Useful Notes / The Thirty-Three Divisions

What do you do if you are both the biggest communist country in the world and one of the oldest civilizations in the world? You divide it into divisions which is exactly what China does.

The People's Republic of China is divided into 33 first-level subdivisions, each falling into one of four classifications:

• Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin are "Municipalities" (直辖市, Zhíxiáshì), cities with a high population and autonomy, although bear in mind that they still include swathes of rural lands.
• Hong Kong and Macau are "Special Administrative Regions" [SARs] (特别行政区, 特別行政區 [traditional], Tèbié Xíngzhèngqū, Dahkbiht hàhngjingkēui [Cantonese]), former European colonies (respectively, of Britain and Portugal) south of Guangdong that were transferred back to the PRC towards the end of the 20th century, though they retain a degree of autonomy, colonial-era laws, and democratic mindset compared to the rest of the PRC (a common parlance for their status is "one country, two systems").
• Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Tibet, and Xinjiang are "Autonomous Regions" (自治区, Zìzhìqū), areas with a substantial percentage of ethnic (or in Ningxia's case, religious) minorities.
• The remaining 22 are assigned "Provinces" (省, Shěng).

Other than the above, China is currently locked in territorial disputes with several outside parties. The most significant is Taiwan, whose gray status in international politics is a decades-long legacy of the Chinese Civil War that remains unresolved to this day. Taiwan is governed by a separate government (the "Republic of China") and effectively a country of its own, but the People's Republic of China, as a much more powerful country, threatens to boycott any country that recognizes the Republic of China since they can only fully recognize one country as the "rightful China". Hence why only a handful countries still have formal relations with Taiwan and the ROC is not a member of the United Nations anymore. Other than Taiwan, China also maintains territorial disputes with Japan, India, Bhutan, and, as an extension of the South China Sea dispute, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Though it should be noted that this is a legal leftover from when the Republic of China was still governing mainland China, so Taiwan actually claims the same things that mainland China does along with the entirety of Mongolia and Tuva (although Taiwan lacks the power to enforce many of these inland claims so they focus on their South China Sea ones).

Population given for the mainland administrative divisions is as of the 2020 census. For Hong Kong and Macau, their numbers are as of those regions' 2021 censuses.

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North China (华北, Huáběi)

Beijing (北京, Běijīng)

ISO Code: BJ
Alternate name: Peking (Postal)
Type: Municipality
Capital: Tongzhou (通州, Tōngzhōu, Tungchow [Postal])^note The Beijing Municipal People's Congress is in the district of Tongzhou.
Area: 16,411 square kilometers (6,336 square miles) [29th of 33]
Population: 21,893,095 [27th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Northern Capital" (Beijing), "Connecting Prefecture" (Tongzhou)

Hebei (河北, Héběi)

ISO Code: HE
Alternate name: Hopeh (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Shijiazhuang (石家庄, Shíjiāzhuāng, Shihkiachwang [Postal])
Area: 188,800 square kilometers (72,900 square miles) [12th of 33]
Population: 74,610,235 [6th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "North of the [Yellow] River" (Hebei), "Stone Family Village" (Shijuazhuang)

Inner Mongolia (内蒙古, Nèiménggǔ)

ISO Code: NM
Alternate name: ᠥᠪᠥᠷᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ, Övör Mongol (Mongol)
Type: Autonomous Region
Capital (and largest city): Hohhot (呼和浩特, Hūhéhàotè / ᠬᠥᠬᠡᠬᠣᠲᠠ, Kökeqota [Mongol])
Other notable city: Baotou (包头市, Bāotóu, Paotow [Postal] / ᠪᠤᠭᠤᠲᠤ, Buɣutuqota [Mongol])
Area: 1,183,000 square kilometers (457,000 square miles) [3rd of 33]
Population: 24,049,155 [23rd of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Blue City" (Hohhot)

Befitting its name, Inner Mongolia has a significant Mongol minority numbering some 4.2 million, meaning it has more Mongols than the Republic of Mongolia, even though they only form 17% of the population. The designation of "Inner" stems from being directly ruled by the Qing Dynasty, whereas "Outer Mongolia" was given more autonomy, enabling it to declare independence during the Xinhai Revolution. Mongols in Inner Mongolia also write in the traditional Mongol script, whereas Mongols in the independent republic write in Cyrillic.

