CAPTIVATING AND FASCINATING CHINA China or Zhong Guo (Zhōngguó), as the Chinese themselves call it, is one of the most amazing and mysterious countries in the world. The birthplace of paper and printing, gunpowder and compass, silk, porcelain and many other useful inventions and discoveries, it invariably attracts the attention of historians, researchers, and travelers. Located in the southeast of the Asian continent and with its outlines resembling a huge bird soaring in the sky, modern China is the heir to a great civilization, the chronicle of which has about five millennia. The PRC has a huge territory of 9,596,960 square kilometers , including the island of Taiwan, which is not controlled by the central government, and the small islands adjacent to it. According to this indicator, China is second only to Russia and Canada. By the size of the population – 1 430 075 000 a person (2018 data) – he occupies the first line of the world ranking at all. Panorama of Shanghai at sunset Dis...