Snowboard

The best wrist protection is soft enough to allow normal wrist motion, but is able to absorb loads for hyper extension of the wrist.
. Shorts and rigid splints could cause severe forearm fractures. Other areas of technological study:. Be aware that wrist guards made for in-line are dangerous and not recomended.
. Snowboard-related injury accounts for 100,000 of the wrist fractures in the world each season. In addition to the cultural innovations mentioned above, technological inventions from China include:.

Time not money will make a skilled, safe snowboarder. Calligraphy, sushi, and bonsai are all millennia-old art that later spread to Japan and Korea. It is worthy of note that many of the worlds pros began on old equipment, riding on very small hills. See Chinese painting for more details. A professional lesson, or a day spent with a skilled friend is highly recomended. The great variation and beauty in the Chinese landscape is often the inspiration for great works of Chinese art. Beginners should start on very gentle slopes with soft snow conditions, even if they're a good alpine skier. Because of its association with elite scholar-official bosses, it later on became commercialized, where works by famous artists became prized possessions.

It is highly recomended that all riders wear a helmet. Calligraphy is a major art-form in China, above that of painting and music. Necessary safety measures must be taken. Chinese characters have had many variants and styles throughout the Chinese history, and were "simplified" in the mid-20th century on mainland China. Beginners are in great danger during first hours of practice. The sheng is the basis for several Western free-reed instruments. Injuries for snowboarders are very common, especially for upperlimb: wrist, elbows and shoulders. The Chinese have created numerous musical instruments, such as the zheng, xiao, and erhu, that have spread throughout East and Southeast Asia, and especially areas under its influence.

This is obviously easier with a less biased stance, such as the "duck" stance. (See List of Chinese authors, and List of Chinese language poets). When a rider changes direction mid-run (for example a "regular" rider leads with their left foot), they are said to be riding "switch". Some classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring depictions of lives of the common people, often to the displeasure of authorities. The question of how much the bindings are angled depends on the rider's purpose and preference. Chinese philosophers, writers, and poets have been, for the most part, highly respected, and played a key role in preserving and promoting the culture of the empire. However, personal preference and comfort are important with regard to this setting, so experimentation is recommended. Those who passed the highest level of the exam became elite scholar-officials known as jinshi, a highly esteemed socio-economic position.

The usual measurement is to position the bindings so that the feet are placed just wider than shoulder width apart. Imperial examinations required applicants to write essays and demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics. Obviously, the size of the rider has much to do with proper stance width. Nevertheless it was a system distinct from the European system of blood nobility. Stance width is important because it determines how the rider is balanced on the board. This led to a meritocracy, though in practice this was possible only among those who were not female or too poor to afford test preparation, as doing well still required tutorship. A good snowboarder should be equally skilled in riding both ways, even if they have a particular preference. For centuries, opportunity for economic and social advancement in China could be provided by high performance on the imperial examinations.

Most people have a natural stance determined by experimentation, and the two stances are roughly equally common. Tens of thousands of ancient written documents are still extant and more, from oracle bones to Qing edicts, are discovered each day. "Goofy" is just the opposite - the right foot leads and the left foot is at the back. Members of royalty frequently participated in these discussions. A "regular" stance is one in which the rider's left foot is the front foot, while the right foot is the back foot. Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were formed to comment on these works in both printed and written form. There are two "stances" used by snowboarders. Before that, manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist) were manually written by ink brush (previously scratching shells) and distributed.

This is most likely to happen when the rider removes the board at the top or the bottom of a run (or while on a chairlift, which could be dangerous). Chinese literature has a long and prolific continuous history, in part because of the development of printmaking during the Song Dynasty. Nevertheless, most ski areas require the use of a "leash" that connects the snowboard to the rider's leg or boot, in case the snowboard manages to get away from its rider. They regularly protest against their suppression, both domestically and internationally. Furthermore it reduces the dangerous prospect of a board hurtling downhill riderless, and the rider slipping downhill on his back with no means to maintain grip on a steep slope. The Falun Gong says that it has approximately 70-100 million followers, which is a bit higher than estimates by outside groups, though exact numbers are unknown. Automatic release is not required in snowboarding, as the rider's legs are fixed in a static position and twisting of the knee joint cannot occur to the same extent. The Falun Gong itself denies that it is a cult or a religion.

