Focus on China

The Online World resources handbook contains many pointers to information about the country, including:

• Xinhua English Language News Service. PeaceNet's World News Service coverage of China. The China News Digest mailing list.
• Sources for businesses like MARKET: Asia Pacific, China Import/Export News, CHINA-LINK, Daily China Headline News, China Intelligence Report, Kompass Online's database of companies in China, The Asian Information Service's large database on China,
• Usenet newsgroups like clari.world.asia.china, talk.politics.china, soc.culture.china,
• Pointers to information and research sources in/about China.

The China World Wide Web Home page

There are several competing China Home pages. One of them is at http://www.ihep.ac.cn/network/china_network.html
Communications with China is still slowed down by narrow bandwidth. Therefore, the Institute of High Energy Physics (Beijing)'s China Home page is mirrored to a host in the US to better serve foreigners: http://utkvx1.utk.edu/~xurs/china.html. (Defunct. Try this instead: http://freenet.buffalo.edu/~cb863/china.html.)
This page contains public scientific, technical, and business information about China. It has links to Chinese Research Institutes, Chinese Universities, and Commercial Organizations. The original URL is http://www.ihep.ac.cn/china.html
Mind you, this is China's first direct Internet link. It has been operational since May 1994.
CERNET (China Education and Research Network) is at Tsinghua University, Beijing. Their China Home Page is at http://www.cernet.edu.cn
This server has information on Education and Research, History and Culture, Economy and Politics, Nature and Mankind, Tour and Entertainment, etc.
Outside China, there is a China/Chinese related Home Page at http://www.cnd.org:8014/Other/resources.html with links to the Chinese Christian Resource Center, and other resources (including a picture of the Chinese actress Gong, Li).
Another option is a gopher site in Thailand. It has choices like Internet connection in China, China Business Practices, China Economic Policy and Trade Practices, China Study Forum, China in Time and Space (CITAS) Database, China-Chinese related Gophers and WAIS, China-Chinese related USENET News Groups, Chinese Computing Network FAQ, Chinese Studies Discussion Group, Travel Info for China, and more. Point your Web browser at: http://www.ait.ac.th/Asia/infocn.html.

Networking in Chinese

Anyone interested in Chinese Mosaic, Chinese Big5 code, and implementing Chinese on WWW, can subscribe to the "tanet-www" list. To subscribe, send a mail to LISTSERV@PEACOCK.TNJC.EDU.TW. Put the following command in the body of your mail: SUBSCRIBE TANET-WWW
Note that "Chinese" in Taiwan is not the same thing as in China. While Taiwan uses the Big5 coding scheme, GuoBiao (or simply GB) is the standard in mainland China.
For information about the pinyin and Wade-Giles systems of romanization of the Chinese language, check out the explanations and pointers in The China Army Area Handbook (see below).
The Chinese-Language-Related Information Page is at http://www.webcom.com/~bamboo/chinese/chinese.html
It points to Chinese-language-related resources, has links to viewing and listening to Chinese on the WWW, language study courses, educational software, FTP sites, and more.
ChinaNet is a nation-wide Internet in China, based on the World Bank supported project NCFC (The National Computing and Networking Facility of China). Their Network Information Center (NIC) is at: http://www.ihep.ac.cn/network/
ChinaNet claims to be the China portion of The Global Internet.

Business

The China Home page has links to

• Foreign Companies in China, with address and phone number in Beijing or other cities for some foreign companies
• The Connections Consulting Company of China, which provides marketing services to businesses interested in the Chinese markets
• CBIC--China Book Import Centre. Monthly catalogue of import book into China

AsiaInfo Services, Inc., produces a Free Daily Headline News Service. To subscribe, send mail to LISTSERV@asiainfo.com with the following line in the mail body: SUB HEADLINE Firstname Lastname
Their February 22, 1995 report brought sample full-text stories on Tax Rates, Stock listing (Shenzhen, Shanghai), Lake Holiday Zone Using Foreign Capital, and a list of headlines of stories available to paying subscribers.

Sample headlines found in this issue:

REF. NO.		HEADLINE
95022201		Robot Helps Packing and Piling
95022202		National Standard Data Base Established
95022203		Shanghai Qinlong Computer Plaza Under Construction
95022204		Taiwan Develops CD Along Euro-Standard
95022205		Multimedia Database System Developed
95022206		China's Posts & Telecommunications to Develop Quickly
95022207		Technical Reform Project Finished
95022208		Computer Producers to Gather in Shanghai
95022209		Telecommunication Olympics To Be Held
95022210		Recovery of ROK's Computer Market: Steady Increases
95022239		DEMAND FOR URBAN SPECIAL VEHICLES PREDICTED

For information about how to become a registered user of the full AsiaInfo Daily News Service (ADN), write INFO@AsiaInfo.com. A one year subscription costs US$ 264.
The ADN new wires usually consist of 30 to 40 articles compiled in Beijing, Monday through Friday every week. Coverage includes China markets, price information, joint ventures, import & export needs, major conferences, trade shows, etc. The news is available in Chinese upon request.
The China Business Journal (CBJ) is an online daily news published 7 days a week. You can get it by email over the Internet. It brings updated economic news to those into doing business with China. Subscription form, etc. at http://silkroute.com/silkroute/news/cbj/cbj.html (link was dead in Nov 97).
At http://www.ait.ac.th/Asia/wb-reps/wb-cn.html, There is information on World Bank Projects in China, as well as a China Country Economic Memorandum and GNP per capita. There are reports on Industrial crop marketing, Highway development, Power sector, Urban environment services, Disease prevention, Financial sector development, Railway development, Education, Gas development, Forest resource development, Telecommunications, and more.