Shanxi (山西, Shānxī)

ISO Code: SX
Alternate name: Shansi (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Taiyuan (太原, Tàiyuán)
Area: 156,000 square kilometers (60,000 square miles) [20th of 33]
Population: 34,915,616 [18th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "West of the [Taihang] Mountains" (Shanxi), "Great Plain" (Taiyuan)

Tianjin (天津, Tiānjīn)

ISO Code: TJ
Alternate name: Tientsin (Postal)
Type: Municipality
Capital: (N/A, coterminous)
Area: 11,946 square kilometers (4,612 square miles) [30th of 33]
Population: 13,866,009 [5th of 33]
Literal meaning of name: "Emperor's Ford"

The principal maritime port-of-entry into Beijing.

East China (华东, Huádōng)

Anhui (安徽, Ānhuī)

ISO Code: AH
Alternate name: Anhuei (Lower Yangtze Mandarin)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Hefei (合肥, Héféi, Hofei [Postal])
Area: 140,200 square kilometers (54,100 square miles) [22nd of 33]
Population: 61,027,171 [8th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "An[qing] and Hui[zhou]" (Anhui; the latter is an old name for Huangshan), "Junction of the Fei [Rivers]" (Hefei)

Fujian (福建, Fújiàn)

ISO Code: FJ
Alternate names: Hók-gióng (Fuzhounese), Hok-kiàn (Hokkien)
Type: Province
Capital: Fuzhou (福州, Fúzhōu, Foochow [Postal], Hók-ciŭ [Fuzhounese], Hok-chiu [Hokkien])
Largest city: Quanzhou (泉州, Quánzhōu, Chinchew [Postal], Choân-chiu [Hokkien])
Other city of note: Xiamen (厦门, Xiàmén, Amoy [Postal], Ē-mûi [Hokkien])
Area: 121,400 square kilometers (46,900 square miles) [23rd of 33]
Population: 41,540,086 [17th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Fu[zhou] and Jian[zhou]" (Fujian, the latter being an old name for Nanping), "Blessed Prefecture" (Fuzhou), "Spring Prefecture" (Quanzhou)

A hilly province nestled in the southeast across Taiwan, Fujian is the most linguistically diverse region of China. It is the urheimat of Min Chinese, a complex group of Chinese languages descended from Old Chinese (last spoken c. 3rd century CE), setting it apart from other Sinitic languages that are descended from Middle Chinese (last spoken c. 13th century CE). Combined with the harsh geography, this means that not only Min languages are mutually unintelligible with non-Min Chinese speakers, they aren't even mutually intelligible with each other. Hokkien, the most widely spoken Min language, is difficult to understand by Teochew speakers from Chaoshou. And that's just the coastal area; inland Fujian is even more diverse, with reports of people being unable to comprehend the language of another town that's just several kilometers away.
Quanzhou, together with Xiamen and Zhangzhou, form the nucleus of the Hoklo homeland. Some 70% of Taiwan's population are descended from Hoklo immigrants during the Qing dynasty. While Overseas Chinese in the West are disproportionately represented by the Cantonese, the situation is more even in the diaspora in Southeast Asia, where Cantonese and Hoklo people have a more equal distribution.
Aside from the Min, the western parts of the province are inhabited by the Hakka, whose circular-shaped rural dwellings (tulou), built to accommodate the mountainous terrain, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Off the coast of Xiamen is a historic, pedestrian-only island, Gulangyu, that was occupied by foreigners in the early 20th century, and is also a World Heritage Site.

Jiangsu (江苏, Jiāngsū)

ISO Code: JS
Alternate names: Kiangsu (Postal), Kaon-sou (Suzhounese)
Type: Province
Capital: Nanjing (南京, Nánjīng, Nanking [Postal])
Largest city: Suzhou (苏州, Sūzhōu, Soochow [Postal], Sou-tseü (Suzhounese))
Area: 102,600 square kilometers (39,600 square miles) [25th of 33]
Population: 84,748,016 [5th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Jiang[ning] and Su[zhou]" (Jiangsu; "Jiangning" is an old name for Nanjing), "Southern Capital" (Nanjing), "Su Prefecture" (Suzhou)

Jiangxi (江西, Jiāngxī)

