Everything in China seems larger than life; its culture and its civilization go back five thousand years. Its vast area of more than 3,690,000 square miles is the third-largest in the world. With a population of more than 1 billion, it is the earth's most populated country. The Himalayas along China's southwestern region with India are the world's tallest mountains. China's greatest river, the Yangtze, is the world's fourth longest. The Taklimakan Desert, in the western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is one of the driest spots on Earth. China has a great wealth of mineral and natural resources. Reserves of coal, petroleum, iron ore, tungsten, tin, bauxite, copper, limestone, and many other minerals needed in modern industry are abundant. Used in manufacturing and exported for money, these resources provide China with a foundation for industrial growth.
             With these great resources and lands, China was able to grow into one of the world¡¯s longest lasting historical nations. For China to maintain in current level of power 13 or more times the ruling dynasties were changed. All of them, there are four dynasties that affected China in every aspect of life currently, those dynasties are Qin, Han, Tang, Yuan, and Qing.
             For the first time, China was unified in 221 B.C. This dynasty formed because it was the most aggressive group of the Warring States, from its other rival states. (Qin in Wade-Giles romanization is Ch'in, from which the English China probably formed.) Once the king of Qin came into power, he took the title Shi Huangdi. The Qin kings had relied heavily on scholar-advisers. Qin was well known for frequent military expeditions pushing forward the borders in the north and south. To defend off barbarian intrusion, the walls built by the warring states were connected to make a 5,000-kilometer-long great wall. What is commonly referred, as the Great Wall is actually four great walls rebuilt or extended during the Western Ha...