Travel

If planning a trip to China, start by retrieving the map at http://www.cnd.org:8014/other/china.jpg .  Then, check the Regional Information menu at http://www.ihep.ac.cn/tour/china_tour.html
Menu choices include Anhui, Beijing, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Henan, Hunan, Inner Mongolia (Nei Monggu), Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shandong, Shanghai, Shan1xi1, Shan3xi1, Sichuan, Tianjin, Tibet (Xizang), Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Zhejiang.
The CND InfoBase (http://www.cnd.org) offers high-resolution scenery pictures of China.

Having fun

If you're into Chinese music, check out the Web address: http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/multimedia/chinese-music/
Choose between Model Beijing Opera, Ceremonial songs and music, Songs during the "Cultural Revolution" (mostly for Mao), Dream Of Red Mansion, Folk songs and local opera, Historical Voices, Pop songs after the down- fall of "Gang Of Four," Post Liberation, Pre Liberation, Current Hits, Chinese traditional music (various instrumental). Also included are some music from Taiwan and the Hong Kong area.
The Chinese Internet Mall (in California, U.S.A.) sells Chinese classical music and children music for collectors. Send an empty message to newwave@.rahul.net for information, or point your Web browser at http://www.rahul.net:80/newwave/
If you like reading Chinese Classics, go no further than the Web address http://www.cnd.org:8014/Classics/
This collection includes works (including some English translations) like Lao Zi (Lao Tsu), Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tsu), Kong Zi (Confucius), Meng Zi (Mencius), Sun Zi Bing Fa (Art of War), Guigu Zi, San Guo Yan Yi, Shui Hu Zhuan, Xi You Ji, Hong Lou Meng.
For more on traditional Chinese philosophy, check http://www-personal.monash.edu.au/~sab/index_old.htm
Have you heard about the Internet Go Server? This is where you can play Wei Qi online, an Ancient Chinese game. Point your Web browser at telnet://igs.nuri.net:6969/
Play Chinese Chess on telnet://128.103.28.15:5555/ or use the ancient Chinese I-Ching to tell your fortune. Explore the power of prophecy and how it can affect you. Concentrate on a problem or question facing you now. When you have it well visualized, select http://www.facade.com/Occult/iching/ to get your reading.
CND's Chinese Calendar Home Page contains postscript files for the current year calendar (http://www.cnd.org:8016/Other/calendar.html).

Education/Research

The online mainland-China publication chisa-cm (CHINA'S SCHOLAR ABROAD Chinese Magazine, or Shen Zhou Xue Ren) can be obtained at http://www.chisa.edu.cn .  Back issues are also available.

Foreign resources

The CINET-L non-public mailing list hosts China's InterNET Tech Forum (on LISTSERV@CND.ORG). The discussion topic is networking in China.
CND is a voluntary non-profit organization aiming at providing news and other information services about China-related affairs. All CND services are free of charge.
Back Issues of the China News Digest are on the Web address: http://www.cnd.org
CND's English language publications include CND-Global (three issues per week), CND-US (one issue per week), CND-Canada (one issue per week), CND- Europe/Pacific (one issue per week), CND-China (two issues per month).
The CND Chinese magazine may be a starting point for beginners to explore various ways of reading Chinese on WWW.
You may find related discussions on the CHINANET mailing list (on LISTSERV@TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU). CND's China Home Page has links to

• Overseas Chinese Physics Association (OCPA)
• China Academic Link (CAL)
• Internet Hangzhou Folks Club (IHFC)
• The Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Systems(Abroad)
• Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Stanford

and China-related newsgroups that are accessible if your local news server carries them:

• alt.chinese.text
• soc.culture.china
• talk.politics.china
• alt.chinese.text.big5
• soc.culture.taiwan
• soc.culture.hongkong
• talk.politics.tibet

The Australian National University (Coombs Computing Unit) offers Asian social sciences information at http://coombs.anu.edu.au/ .
Search using the term 'china' at anu.edu for references to texts about contemporary China, cartography, buddhism, history, international relations, demography, economics, and more.
The China Army Area Handbook ("China: A Country Study") is at http://fractal.umd.edu/history/handbook.html
The handbook was last revised in 1994, and has information about topics ranging from Chinese dynasties, to economic indicators, and an extensive country profile. Filled with interesting information, and with a rich bibliography appended. Here are some random file titles (out of 119):
The Ancient Dynasties, The Social System, Ethnic Boundaries, Urban Society, Education and Culture, Economic Policies, Agriculture, Energy, Party and Government, Manufacturing, Trade and Transportation, Telecommunications, Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought Re-thought, The Legal System.
For more on China's history, try Galaxy: http://galaxy.einet.net/galaxy/Social-Sciences/History/Oriental.html

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