With skis, this mechanism is designed to protect from injuries (particularly to the knee) caused by skis torn in different directions. In recent years, Falun Gong, a spiritual practice drawing upon Buddhism and Taoism, has attracted great controversy after the government of the People's Republic of China labeled it an evil cult and began an attempt to eradicate it. Snowboard bindings, unlike ski bindings, do not automatically release upon impact or after falling over. Historically, Taoism and Buddhism have been the dominant religions of Chinese society, and continue to be so in Chinese societies outside direct PRC control. Strap-in, step-in, and hybrid bindings are used by most recreational riders and all freestyle riders. While the People's Republic of China is officially atheist it does allow religion under strict supervision. There are several types of bindings. The major religions of China are:.

The bindings are fixed to the board, and hold the booted feet in place using a variety of systems. Other than Standard Mandarin, spoken variants are usually not written; the exception is Standard Cantonese, which is sometimes written as Written Cantonese in informal contexts. Though bindings are not strictly part of the snowboard, they are necessary for its use. Classical Chinese is no longer the predominant form of written Chinese, though it continues to be a part of high school curricula and is hence intelligible to some degree to many Chinese people. Other boots, such as Sorel-style boots, may look like they would work with a snowboard, but are unsuitable for snowboarding. In addition, another, more ancient written standard, Classical Chinese, was used for writing Chinese by the literati for thousands of years before the 20th Century. Snowboard boots differ from other types of boots in that they provide internal support to transfer the rider's movements to the board. The various spoken varieties of Chinese share a common written standard, "Vernacular Chinese" or "baihua", which has been used since the early 20th Century and is based on Standard Mandarin, the standard spoken language, in grammar and vocabulary.

Hard boots have become less common and are generally only found in more specialist stores. The Han speak several mutually unintelligible tongues, classified by modern linguists as being separate languages, but regarded within the Chinese languages as "dialects" or "local languages" (topolects) within a single Chinese language (the word for "area languages" has an implication of dialect rather than a separate language, although on the basis of use, these topolects can be found to be separate and mutually unintelligible, and are so classified by many linguists). Hard boots are very similar to ski boots and provide greater stability, increased control and quicker responsiveness on the snowboard. As a response to the problems this is causing, the government of the PRC has enacted a birth control policy, commonly known as the One-child policy. Generally, hard boots are used for alpine carving and racing, whereas soft boots are used in freestyle and freeride. The lack of birth control and promotion of population growth during the rule of Mao Zedong resulted in a demographic explosion, culminating in over 1.3 billion people today. Soft boots look similar to winter boots and have a relatively comfortable, flexible feel that provides the forgiveness necessary for landing jumps and balancing on rails. With the global human population currently estimated at about 6.4 billion, China is home to approximately 20%, or one-fifth of the world's population.

Snowboard boots come in two main types, soft boots and hard boots. China's overall population is 1.3 billion. Snowboard designs differ primarily in:. The government of the People's Republic of China now officially recognizes a total of 56 ethnic groups, of which the largest is the Han Chinese. The base of the board may also feature graphics, often designed to make the manufacturer recognisable in photos. The term Zhonghua Minzu is sometimes used to describe a notion of a "Chinese nationality" transcending ethnic divisions. Snowboard topsheet graphics can be a highly personal statement and many riders spend many hours customizing the look of their boards. Many times in the past millenia many foreign groups have, in turn, shaped Han language and culture, for example the queue is a pig tail hairstyle strictly enforced by the Manchurians on the Han populace.

The top of the board typically sports graphics designed by board makers to attract riders to their boards. Several previously distinct ethnic groups have been Sinicized into the Han, causing its population to increase dramatically; at the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and cultural traditions, though still identifying as Han. The edges of the base are fitted with a steel edge, just a couple millimeters square, which helps the board grab the snow when tipped up on edge. Throughout history, many ethnic groups have been assimilated into neighbouring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. The base (the side of the board that touches the snow) is covered with a plastic called p-tex, which is typically sintered to help it absorb wax, which helps it slide faster. In terms of numbers, however, the pre-eminent ethnic group in China is the Han, which is a group so diverse in its culture and language that some conceive of it as a larger overarching group bringing together many smaller, distinct ethnic groups sharing common traits in language and culture. The front or "nose" of the board is upturned, to help the board glide over uneven snow; the back or "tail" of the board may be more or less upturned to enable backwards (switch or switchstance) riding. Over a hundred ethnic groups have existed in China.

