China is a populous nation in East Asia whose vast landscape encompasses grassland, desert, mountains, lakes, rivers and more than 14,000km of coastline. Capital Beijing mixes modern architecture with historic sites such as the Forbidden City palace complex and Tiananmen Square. Shanghai is a skyscraper-studded global financial center. The iconic Great Wall of China runs east-west across the country's north.
Climate
China has an extremely wide range of climates because it is such a large country. The most severe climatic conditions occur in the Taklimakan and Gobi deserts. Daytime temperatures in these deserts may exceed 100 °F (38 °C) in summer, but night time lows may fall to -30 °F (-34 °C) in winter. Both Tibet and northern Manchuria have long, bitterly cold winters. In contrast, coastal areas of south-eastern China have a tropical climate. Summers tend to be hot and humid in southeastern China and in southern Manchuria. Summer temperatures average about 80 °F (27 °C) throughout much of China. However, northern China has longer and much colder winters than the south has. In January, daily low temperatures average about -13 °F (-25 °C) in northern Manchuria and about 20 °F (-7 °C) throughout much of the eastern third of the country.