ISO Code: JX
Alternate names: Kiangsi (Postal), Kongsi (Gan), Gongsi (Hakka)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Nanchang (南昌, Nánchāng)
Area: 166,919 square kilometers (64,448 square miles) [18th of 33]
Population: 45,188,635 [13th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Western Jiang[nan]" (Jiangxi; "Jiangnan" historically refers to lands south of the Yangtze River), "Southern Prosperity" (Nanchang)

Shandong (山东, Shāndōng)

ISO Code: SD
Type: Province
Capital: Jinan (济南, Jǐnán, Tsinan [Postal])
Largest city: Qingdao (青岛, Qīngdǎo, Tsingtao [Postal])
Area: 157,100 square kilometers (60,700 square miles) [20th of 33]
Population: 101,527,453 [2nd of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "East of the [Taihang] Mountains" (Shandong), "South of the Ji [River]" (Jinan), "Cyan Isle" (Qingdao)

Confucius was a native of the state of Lu, which was in present-day Shandong. Spring and Autumn Annals, the namesake of a period of the Zhou dynasty, is an account of Lu, and its authorship is traditionally credited to Confucius. Those who subscribe to Sun Tzu's historicity believe that he was from the state of Qi, Lu's much more powerful northern neighbor.

Shanghai (上海, Shànghǎi)

ISO Code: SH
Alternate name: Zånhae (Shanghainese)
Type: Municipality
Capital: (N/A, coterminous)
Area: 6,341 square kilometers (2,448 square miles) [31st of 33]
Population: 24,870,895 [1st of 33]
Literal meaning of name: "Upon the Sea"

Zhejiang (浙江, Zhèjiāng)

ISO Code: ZJ
Alternate names: Chekiang (Postal), Tseh-kaon (Wu)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Hangzhou (杭州, Hángzhōu Hangchow [Postal], Hang-tsei [Wu])
Area: 101,800 square kilometers (39,300 square miles) [26th of 33]
Population: 64,567,588 (8th)
Literal meaning of names: "Zhe [i.e. Qiantang] River" (Zhejiang), "Square Boat Prefecture" (Hangzhou)

Kuomintang revolutionary Chiang Kai-shek, who ruled the Republic of China from 1928 to 1975 (albeit confined to Taiwan from 1949 onwards), came from Xikou, located to the southeast of Hangzhou.

South Central China (中南, Zhōngnán)

Guangdong (广东, Guǎngdōng)

ISO Code: GD
Alternate names: Kwangtung (Postal), Gwóngdùng (Cantonese)
Capital (and largest city): Guangzhou (广州, Guǎngzhōu, Canton [Postal], Gwóngjàu [Cantonese])
Other city of note: Shenzhen (深圳, Shēnzhèn, Shamchun [Postal], Sāmjan [Cantonese])
Area: 179,800 square kilometers (69,400 square miles) [15th of 33]
Population: 126,012,510 [1st of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Eastern Expanse" (Guangdong), "Broad Prefecture" (Guangzhou), "Deep Ditch" (Shenzhen)

The most populous province in China and the world's second-most populous national division (after Uttar Pradesh, India). It also has the country's largest economy, contributing $1.6 trillion (11%) of China's nominal annual GDP (i.e. were it a country of its own, its economy would have still dwarfed Russia's). The Pearl River Delta is a humongous megalopolis that contains Guangzhou and Shenzhen, two megacities that have become renowned as a center of high tech and manufacturing. Shenzhen was the first Chinese city to open up to capitalism in the 1970s, and benefits from its location right to the north of Hong Kong. Shenzhen Stock Exchange is the world's seventh largest stock exchange, as well as Asia's fourth largest. Guangdong is home to sixteen Fortune Global 500 companies, the most of any province outside Beijing, including eight in Shenzhen (e.g. Huawei and Tencent), five in Guangzhou, two in Foshan, and one in Zhuhai. Alpha Group Co., Ltd. and Creative Power Entertaining animation studios are also based in Guangzhou.
Guangdong's population mainly speak Yue Chinese languages, the most famous being Cantonese. ("Canton" itself is derived from the Portuguese interpretation of the dialectal pronunciation of "Guangdong".) They are spoken in the western half of the province, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Foshan, as well as the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau (see below). The middle and northern half are Hakka territory, whereas the far eastern part speak Southern Min languages. The people from the Leizhou Peninsula in the western end, jutting out into Hainan, also speak Min languages, albeit of a different subbranch.
Northern Guangdong is site to Mount Danxia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its, um, phallic◊ and vulvar-shaped◊ stones. Another World Heritage Site is the Kaiping Diaolou, hundreds of multistory watchtowers in Kaiping built during the early modern period.