Most snowboards are constructed of a wood core and laminated with fiberglass. In the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaux. Snowboards come in several different styles, depending on the type of riding intended:. Groups of volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north China. Many professionals still opt not to involve themselves in the Olympic event, citing dissatisfaction with rules and with the concept of Olympic Snowboarding itself. The Palaeozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the Carboniferous system, are marine, while the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits are estuarine and freshwater or else of terrestrial origin. Despite this rivalry, it is their establishment which finally convinces the IOC to declare snowboarding a new Olympic discipline in 1995. The southern zone (within which lies Guangzhou and other southern provinces) has a generally subtropical climate.

Later, the ISF (International Snowboard Federation) originated primarily due to dissatisfaction with the new ISA rules. The central zone (within which Shanghai is situated) has a generally temperate climate. Due to the need for universal contest regulations, the ISA (International Snowboard Association) was founded in 1994. The northern zone (within which lies Beijing) has a climate with winters of Arctic severity. The growing popularity of the sport is reflected by the history of snowboarding as an official sport: In 1985 the first World Cup is held in Zürs, Austria. The climate of China varies greatly. This opinion was well expressed in Heckler Magazine's "Declaration of Independents Snowboarding, Skateboarding and Music: An Intersection of Cultures.". During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

Many snowboarders are disappointed with the over-commercialization and of the sport, having viewed it as a very personal expression of themselves, similar to skateboarding, art and music. Dust blows all the way to southern China, Taiwan, and has even been measured on the West Coast of the United States. Snowboarding is now coming to terms with its popularity. Due to a prolonged drought and perhaps poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become usual in the spring in China. Ski companies are now absorbing many snowboard companies, creating their own and, arguably, designing skis which directly borrow technology and design from snowboards (see shaped skis and twin skis). The northwest also has high plateaus among more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. Many ski companies reacted negatively to snowboarding during the sport's infancy. To the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, with the Himalayas, containing the highest point Mount Everest.

In reaction, Transworld Snowboarding created a popular t-shirt called "Answers," which included the answers to many questions posed by skiers, including: "Yes I can stop." Many resorts did not initially allow snowboards and insisted on the use of superfluous leashes and were known to insist that riders prove their ability before being allowed on the hill. In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are found extensive and densely populated alluvial plains; the shore of the South China Sea is more mountainous and southern China is dominated by hill country and lower mountain ranges. Snowboarding was seen as a fad. Most of China's arable lands lie along the two major rivers, the Yangtze and the Huang He, and each are the centers around which are founded China's major ancient civilizations. During the early years of the sport, snowboards and snowboarders were not widely respected by the ski industry and culture. As a result, principal rivers flow from west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (central-east), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south (including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific. Nowadays there are millions of snowboarders around the world and a multi-million dollar industry trying to satisfy their needs. China is composed of a vast variety of highly different landscapes, with mostly plateaus and mountains in the west, and lower lands on the east.

Since its early years, the snowboard has been improved steadily and has taken the world by storm. China is also traditionally thought of as comprising North China (北方) and South China (南方), the geographic boundary between which north and south is largely generalized as Huai River (淮河) and Qinling Mountains (秦嶺). One of the most mentionable however is Bob patent from 1972, which he sold in 1990 to Jake Burton Carpenter, founder and owner of Burton Snowboards, today's largest manufacturer of snowboard-specific products. China proper is generally thought to be bounded by the Great Wall and the edge of the Tibetan Plateau; Manchuria and Inner Mongolia are found to the north of the Great Wall of China, and the boundary between them can either be taken as the present border between Inner Mongolia and the northeast Chinese provinces, or the more historic border of the World War II-era puppet state of Manchukuo; Xinjiang's borders correspond to today's administrative Xinjiang; and historic Tibet is conceived as occupying all of the Tibetan Plateau. This process included different stages and individual ideas and resulted in several patents for snowboard-like constructions. These territories are separated by borders that are vague at best, and do not correspond well to contemporary political divisions. The history of the snowboard starts in Utah, [1]U.S.A., where pioneers like Sherman Poppen, Dimitrije Milovich, Bob Webber, Jake Burton Carpenter, Tom Sims, Mike Olson, and Chuck Barfoot developed prototypes mainly inspired by surfboards in the 1970s. The Manchu-established Qing Dynasty and its successors, the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China cemented the incorporation of these territories into China.

