General Information about China

Name: The official name is The People's Republic of China (established October 1, 1949).  

Capital: China's capital city is Beijing.

Population: China is the world's most populous country. There are 1.3 billion people in China.
Area: 3.7 million square miles; located on the continent of Asia, China is the fourth largest country.
Language: Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. Although there are thousands of Chinese dialects spoken, China's official language is Mandarin Chinese.
Number of Nationalities: 56

Major Nationality: The Han nationality
Religion: Although there is no "official" religion in China, there are a number of religions and spiritual followings practiced by Chinese. The most widely practiced religions are Buddhism and Taoism. At the same time, the teachings of Confucius, although not an "organized religion" per se, have became the basis for Chinese family and moral life throughout the country.
Government: China is a socialist republic ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of China. The People's Republic of China was established on October 1, 1949. China's current President and General Secretary of the Communist Party is Xi Jinping.
The China Flag has five yellow stars on a red background. The red background symbolizes the revolution and the blood of those who died during the civil war and the Japanese invasion. On the upper left corner there are five yellow stars: one large and four smaller ones.  The large yellow star represents the Communist Party leadership.  The four smaller stars represent the four classes of society as prescribed by Chairman Mao.

Chinese Culture:  Lifestyles and customs in China vary greatly. The country is dealing with a rapid pace of modernization and at the same time struggling to maintain its traditions and heritage of thousands of years.  For more about Chinese culture and traditions please click here.

As it relates to Adoption:  China has a One Child Policy

“In the 1950s, Mao Tse-Tung urged his people to have lots of children to strengthen the country. The population growth from this edict led the government in the 1970s to be worried that China would be unable to feed her citizens. So, the Chinese government implemented the One Child Policy in 1979. The goal of this policy was to keep China's population below 1.3 billion by the year 2000. Today, China is home to over 1.2 billion people. Couples who violate the One Child Policy are subject to fines (equal to three years’ salary), community ostracism, and even jail time.

Baby boys are more valued in Chinese society than are baby girls because boys carry on the ancestral name, inheritance laws pass property on to sons, and sons are responsible for taking care of aged parents. Because of this many couples will abandon a baby girl. A heartbreakingly cruel choice, yes, and an event that happens all too often – hundreds of thousands of baby girls are abandoned every year in China.

The babies are abandoned in public places (such as busy streets, railway stations, and in front of public buildings) so they will be found quickly. The babies are abandoned as infants – usually when they are only a few days old. In addition to little girls, handicapped babies and sick babies (both boys and girls) are also abandoned because most parents in China don’t have the money to provide for their special needs. Once found, the abandoned babies are given a medical exam and then taken to orphanages.”  www.adoption.com