Guangxi (广西, Guǎngxī)

ISO Code: GX
Alternate names: Kwangsi (Postal), Gvangjsih (Zhuang)
Type: Autonomous Region
Capital (and largest city): Nanning (南宁, Nánníng, Namzningz [Zhuang])
Area: 237,600 square kilometers (91,700 square miles) [9th of 33]
Population: 50,126,804 [11th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Western Expanse" (Guangxi), "Southern Tranquility" (Nanning)

Guangxi is where China borders Southeast Asia, which can be seen with the the Zhuang people of this autonomous region, who speak a Tai language related to Thai and Lao.

Hainan (海南, Hǎinán)

ISO Code: HI
Alternate names: Hái-nâm (Hainanese), Hoinam (Hakka)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Haikou (海口, Hǎikǒu, Hoikow [Postal], Hái-khāu [Hainanese])
Area: 35,191 square kilometers (13,587 square miles) [28th of 33]
Population: 10,081,232 [28th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "South of the Sea [i.e. Qiongzhou Strait]" (Hainan), "Mouth of the Sea" (Haikou)

The southernmost province of China, and the only one located on an island.

Henan (河南, Hénán)

ISO Code: HA
Alternate name: Honan (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Zhengzhou (郑州, Zhèngzhōu, Chengchow [Postal])
Area: 167,000 square kilometers (64,000 square miles) [17th of 33]
Population: 99,365,519 [3rd of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "South of the [Yellow] River" (Henan), "Zheng Settlement" (Zhengzhou)

The historical heart of the Chinese civilization, Henan is site to Yinxu, where oracle bones of Shang, the earliest Chinese dynasty with proven historicity, were unearthed. Yinxu was the last capital of Shang before its deposition by Zhou. Also in Henan are Luoyang (capital of Eastern Zhou, Eastern Han, Cao Wei, Western Jin, Northern Wei, and Wu Zhou) and Kaifeng (capital of the Northern Song).

Hong Kong (香港, Xiānggǎng)

ISO Code: HK
Alternate name: Hēunggóng (Cantonese)
Type: Special Administrative Region
Capital: (N/A)^note During the early colonial period, Hong Kong's capital was "Victoria City", made up of four neighbourhoods nicknamed the "Four Rings"—west, upper, middle, and east. Currently, the central business district is located in the middle ring, or Central in the Central and Western District, which constitutes the first three 'rings', while the fourth one formed its own District, Wan Chai.
Area: 2,755 square kilometers (1,064 square miles) [32nd of 33]
Population: 7,413,070 [30th of 33]
Literal meaning of name: "Fragrant Harbor"

Hubei (湖北, Húběi)

ISO Code: HB
Alternate name: Hupeh (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Wuhan (武汉, Wǔhàn)
Area: 185,900 square kilometers (71,800 square miles) [13th of 33]
Population: 57,752,557 [10th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "North of [Dongting] Lake" (Hubei), "Wu[chang] and Han[kou]" (Wuhan; the city was a conglomeration of the old cities of Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang)

Nowadays, Hubei gained some international notoriety as the place where the COVID-19 Pandemic was first documented. On a positive note, the province is home to the Three Gorges Dam and a card game called Dou dizhu. Dongfeng Motor Corporation, one of the country's Big Four automakers and a Fortune Global 500 company, is headquartered in Wuhan.

Hunan (湖南, Húnán)

ISO Code: HN
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Changsha (长沙, Chángshā)
Area: 210,000 square kilometers (80,000 square miles [10th of 33]
Population: 66,444,864 [7th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "South of [Dongting] Lake" (Hunan), "Long Sandbar" (Changsha)

Mao Zedong was from Shaoshan, a city southwest of provincial capital Changsha.

