Hey everyone! China is a big country with lots of history and culture.

嘿大家！ 中國是一個有著許多歷史和文化的大國。

Obviously, in this video, I won't be able to cover everything.

顯然，在這個視頻中，我不能覆蓋一切。

But, I'll try my best to explain. Okay? Good?

但是，我會盡我所能解釋。 好的？ 好？

Alright... Let's get started!

好吧...讓我們開始吧！

It's time to learn Geography... NOW!

是時候學習地理！

Hey everyone, I'm your host, Barby.

大家好，我是主持人Barby

China, China, China... or the People's Republic of China.

中國，或是中華人民共和國

Everybody knows something about this place, and everybody has something to say about it.

大家都對中國有些認識，也有些想法

Now let's see what the flag has to say about itself.

現在，來看看代表中國的國旗

The flag is a simple red banner with five yellow stars in the upper hoist or canton corner;

是簡單的紅旗，左上角有五顆紅星

a large star surrounded by four smaller ones in a semi-circular pattern to the right.

四顆小星以半圓排列在右，圍繞著大星

According to the governmental interpretation,

根據官方的解釋

the red background symbolizes the revolution,

紅色背景代表革命

and the five stars were made yellow to radiate against the red.

而向紅色輻射的五顆黃星

The stars represent unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

這些星星代表，在中國共產黨領導下，團結一致的中國人民

The largest star symbolizes the Communist Party of China,

大星代表中國共產黨

and the four smaller stars that surround the big star symbolize the four social classes:

而圍繞在旁的四顆星星則象徵四種社會階級

the working class, the peasantry, the urban petite bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie.

工人階級、農民階級、城市小資產階級和民族資產階級

Well, that was pretty easy. Unfortunately, that will be the only easy part of this video.

這很簡單，不幸的是，這只是影片中最簡單的部份

Let's get messy in...

讓我們開始吧

Okay Geograpeeps, get your popcorn and notebooks,

好，同學們，爆米花和筆記本準備好

because this is where things are gonna get really complicated, messy and dramatic and confusing.

現在開始，事情變得開始複雜，淩亂又戲劇化

This is why I watch Geography Now!

這就是我看Geography Now的原因！

First of all, mainland China is located in and dominates the heart of East Asia.

首先，中國坐落於東亞心臟地帶

At over 22,000 kilometres, it has the world's longest combined land border with 14 other countries.

有著世界上最長的國界，超過22,000公里，與14個國界接壤

The country spans all the way from the Taklamakan Desert to the coast of Fujian.

疆域橫跨東西，從塔克拉馬干沙漠到福建海岸

Depending on your method of measurement,

根據不同算法

China could either be the second, third, or fourth largest country in the world by total area.

中國面積可以是第二，第三或第四名

If you include all the water territories, Canada is the second,

如果算進水域面積的話，加拿大排第二

even though China has slightly more land mass,

雖然中國的陸地面積較大

and if you include Alaska, Hawaii and all the official territories, the US is slightly larger than China,

但是如果美國包含阿拉斯加，夏威夷，等其他領土的話，美國稍大於中國

but if China's disputed and confusing territories are all included, then China is a little bit larger.

如果把其他爭議領土都加進來，中國會大一些

Yeah, I know!

我知道

It's only been a couple of minutes and I'm already making it look like:

影片才開始沒多久，就已經觸及敏感議題，變成這樣

*fighting*

*打架*

Speaking of territories, let's stick our hands in the first layer of mud!

說到領土，我們從行政區開始看

China has some of the most complex administrative divisions in the world,

中國有著複雜的行政區劃分

and it all has to do with certain types of people and the rise of the 20th century.

這與該地區的族群，與二十世紀的變遷有關

First of all, the country is divided into 22 official provinces,

第一，整個國家被劃分成22個省

but THEN we get to the subdivisions!

現在我們再看其他類型的行政區

China also has five autonomous regions, four municipalities,

中國還有五個自治區，四個直轄市

and two special administrative regions that mostly self-govern themselves.

兩個類似自治區的特別行政區

First, let's talk about the autonomous regions.

現在來談談自治區

They are:

他們分別是

Guangxi, Tibet, Xinjiang, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia.

