that European traders started frequenting China with Marco Polo making his famous trip here in 1276. The Mongol rulers were strong military folks though when it came to running government their competence was severely tested and ultimately their brief Dynasty fell. The Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) brought order back to China and was responsible for a new era of architecture. As a result of China having recently been invaded by the Mongols and ongoing threats of invasion, Ming Emperors set about building defences all over the country. The wall fortifications that existed in the north were strengthened and became the Great Wall as we recognise it today. Walls were built around the imperial capital city and thus created the home of future Imperial Emperors and which became known as The Forbidden City. Peasant rebellions throughout the country led to the downfall of the Ming Emperors and to the establishment of what would be China's last Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 and pronounced Ching) was established when the Manchu's, who came from China's far north east (Manchuria), invaded and then appointed 'their' people to positions of power, subjugating the Chinese in a sometimes tyrannical fashion. Massive expansion of China's borders took place with Taiwan invaded in 1683, Tibet becoming a protectorate in 1751 and Xinjiang in 1755. Qing Emperors' relations with foreigners were never easy - after a period of free trade, Canton, in 1757, became the only port that foreigners could use. Opium was now freely flowing into China in exchange for silks and teas that were exported to Europe and it was China's refusal to extend lucrative trading rights to elsewhere in the country that led to military skirmishes and finally war with Britain in 1840. The first Opium War, won by the British led to the ceding of Hong Kong Island and the establishment of the British concession in Shanghai. Over the coming years another eight ports were opened to foreign trade although military actions continued with various European nations and Japan all attacking China's territory. The Qing Empress was also fighting off insurrection in the southern provinces and it was an opportune time for Sun Yat Sen to rise as leader of the southern revolutionary elements. The Empress died in 1908 and the three-year-old Puyi ascended the throne. In 1911 the Nationalist representatives of 17 provinces met in Nanjing and established The Republic of China, ending China's dynastic rule with the forced abdication of China's 'Last Emperor', Puyi, in 1912. China became rudderless as the country broke up into fiefdoms run by regional warlords and the country was clearly ready for new leadership. During these difficult years the Communist Parties' ideals became very attractive to peasants and the urban disaffected and was founded in 1921. From 1920 to 1949, Sun Yat Sen (followed on his death by Chiang Kai Shek) led the Nationalist Party. The Nationalist Government, with its capital in Nanjing, was beset by problems from the beginning and when the Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931 the Nationalists had not only the Communist insurgency to deal with but also the Imperial Japanese army. The Japanese arrived at the walls of Nanjing in 1937, committing horrible atrocities as they forced the Nationalist army to flee up the Yangtze River to Chongqing. After the Japanese surrendered the weakened Nationalists and the Communists (now led by Mao) were locked in fierce combat for control of China. Chiang and his army were so weakened by combat that in 1949 they had no choice but to flee to Taiwan. On 1st October 1949, Mao declared in Tiananmen Square that "The Chinese people have stood up" and so The People's Republic of China was born. Mao ruled with a rod of iron, rarely accepting criticism and stamping out dissent at any opportunity. During the early 1950's, after years of war, China's economy flourished as stability returned, industrial production was improved and land was redistributed from the feudal landlords to the farmers and peasants. Society was euphoric over improvements in daily living standards and greater social equality. This euphoria was, however, to be short lived as Mao's various political campaigns started picking up momentum. In 1957 Mao's campaign of "Let one hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend" was started to endeavour to get feedback from the arts and science communities respectively on the revolution's progress to date though quickly it turned into a hunt for dissenters of Mao's ideology. The result was the 'Anti-Rightist Campaign' which saw about 300,000 people being branded as enemies of the Party and as a result many getting sent to labour camps in China's remote provinces. The first five year economic plan had been a success though the Party wanted ever higher levels of industrial production so that China could quickly catch up with the west. "The Great Leap Forward" during 1959 - 1961 had all of China spending all its free time in building village blast furnaces melting down whatever could be found to produce iron ore and steel. The fields were left untended so that ever higher production quotas could be met and with three years of bad weather agricultural production slumped. The famine years of 1960/61 were terrible and it's speculated that at least thirty million people died from starvation. As a result of the failures of the Great Leap Forward, Mao resigned his position as Party Leader though his involvement in China's affairs only increased. In 1966, desperate to reassert his power and to reinvigorate the Chinese Revolution, the 'Cultural Revolution' was initiated. Devised to topple the old guard of leaders and bring in new revolutionary blood and thinking, it instead became a witch hunt of all that was old and however loosely could be incorporated into the extermination of 'The Four Olds' - old customs, old habits, old culture and old thinking. Millions of people were persecuted and the Red Guards, brandishing Mao's 'Little Red Book', relished in the destruction of people's lives and the arts. It was a truly terrible time for China and the most extreme policies were ended only by a resolution passed by the People's Congress in 1969. It was however only in 1976, with the death of Mao and subsequently the arrest of his wife as one of the Gang of Four that the Cultural Revolution finally ended. The rebuilding of China was left to Deng Xiaoping and he successfully managed the country's integration into the global economy by encouraging modernisation in agriculture, industry and science whilst overseeing the establishment of 'Special Economic Zones'. The trauma of the Tiananmen Square tragedy was probably the key impetus for China to dramatically speed up its economic liberalisation and Deng's 1993 comment, 'to be rich is glorious' firmly put Chinese entrepreneurs into the driving seat of the economy and so starting what will be a new chapter in China's history.