Macau (澳門, Àomén)

ISO Code: MO
Alternate name: Macão (Portuguese, pre-1911 reform), Oumún (Cantonese)
Type: Special Administrative Region
Capital: N/A
Area: 115 square kilometers (45 square miles) [33rd of 33]
Population: 682,070 [33rd of 33]
Literal meaning of name: "Bay Gate"

Southwest China (西南, Xīnán)

Chongqing (重庆, Chóngqìng)

ISO Code: CQ
Alternate name: Chungking (Postal)
Type: Municipality
Capital: (N/A, coterminous)
Area: 82,403 square kilometers (31,816 square miles) [26th of 33]
Population: 32,054,159 [19th of 33]
Literal meaning of name: "Doubled Celebration"

The hilly municipality of Chongqing was split off from the eastern border of Sichuan in 1997, and thus the two areas share a common cultural background (e.g. hot and numbingly-spicy cuisine). However, the city itself has had an interesting history, which includes being the backup capital of the Republic of China after Nanking/Nanjing fell to the Japanese in the Second Sino-Japanese War and for the rest of World War II.

Guizhou (贵州, Guìzhōu)

ISO Code: GZ
Alternate name: Kewichow (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Guiyang (贵阳, Guìyáng, Kweiyang [Postal])
Area: 176,167 square kilometers (68,018 square miles) [16th of 33]
Population: 38,562,148 [19th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Gui [Mountains] Prefecture" (Guizhou), "Southern Slope of Gui [Mountain]" (Guiyang)

Sichuan (四川, Sìchuān)

ISO Code: SC
Alternate name: Szechwan (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Chengdu (成都, Chéngdū, Chengtu [Postal])
Area: 485,500 square kilometers (187,000 square miles) [5th of 33]
Population: 83,674,866 [4th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Four Plains" (Sichuan), "Established Capital" (Chengdu)

The province's geography can be divided in two. The eastern half is made up of the Sichuan Basin, a highly fertile lowland barricaded by mountains on all sides, anchored by the cities of Chengdu to the west and Chongqing to the southeast. The source of their fertility is a river system that drains into the Yangtze, which crosses Chongqing. The western half is the highly mountainous and rugged Hengduan Mountains, part of the Tibetan Plateau. It was formerly part of Tibet until reorganization by the PRC following its annexation of Tibet in 1950 broke up the former country into three separate regions: Tibet, southern Qinghai, and western Sichuan. Previously, the Chinese claimed the territory as part of the Xikang province, a status that is still maintained by the Republican government in Taiwan.
Sichuan's damp climate leads to the ubiquity of spiciness in its local food, known internationally as the Szechwan cuisine. Kung pao chicken (宫保鸡丁, Gōngbǎo jīdīng) is a classic Chinese dish in the West, while mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐, mápó dòufu) is a stereotypical "random spicy food" in Japanese pop culture.
In 1640s, the province witnessed an infamous massacre/autogenocide by Zhang Xianzhong, who led a peasant revolt against the Qing dynasty. It's believed that Sichuan was depopulated by as much as 75% by the time the Qing successfully put down the rebellion, with the city of Chengdu reputedly becoming a Ghost City frequented by tigers. The Qing settled the province with people from Northern China, which is why the population currently speak Mandarin, despite the region being technically Southern Chinese. In spite of this, though most Sichuanese are genetically northern, they are culturally southern and are thus treated as southerners.
Sichuan has five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the world's largest panda sanctuary and tallest premodern statue, the 71 meter-high Leshan Giant Buddha. The statue faces Mount Emei, one of the four sacred mountains in Chinese Buddhism. Another world heritage site, Mount Qingcheng, is one of the four sacred mountains in Taoism.
Deng Xiaoping, architect of modern China, was from Guang'an, east of Chengdu.

Tibet (西藏, Xīzàng)

ISO Code: XZ
Alternate name: བོད་, Bod (Tibetan)
Type: Autonomous Region
Capital (and largest city): Lhasa (拉萨, Lāsà / ལྷ་ས [Tibetan])
Area: 1,228,400 square kilometers (474,300 square miles) [2nd of 33]
Population: 3,648,100 [32nd of 33]
Literal meaning of name: "Western Tsang" (Xizang), "Palace of the Gods" (Lhasa)

Yunnan (云南, Yúnnán)

ISO Code: YN
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Kunming (昆明, Kūnmíng)
Area: 394,000 square kilometers (152,000 square miles) [8th of 33]
Population: 47,209,277 [12th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "South of the Colorful Clouds" (Yunnan)

Northwest China (西北, Xīběi)

Gansu (甘肃, Gānsù)