廣西，西藏，新疆，寧夏，內蒙古

The strange thing is that each of these regions has incredibly distinct and contrasting cultural traits

這些地區的共同點是，他們與其他中國大部分的漢民族

that differ from the rest of Han-dominated Chinese culture.

有著文化上的差異

Because of the minority prevalency in these areas,

因為少數民族在這些地區佔多數

they have kind of like a weird legislative membrane in which they are still under full sovereignty of China,

他們就有一些法律上的保護，但是主權仍在中國

but have extra special rights that don't apply to the rest of the provinces.

他們就有一些特權，是其他省所沒有的

Then we hit the municipalities!

現在來看看直轄市

These are like the complete opposite of autonomous regions,

他們就像是自治區的相反

because they hold pretty much the highest governmental administrative classification in the country.

因為他們受到政府當局高度控制

And even though they are cities, they hold provincial status.

雖然只是城市，但是與省是同級別

In short, these guys are like the big shots of China!

簡言之，就好像是中國行政區的顯貴

And they are: the capital Beijing,

他們是

the capital Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing.

北京，天津，上海，重慶

Yeah, try saying that in five times fast.

試著快速念這5個名字

(Tries saying it five times fast, like a tongue twister)

像是繞口令

Furthermore, we have 2 special administrative regions that kinda self-govern themselves,

此外，有兩個特別行政區，有點像自治區

but they all kind of fall under Chinese sovereignty.

但也仍是在中國主權下

They are: Hong Kong and Macau.

他們是，香港，澳門

CGP Grey does an amazing video explaining the whole scenario on this,

CGP Grey 有個 出色的影片 ，介紹兩者的情況

but I'll try to summarise it in the quickest way I can.

但我還是試著做了簡單的結論

These places used to be operated by the British and Portuguese,

這兩地區原本分別由英國，葡萄牙掌控

until they were ceded back to China back in 1997 and 1999 respectively,

直到1997,1999才分別歸還中國

and have a weird "one country, two systems" policy,

實施「一國兩制」的政策

even though it should be 3 systems... but hey.

應該說是"三 "制

Each of these areas has their own passports, currency language and even government.

這些地區有各自的護照，貨幣，語言，甚至政府

Then you have the strange 6 economic zones,

另外，還有六個特殊的經濟特區

which, even though they do not have their own autonomy,

雖說沒有自治權

they have flexible government regulation and free market policies

但是有著更寬鬆的法規，與自由市場的政策

that allow them to manage business transactions in a more liberal manner.

能讓這些經濟特區的交易更自由化

These zones are cities along the coast and the entire island region of Hainan,

這些特區都是一些沿海城市,還有整個海南島

otherwise known as the "Hawaii of China".

也被稱做"中國的夏威夷"

Ha! Thought that was heavy?

覺得這些太沉重?

Now things are gonna get reeally ugly.

現在才開始變嚴重呢

Now, if there's one thing China knows how to do, it's getting people's attention and not in a ..

如果要說中國擅長的事，就是很會吸引人們注意力，但不是...

"Hey guys, look at me."

朋友們 看我

...type of way but more of like a ...

不是那樣，但更像這樣

"Hey guys, look at me!"

朋友們 看我

...kind of way.

類似這樣

And one way to get attention is by making territory disputes.

其中一種獲得關注的方式就是領土爭議

Let's just get the biggest one off of our chests -Taiwan.

現在我們就大聲說出來---台灣

[Punches]

衝

Hey hey hey!... It's called Chinese Taipei.

嘿 是中華台北!

Taiwan... is in a weird jurisdiction limbo with China,

台灣在中國看來有其灌的法律地位

because both sides kind of technically claim sovereignty over the other.

因為雙方都聲稱擁有對方統治權

As in mainland China claims they own Taiwan,

如同中國大陸聲稱擁有台灣

yet Taiwan believes, ultimately, that they are the sole proprietor of the entire mainland as well.

但是台灣認為他們才是代表中國的唯一合法政權

It all had to do with the Chinese civil war and the opposing political parties, yaddi yaddi yadda...

這些都與兩個對立政黨在中國內戰有關

The communist party took over the mainland and the nationalist party took over Taiwan.

共產黨占領大陸,國民黨占有台灣

Now we go inland.

