Education
For the purpose of the present publication, it is convenient to divide education in China into four categories: primary education, secondary education, higher education and adult education. In discussing the various categories, especially primary and secondary education, it is important to keep in mind that China has a Compulsory Education Law, which went into effect on July 1, 1986:
The Law of Compulsory Education.
This law calls for each child to have nine years of formal education. To meet this requirement, a child will attend either five years of elementary education, followed by four years of junior middle school, or six years of elementary education, followed by three years of junior middle school. Today in China, the second system, or ``6-3'' system is the more commonplace.
While the Compulsory Education Law calls for each child to have nine years of formal schooling, it is recognized that certain realities prevent this nine year standard to be implemented immediately. Therefore, a provision of the Education Law is that China shall be divided into three categories: cities and economically developed areas, towns and villages with medium development, and economically backward areas. In the first two categories, the nine-year standard has, in most cases, become universal. Estimates are that in areas comprising 91% of the population, primary education has become universal. Indeed, by a 1994 estimate, 98.4% of elementary school-aged children entered school, with a dropout rate of less than 2% per year. Of the primary school graduates, over 80% go on to junior middle school, which represents about 75% of the relative age cohort. However, in the ecomonically backward areas, which contains about 25% of China's population, a variable timetable for implementing compulsory education has been tied to each such region's local economic development. In short, the nine-year standard continues to be universalized, but in the strict sense compulsory education in China remains not so much a law as as aspiration.
In passing, it should be noted that the most important contributing factor the the drop-out rates at each level is the increasing cost of education in China. The schools are charged a variety of fees by the local authorities, which are then passed along to the students. One trade union study of primary and middle schools in Chongqing, a very large city in the Sichuan Province, revealed that the average cost of miscellaneous fees for primary students in 1994 was 95.9 yuan; for junior and senior secondary students, the average fees totaled 155.5 yuan and 257.3 yuan, respectively.
Economy
The economy of the People's Republic of China is the second largest in the world after the US with a GDP of $10.21 trillion (2006) when measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis. It is the fourth largest in the world after the US, Japan and Germany, with a nominal GDP of US$3.42 trillion (2007) when measured in exchange-rate terms. China has been the fastest-growing major nation for the past quarter of a century with an average annual GDP growth rate above 10%.[6] China's per capita income has grown at an average annual rate of more than 8% over the last three decades drastically reducing poverty, but this rapid growth has been accompanied by rising income inequalities. The country's per capita income is classified as low by world standards, at about $2,000 (nominal, 107th of 179 countries/economies), and $7,800 (PPP, 82nd of 179 countries/economies) in 2006, according to the IMF.
Climate
China covers extensive territory and has a complex topography, therefore the weather differs from region to region. The southeast, below the Nanling Mountains, tends to be very wet with high temperatures all year round. In the central Yangtze and Huaihe River valleys there are four distinct seasons with very hot summers and extremely cold winters, and rain all year round. The dry north experiences a short but sunny summer, with long bitterly cold winters. The coast is humid and experiences monsoons during summer.
The city of Beijing falls in the monsoon region, experiencing hot, wet summers and cold, dry winters. There are four very distinct seasons, with a wide temperature variation between winter (down to well below freezing) and summer, when the mercury hits the high spots. During the height of summer, July and August, Beijing is subject to sudden evening downpours of rain, so an umbrella comes in handy. Spring and autumn are relatively short seasons. Spring, between February and April, is characterised by warm and windy conditions. Autumn, between August and October, is regarded as the best season to visit because it brings blue skies, pleasantly mild temperatures and slight humidity.
List of Universities in CHINA
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