ISO Code: GS
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Lanzhou (兰州, Lánzhōu, Lanchow [Postal])
Other city of note: Dunhuang (敦煌市, Dūnhuáng, Tunhwang [Postal])
Area: 453,700 square kilometers (175,200 square miles) [7th of 33]
Population: 25,019,831 [22nd of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Gan[zhou] and Su[zhou]" (Gansu; a compound of the old names of the cities of, respectively, Zhangye and Jiuquan), "Orchid [Hills] Prefecture" (Lanzhou), "Shining Mound" (Dunhuang)

A large province situated in the mid-west of the country, Gansu represented, for most of history, the western frontier of Chinese civilization. Although many Chinese states and empires were able to capture areas further west in Xinjiang, they never truly managed to Sinicize them until the twentieth century. China proper, as people knew it, stopped at the Jade Gate, the western end of the Great Wall, which is located not far away from Dunhuang, the westernmost city of Gansu.
The Hexi Corridor that gives Gansu its elongated diagonal shape was part of the historical Silk Road, linking China proper with Central Asia. The corridor consists of a network of oasis towns sandwiched between the Mongolian deserts to the north and the Tibetan highlands to the south. Buddhism came to China through Gansu, and fittingly, there are many Buddhist monasteries and grottoes dotting all along the Hexi Corridor. The most famous is the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ningxia (宁夏, زِجِ‌ٿِيُوِ, Níngxià)

ISO Code: NX
Alternate name: Ningsia (Postal)
Type: Autonomous Region
Capital (and largest city): Yinchuan (银川, Yínchuān, Yinchwan [Postal])
Other city of note: Shizuishan (石嘴山, شِ‌ظُوِشًا شِ, Shízuǐshān, Shetsuishan [Postal])
Area: 66,400 square kilometers (25,637 square miles) [27th of 33]
Population: 7,202,654 [29th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Pacified [people of the] Xia" (Ningxia), "Silver River" (Yinchuan), "Stony Beak Mountain" (Shizuishan)

An autonomous region reserved for the Hui people, Chinese-speaking Muslims, who make up 34% of the population. Its environment is mainly dry and desert-like, being located on the doorstep of the Gobi Desert. During The High Middle Ages, Yinchuan (then known as Xingqing) was the capital of Western Xia, a dynasty that ruled over northwestern China following the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era, coexisting with the Han-dominated Song. The dynasty's ruling class were the Tanguts, a Sino-Tibetan people related to the indigenous people of Qinghai, who wrote with a strange script that looked similar to Hanzi but were incomprehensible to the Han. The Western Xia were, alongside the Khwarezmians, one of the notable victims of Genghis Khan's march across Asia, in that their attempt to flip off the Great Khan ended with their complete destruction as both a state and nation.

Qinghai (青海, Qīnghǎi)

ISO Code: QH
Alternate name: Tsinghai (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Xining (西宁, Xīníng, Sining [Postal])
Area: 720,000 square kilometers (280,000 square miles) [4th of 33]
Population: 5,923,957 [30th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Qinghai [Lake]" (Qinghai), "Western Tranquility" (Xining)

Shaanxi (陕西, Shǎnxī)

ISO Code: SN
Alternate name: Shensi (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Xi'an (西安, Xī'ān, Sianfu [Postal])
Area: 205,800 square kilometers (79,500 square miles) [11th of 33]
Population: 39,528,999 [16th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "West of the Shan [Pass]" (Shaanxi), "Western Peace" (Xi'an)

The extremely ancient city of Xi'an (formerly Chang'an), located in the fertile Wei River valley, was historically the capital of some of the most defining and monumental empires in Chinese history. The Zhou dynasty's first capital, Fenghao, stood somewhere in the city's southwest, Qin Shi Huangdi based his newfound Qin Empire from Xianyang, immediately to the west of Chang'an, and since then, the dynasties of Han, Sui, and Tang all chose to center themselves in Chang'an. It marked the starting (or ending, for travelers from the west) point of the Silk Road. The mausoleum of Qin Shi Huangdi has the famous terracotta army, and is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Today, the province has a growing industrial sector, with Xi'an being the home of two Fortune Global 500 companies that specialize in chemical, coal, and petroleum production.
As for its name, using the Pinyin romanization without diacritics could cause it to be easily confused with Shanxi, thus for the sake of disambiguation this province adopted its romanized name according to Gwoyeu Romatzyh, an obscure system that uses spelling variations based on the tone of the syllable (using the same scheme, Shanxi [Shānxī] would be romanized as "Shanshi").