現在往內陸走

As we already mentioned in the Bhutan video,

如同先前在不丹影片所提到

China has two disputed regions with them.

中國與不丹有兩處爭議領土

Then we get to India.

現在看印度

"Yess!"

“是！”

Sometimes China and India are like two monstrous titans slamming into each other at high velocity.

有時中國和印度像是兩位巨人,互相衝撞

It's very difficult to really approach this topic without somebody getting angry or upset,

在談論這議題時,很難有人保持理性

so I'm just gonna report the plain and simple claims as they stand,

所以在這我就平白地陳述個方意見

and you make the decisions, okay?

然後你們自己做判斷 好嗎

That way, the worst that you can do is say:

這樣的話,最糟你也只能說,

"Geography Now, although not directly advocating,

「Geography Now提到我不喜歡的論點」

mentioned claims to one side of an argument that I do not agree with."

但至少沒偏頗任一方

In the east we reach Arunachal Pradesh,

在東邊的阿魯納恰爾邦

which is to this day pretty much a state of India,

現在此地大多屬於印度

however, China still believes it is part of south Tibet.

然而,中國認為這是藏南的一部分

In the Uttarakhand area by Tibet,

還有西藏旁的阿坎德邦

you have the Niti Pass by Chamoli and the Valley of Jadh Ganga.

還有傑莫利，甲扎崗噶河谷

In Pradesh, you have the Reo Purgyil mountains and the Spiti River valley,

在北方邦有列俄帕爾格阿勒峰，Spiti河谷

and finally we reach Jammu and Kashmir,

最後談到查謨-克什米爾

a.k.a. the most messed up no man's land in the entire planet.

幾乎是地球上狀況最複雜的無人區

Here, China lays claim to the Shaksgam Valley,

中國聲稱有

the Fukche valley, the mouth of the river by Chumar,

沙克思干谷地(楚馬河河口處)

and the largest chunk of highlands - the Aksai Chin region,

還有阿克賽欽高地

which Chinese national highway 2-19 passes through.

中國國道219經過此區地

In addition, further up north, pretty much all of Tajikistan's southeast border with China is disputed.

往北,在塔吉克東南也有領土爭議

*sigh*

嘆!

and then we reach the Spratly Islands.

現在轉向南沙群島

*singing* Spratly Islands, Islands,

*唱歌*南沙群島，群島，

*singing* who you will own you now?

南沙群島 ，誰擁有你？

I don't know! *almost crying*

我不知道

In the South China Sea, things get really messy.

在南中國海,情勢也很複雜

Imagine, if you will, a bunch of people walking towards each other,

想像有一群人

each one on their phones looking at pictures of Bob Saget,

低頭看著手機上的鮑勃·薩格,一面走向對方

and then suddenly they all bump into each other, and notice a pile of money on the ground right at their feet.

突然大家撞在一起,此時赫然發現腳邊有一疊鈔票

They drop their phones and immediately lunge for the pile,

丟下手機,馬上去搶錢

disagreeing on whose money is whose, and how much belongs to which person.

根本不管錢是誰的,每人應得多少

That's the Spratly Islands!

這就是南沙群島

Essentially, these islands are claimed by 5 separate countries in area,

基本上,有五個國家聲稱有群島主權

6, if you consider Taiwan sovereign,

六個,算進台灣的話

and the whole deal is just an enormous mess of convoluted claim squabbling.

反正整件事就是大亂鬥

This is what the Philippines' claims.

這是菲律賓聲稱的範圍

This is Vietnam's, Brunei's, Malaysia's,

這是越南,汶萊,馬來西亞

and then China just kinda does this.

這是中國

Basically the Spratlys are an international battle royale,

其實南沙群島就像是各國間的大逃殺

and when one side doesn't really pay attention to one island that they claim,

一不注意,島就被其他國占走

another side sweeps in and builds a military station.

並在上建立軍事基地

It gets ugly sometimes.

非常險惡

Oh, yeah, and there's a cluster of rocks called the Diaoyu or the Senkaku islands

喔對了,還有釣魚島或稱尖閣諸島

that both China and Japan both think is theirs.

中國日本各自認為擁有

Alright! That's it!

是了!