. Various dynasties also exhibited expansionism by engaging in incursions into peripheral territories like Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Tibet. A snowboard is not to be confused with a monoboard. Historically, most Chinese dynasties were based in the historical heartlands of China, known as China proper. Analogous to a surfboard or skateboard for snow, snowboards are typically about a metre and a half long by about 30 centimetres wide, with metal edges and an upturned lip at each end. Recent divisions also include prefecture-level cities, county-level cities, towns and townships (see below for examples). Attached to the rider's feet with bindings, it is ridden down snow-covered slopes or dry ski slopes without the use of ski poles. Below that, there have been prefectures, subprefectures, departments, commanderies, districts, and counties.

A snowboard is a board ridden by a rider in the sport of snowboarding. Top levels included circuits and provinces. ISBN 0-393-32692-0 michaelbarnett@iinet.net.au. Historically, top-level political divisions of China have altered as the administration changed. Norton & Company. Since then, the de jure sovereignty of Taiwan has been under dispute between the PRC, and the now democratic ROC and Taiwan independence supporters. W.W. At the end of the second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Japan relinquished the sovereignty of the island in the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and the Republic of China took over.

The Snowboard Book: A Guide for All Boarders. Taiwan was subsequently ceded to Japan after the first Sino-Japanese War in 1895. Hart, Lowell (1997). In 1683 after the surrender of the Kingdom of Tungning established by Koxinga, Taiwan including the Pescadores became a part of the Qing Empire, originally as one prefecture, then two, and later a province. Patent 5190311 -- Snowboard binding system. The Qing Empire reduced the territorial value of the Great Wall of China as a barrier of China proper after they merged their homeland (Manchuria) north of the wall with China proper south of it. U.S. Since the end of the 19th century, China has tried to reinterpret this relationship as suzerainty or suzerainty-dependency, but this no longer has any real conception in modern international political theories.

Patent 3900204 -- Mono-ski. The Chinese thought that the barbarians attached themselves to the virtue of the Emperor, while the foreign governments sometimes disagreed. U.S. Along with provincial administrators, some foreign monarchs sent envoys to offer gifts to the Emperor of China and the Emperor returned compliments to them. Patent 3378274 -- Surf-type snow ski. The Qing Dynasty included parts of modern Russian Far East and Central Asia (west of Xinjiang). U.S. Since then, the territory has expanded outward in all directions, and was largest during the Tang, Yuan, and Qing dynasties.

This stance is becoming increasingly popular, and is the most resilient of the three. The Zhou Dynasty, which preceded the unification of China by Shi Huangdi, was originally the region around the Yellow River. Duck stance: Useful for tricks by removing the forward bias altogether, the feet are angled equally outwards such as 15° and -15°. One of the oldest and most prominent of them, the China Support Network (CSN), was founded in 1989 by a group of concerned Americans and Chinese activists in response to Tiananmen Square. Alpine stance: Used primarily for racing, the leading foot may be anything up to 70° and the trailing foot generally 5° less. aim to bring democratic reform to China and relentlessly protest human rights violations that occur in the People's Republic of China. Forward stance: Suitable for most purposes, the leading foot is angled roughly 21° and the trailing foot at 6°. A number of NGOs based in the U.S.

Alpine snowboards tend to be longer and thinner with a much stiffer flex for greater edge hold and better carving performance. Today, however, there is much more freedom in intellectual thought in non-political areas and propaganda, while still continuing, has lessened. The stiff bindings and boots give much more control over the board and allow the board to be carved much more easily than with softer bindings. The attempted eradication of the Falun Gong movement is also held by its supporters to be motivated by fear of Falun Gong's growing influence. Extreme carvers and some Boarder Cross racers also use plate bindings. In 1989, a popular demonstration held in Beijing at Tiananmen Square was violently put to an end by the CPC. Plate - Plate bindings are used with hardboots on Alpine or racing snowboards. Examples of this include the jailing of political opponents and journalists, general control of the press, regulation of religions and other non-party organizations, censorship of the press, literature and film, and suppression of independence/secessionist movements.