Xinjiang (新疆, Xīnjiāng)

ISO Code: XJ
Alternate names: Sinkiang (Postal) / رايونى, Shinjang (Uyghur)
Type: Autonomous Region
Capital (and largest city): Ürümqi (乌鲁木齐, Wūlǔmùqí, Urumtsi [Postal] / ئۈرۈمچى [Uyghur])
Other cities of note: Kashgar (喀什, Kāshí / قەشقەر, Qeshqer [Uyghur]), Hotan (和田市, Hétián / خوتەن, Xoten [Uyghur])
Area: 1,664,897 square kilometers (642,820 square miles) [1st of 33]
Population: 25,852,345 [21st of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "New Frontier" (Xinjiang), "Beautiful Pasture" (Ürümqi)

Northeast China (东北, Dōngběi)

Also known in the West as Manchuria, after the Manchu, the region's largest ethnic minority. Previously known as the Jurchens, the Manchus built the 12th century-era Jin dynasty, which managed to unite Northeast China for a century before the Mongol conquest. In the 17th century, they resurfaced again to create the Qing, the last Chinese dynasty. During their reign, the Manchus fenced off Manchuria from being settled by everyone else, in an attempt to preserve their culture, but they eventually relaxed this rule. Today, virtually all Manchus have been assimilated to the Han Chinese, and their language (part of the Tungusic family that includes languages spoken by indigenous Siberians) is basically dead. From 1932 to 1945, the Japanese ruled the region through the puppet state of Manchukuo, with Puyi, the last Qing emperor, as figurehead.

Most of the PRC's 1.8 million ethnic Koreans live here. Northeast China is very important in Korean historiography because many ancient Korean states were based there, and Koreans were still ruling parts of the region by the 10th century, when they were deposed by the Khitans (a nomadic people related to the Mongols). Some Korean ultranationalists have tried to use this fact to justify their claim over the region.

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Heilongjiang (黑龙, Hēilóngjiāng)

ISO Code: HL
Alternate name: Heilungkiang (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Harbin (哈尔滨, Hā'ěrbīn)
Other cities of note: Qiqihar (齐齐哈尔, Qíqíhā'ěr, Tsitsihar [Postal]), Jixi (鸡西, Jīxī)
Area: 454,800 square kilometers (175,600 square miles) [6th of 33]
Population: 31,850,088 [15th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Black Dragon [i.e. Amur] River" (Heilongjiang), "Place for Drying Fishing Nets" (Harbin), "Defense of the Qiqi [River]" (Qiqihar)

Heilongjiang is China's northernmost and easternmost province. The capital Harbin is famous for hosting a month-long ice and snow sculpture festival every January, the largest of its kind in the world.

Jilin (吉林, Jílín)

ISO Code: JL
Alternate name: Kirin (Postal)
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Changchun (长春, Chángchūn, Ch'angch'un [Postal])
Other city of note: Jilin (吉林)
Area: 191,126 square kilometers (73,794 square miles) [14th of 33]
Population: 24,073,453 [21st of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Along the River" (Jilin), "Long Spring" (Changchun)

At 1.1 million people, Jilin has the largest ethnic Korean population in China. Mount Baekdu (or Changbai in Chinese), the holiest mountain in Korean Mythology, is located on the border of Jilin and North Korea's Ryanggang province. For understandable reasons, it is usually climbed from the Chinese side. The capital, Changchun, is host to FAW Group, one of China's Big Four automakers and a Fortune Global 500 company.

Liaoning (辽宁, Liáoníng)

ISO Code: LN
Type: Province
Capital (and largest city): Shenyang (沈阳, Shěnyáng / ᠮᡠᡴ᠋ᡩᡝᠨ, Mukden [Manchu and Postal])
Other city of note: Dalian (大连, Dàlián, Dairen [Postal])
Area: 145,900 square kilometers (56,300 square miles) [21st of 33]
Population: 42,591,407 [14th of 33]
Literal meaning of names: "Pacified [People] of the Liao [River]" (Liaoning), "North Bank of the Shen [River]" (Shenyang), "Great Connection" (Dalian)

The port city of Dalian (more specifically the Lushunkou district, historically known as Port Arthur) was contested in the early 20th century between the Japanese and Russians, a catalyst to the Russo-Japanese War. Meanwhile, Anshan is known for its steel industry, with Ansteel Group being a Fortune Global 500 company.