Kind of. I mean, we didn't really talk about the whole North Korea thing,

我們都沒啥提到北韓

and how the entire country operates under one time zone,

在同一時區下,國家事怎麼運作的

but we'll just have to save that for a social media comment war.

但這些我們留在社群媒體上論戰就好

In the meantime, we gotta get this gravy train rolling.

現在，繼續講些容易的事吧

China is a big big country, so naturally you're gonna get deep geographic divisions all over,

中國地大，自然地會包含很多不同地貌

but in general, if you look at China from space,

但是大致上看起來，你會發現，東邊明顯較綠

you'll notice that the east is significantly greener than that of the arid, rocky north and west.

西北邊地勢較高

Situated right on the eastern third of the Eurasian landmass,

佔了歐亞大陸三分之一面積

China's inner and coastal domain is kind of shielded by this arid, sparsely populated highlands

中國內陸與海岸都被周圍的高山環繞

in the south-west, west and north, encapsulating the fertile lowlands inside.

西南，西邊，北邊的高山包圍著內部肥沃平原

I like to call this "the Chinese shield".

我稱之"中國屏障"

"Nobody's gonna touch my plants!"

"沒人能碰到我的植物"

This is partially why it took Europeans so long to develop solid ties and interactions with the east.

這就是為何歐洲人需要花這麼久,才能與東方建立互動

I mean, sure, the Silk Road had existed for centuries prior,

當然,絲路在幾世紀前有出現了

but crossing all the mountains and deserts and rocky pass[es] was less favorable to sea exploration for them.

比起大老遠穿越高山,沙漠,人們較偏好海路

And by the way, no,

順道一提

Marco Polo did not bring the concept of pasta to Italy by bringing back Chinese noodles from his travels.

馬可波羅才沒有從中國之行帶回義大利麵

Pasta had already existed in the Mediterranean for centuries prior to the excursion.

在他到中國之前,義大利麵早就出現在地中海了

THE LESS YOU KNEW ⋆

學得越多，發現知道得越少

China has a vast domain of biodiversity and climate;

中國在生物與氣候方面也存在多樣性

the west and north will be radically different from the coast and south.

西北與東南沿海有很大的不同

So let's start with the inland and coast.

現在還看看內陸與海岸

On the east side of China and the coasts, you have the heavily populated alluvial plains that are generally flat,

在中國東邊與沿岸,是人口稠密的沖積平原

with numerous spots for shipping and harbours and beaches with the cool looking ones,

很多漁港，港口，還有很酷的海灘

like Panjin Red Beach that blossoms every autumn.

像是紅沙灘,每年都人滿為患

Head a little bit north, up to the provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang, and half of Inner Mongolia

往北走是,吉林,黑龍江,與部分內蒙古

along the borders of Russia and North Korea, and you hit the coldest spot in all of China.

旁邊是俄羅與北韓領土,這裡是中國最冷的地方

In fact, every year the city of Harbin, named the "ice city",

事實上,被稱做"冰城"的哈爾濱

has a huge ice sculpting festival that draws in millions of tourists in the winter months.

每年冬季都有大型的冰雕節,吸引數以萬計的遊客

Fun fact: this general area of China was commonly referred to as "Manchuria" in the past,

有趣事實,這邊以前被稱做"滿州"

named after the Manchu people, which is where the Fu Manchu moustache gets its name from,

因為這裡住著滿州人,電影人物"傅滿州"取名於此

which is where I get back to the video.

這就是我做這影片

Head a little east, and you reach the rest of the Inner Mongolian autonomous region,

再往東走,會到達另一部分的內蒙古自治區

which is dominated by the Mongolian plateau, which is a highland consisting of dry steppes, hills,

地形主體是蒙古高原,一連串陡峭的山所組成

and yes, the Gobi desert, which, fun side note: is where all those beautiful caravan raiding and

還有戈壁沙漠

"gimme back my comb or I will kill you" chasing scenes from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were filmed.

"還我梳子,要不殺死你",電影臥虎藏龍中的追逐場景就是在此拍攝

Head a little west, and things get a little more intense.

往西邊走,地勢變得險峻

Congratulations, you've reached the largest subdivision in China - the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region.

恭喜,你到了中國最大的行政區,新疆維吾爾自治區

This is basically the wild west of China.

