Nine other Pacific Island journalists including three Fijians went on a trip to explore China.

Ni Hao! Huanyinglaidao Zhongguo! hello and welcome to China!

China is the traditional Chinese Central State. (Zhong means central and guo means state)

The People’s Republic of China is the home to over 1.4 billion people and 22 provinces.

It is the world’s most populous country.

China’s four major municipalities are Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai and Tianjin with two special administrative regions which are Hong Kong and Macau.

China has diplomatic relations with over 150 countries around the globe and one of them is Fiji.

12 representatives from the Pacific Islands travelled to China for the Pacific Islands Journalists week-long tour programme visiting three  major cities of China.

A team of three from the Fiji Sun, the Fiji Times and Pacific Islands News Association travelled from Nadi International Airport to Hong Kong for an international transit to  the capital Beijing’s international airport on December 11.

Two journalists from Tonga, two journalists from Samoa, three journalists from Papua New Guinea and two journalists from the Federated States of Micronesia joined the three Fijian journalists on the trip to explore China. We departed on Monday December 11 and returned on Sunday December 17.

First stop-Beijing:

Beijing, China’s capital city and said to be the world’s second most populous city, is located in northern China. If travelling in Beijing during winter; you will have to be prepared for cold weather reaching a lowest of -10 degrees. A good sunny day temperature in winter would go up to 3 degrees while the night would go to the lowest of -10 degrees.

Military:

The People’s Republic of China currently has over 2 million personnel in its People’s Liberation Army which is known to be the largest standing military force in the world. The People’s Liberation Army consists of the People’s Liberation Army Ground Force, the People’s Liberation Army Navy, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force and the People’s Liberation Army Support Force. While visiting the large exhibition of the achievements made in the past five years held on December 12, 2017 in Beijing, the exhibition estimated budget for the People’s Liberation Army was announced to be the world’s second largest defence budget.

CCTV:

China Central Television is China’s predominant state television broadcaster. Its headquarters is located in Beijing with over 8000 employees and around a total of 15000 employees around China.

The CCTV first broadcast its first programmes in September, 1958 and soon launched more channels over the years. CCTV is considered as one of the ‘big three’ media outlets in China along with the People’s Daily and Xinhua.

Next stop: Shenzhen

Shenzhen, one of China’s youngest cities is a home to over 11 million people located in the province of Guangdong, south China.

A former small town has grown rapidly into a world-renowned city through its pioneering role in promoting China’s reform and opening up policy in the 1980s, becoming a major gateway to international exchange. Now it is one of the most developed and internationalised cities in China.

Next stop was a mini gateway trip to Splendid China theme park.

According to the tour guides at the park, it takes about four hours of walk to complete the tour.

Splendid China is China’s first cultural park and tourist attraction. The park condenses the Chinese history, culture, places of interest, folk arts and customs as well as folk music and dance in the course of the five thousand years civilisation, displaying the rich and long standing Chinese culture from different angles and profiles. Walking around the park, you can enjoy the beautiful sceneries of China, appreciate Chinese cultures, watch exciting shows, have fun with the traditional Chinese entertainment, eat traditional Chinese food and get to know the Chinese culture.

Next stop is Guangzhou:

Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong known as the South Gate of China located in the north Pearl River Delta and adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao, becoming the transportation and communication hub of China. It is home to over 16 million people.

NewsGD:

Newsgd.com was founded in 2003 and unveiled its current updated version on October, 2015. It is sponsored and supervised by the News Office of the Guangdong Provincial government and is in operation by Guangzhou based Southcn.com of Nanfang Media Group.

It is the premier online source of Guangdong news and information, fully displaying Guangdong through various channels including news, culture, living in Guangdong, photos, videos and platforms.

Canton Tower: China’s largest and world’s third largest building consisting of 110 levels which takes about 90 seconds to travel in a lift from level 1 to level 110.

Canton Tower is the most beautiful and happening tower in the city of Guangzhou. At 488 metres above the ground, the tower consists of a 10 centimetre thick glass room to take pictures and look out through the entire city of Guangzhou.

The tower is 600 metres high and opened in 2010. The tower is a comprehensive sightseeing building as well as a renowned tourist attraction with the multi functions of sightseeing, adventure, food and beverages, wedding, 4D cinemas, and shopping.

Xiexie (thank you) for learning about China. Zaijian (Goodbye).

Edited by Rusiate Mataika

Feedback:  ashna.kumar@fijisun.com.fj