這就像中國的西部荒野

At over 1 and a half million square kilometers, only about 5% of the area is fit for human habitation.

超過150萬平方公里,但是指有5%適合人居

This area is strange, rocky, rugged, mountainous, and loaded with oil,

這地區充斥高山,岩石,地形崎嶇,且蘊含石油

making it China's largest gas producing region.

是中國最大的天然氣生產區

Then you head a little south, and you reach the strange Taklamakan desert or the "cold desert".

往南走,到達塔克拉瑪干沙漠,或稱為"冷沙漠"

This huge basin of shifting sand dunes is almost completely surrounded by the snow-capped mountains

在這盆地中,有許多移動沙丘,盆地周圍是被白雪覆蓋的高山

trapping in the frigid winds, however, it still lies in the rain shadow zone,

這些高山阻擋北方寒風,使得盆地仍處於雨影區

so it rarely receives any precipitation.

所以還是偶而下雨

However, the funny thing is: if you look closely, you can see the ice melt from the Tian Shan

有趣的是,看仔細點的話,融化雪水從北側的天山,與南側的崑崙山

and Kunlun Mountains in the north and south feeding into the valleys below by the desert,

流進沙漠中的谷地

until they create a dry riverbed that looks like a strange Angeline Jolie forehead vein in the desert.

在露出河床前,好像安婕麗娜裘莉的動脈

Head south, and then we reach the most notable autonomous region - the Tibetan plateau.

再往南,到達最有名的自治區,西藏高原

As the highest region on earth, with an average elevation of nearly 5,000 meters / 16,000 feet,

平均海拔5000公尺,是世界上最高的區域

this area is situated on the Himalayan Mountains, the tallest mountain range on the planet,

這區域就在世界最高喜馬拉雅山脈附近

and the tallest mountain in the world - Mount Everest - straddles the border with Nepal.

也緊鄰珠穆朗瑪峰,橫跨中國與尼泊爾

The funny thing is, the Tibetan plateau, and to some extent, the Qinghai province,

西藏高原與部分青海省因為地勢太高了

is so high that the snow melt runoff doesn't really have much to go in the arid north,

所以融化雪水無法順利流到較乾旱的北邊

so it just kind of flows into the empty crevices,

所以只能流入內陸低窪區域

creating China's largest network of freshwater lakes speckled throughout the entire area,

形成了中國分布最大的淡水湖群

including the largest lake in China - Qinghai Lake.

其中包含了中國最大的湖泊,青海湖

Many speculate that these are actually the sources of many of the major rivers in China,

這些湖泊之中,也有許多被認為是中國主要河流的發源地

including the Yellow and Yangtze [rivers].

包括黃河,揚子江

Then we get to the southeast, by the provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi and Guandong

往西南,是雲南,廣西,廣東

as the warmest regions in the country.

是整個國家最溫暖的區域

These areas are home to some of the most picturesque rock forest and eroded mountain landscapes

有名的石林山水,鐘乳石洞就在此區域

with the terraced rice paddies that have literally usurped the entire surface area of hills and mountains.

還有數量龐大的梯田,幾乎覆蓋所有的丘陵,山地

This is also the only place where you can find the creepy Snub-nosed monkey.

同時也是恐怖的金絲猴的活動區域

When you head inland, you reach the rural areas,

往內陸走,到達農村區域

and you can encounter the vast network of rivers and creeks that

會看到交錯的河流

irrigate the endless endless crop fields, with the occasional pine and bamboo forest.

灌溉著無數的稻田,偶而還有松木林與竹林

Here's where we have to address a little bit of reality.

這裡解釋一下

Yes, China is loaded with beautiful scenery unmatched anywhere else in the world.

中國有許多人煙罕至的風景

I mean, the setting for 'Avatar' was inspired by the Zhangjiajie National Park,

"阿凡達"的故事背景,就是參考張家界風景區而設計的

however, just like any other major state, they do have their land controversies.

然而，如同國家，有很多土地問題

China has been trying really hard to crack down on its poaching,

中國一直以來,都嚴厲取締非法狩獵

and especially against the endangered species,

特別是那些瀕臨絕種的動物

like the black-necked crane, the golden monkey, and of course,

像是黑頸鶴,金尾長猴

the iconic mascot of the nation - the giant panda bear.