This allows the rider to apply pressure and effect a "heelside" turn. Nonetheless, the Communist Party still has absolute control over political aspects of society, and it continuously seeks to eradicate threats to its rule. The HyBak was originally designed by inventer Jeff Grell and built by Flite Snowboards. However, post-1978 reforms have led to the relaxation, in varying degrees, of party control over many areas of society. Highback - A stiff moulded support behind the heel and up the calf area. From the beginning, the PRC has been a dictatorial one-party state under the Communist Party. In 2004, K2 released the Cinch series, a similar hybrid binding; riders slip their foot in as they would a Flow binding, however rather than webbing, the foot is held down by straps which can then be micro-adjusted for superior fit and performance. Meanwhile, Mao Zedong, the leader of the communists, proclaimed the People's Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949 in Beijing, saying China had stood up.

The rider's boot is held down by a webbing that covers most of the foot. more environmentally friendly) and Blues are generally regarded as more conservative. An example is the Flow binding system which is similar to a strap-in binding, except that the foot enters the binding through the back (which then clips into place) rather than the top. However, Greens are generally more liberal (i.e. Hybrid - There are also proprietary binding systems that seek to combine the convenience of step-in systems with the control levels attainable with strap-ins. formal independence issue. Another problem is the formation of ice in the step-in mechanism, which may make it difficult to get in and out of the bindings. But rather than the usual conservative-liberal policy distinctions that are the hallmarks of most democracies around the world, the main cleavage in ROC politics is the unification with China in the long-run vs.

While much more convenient than strap-ins, they are widely considered to be inferior because they do not provide as much of an immediate response from the rider's legs to the board. Today, the political scene in the ROC is vibrant, with active participation by all sectors of society. Popular (and incompatible) step-in systems include Burton, K2 Clicker, Rossignol and Switch. Beginning in the late 1970s, Taiwan began the implementation of full, multi-party, representative democracy in the territories still under ROC control (i.e., Taiwan Province, Taipei, Kaohsiung and some offshore islands of Fujian province). Step-ins use a technology similar to the clipless pedals in cycling, by allowing the binding to snap and engage stiff hardware on the rider's boots. By early 1950, the CPC had defeated the Kuomintang on the mainland, and the ROC government retreated to the island of Taiwan. Relative to strap-in bindings, step-in bindings use a stiffer shoe sole and boot to maintain responsiveness in compensation for the lack of over the foot restraining straps and (sometimes) lack of binding highback. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China (CPC), many provisions of the 1947 ROC constitution were never put into actual practice on the mainland.

Step-in - In response to the inconvenience of strap-in bindings, step-ins were created to make entry easier for beginners, allow for fast ski-lift to slope transition, and appeal to the rental market. Ironically, both the Kuomintang and the CCP have heavy Leninist influences. Such companies as Salomon, Rossignol, Bakoda, Tech Nine, Ride, Flux and Burton have created different models of cap straps. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party rule by the Kuomintang with heavy Leninist influences. Cap Strap bindings are a recent modification that provide a very tight fit to the heel cup which makes excellent edge control. In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own control, moving the nation's capital to Nanjing and implementing "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's program for transforming China into a modern, democratic state. Also, because there are two points of pressure, the strap locations must be adjusted for each individual rider, making it more cumbersome for rental operations. Warlords in various regions exercised actual control over their respective territories.

The downside for this is they take longer to put on, usually requiring the rider to sit in the snow and bend over to adjust the straps. After Yuan's downfall, China was politically fragmented, with an internationally-recognized, but virtually powerless, national government seated in Beijing (thus failing to fit the definition of a state). They can be tightly ratcheted closed for a tight fit and good rider control of the board. Before long, Yuan attempted to have himself proclaimed emperor of a new dynasty; however, he died soon of natural causes before fully taking power over all of the Chinese empire. The foot is held onto the board with two buckle straps - one strapped across the top of the toe area, and one across the ankle area. However, Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general who had defected to the revolutionary cause, soon forced Sun to step aside and took the presidency for himself (formally it was a negotiation where Sun agreed to step aside for what was then perceived as a strong reformer, Yuan). Strap-in - These are the earliest types of bindings, but perhaps still the most popular and technical. The rider wears a boot which has a thick but flexible sole, and padded uppers. Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist Party), was proclaimed provisional president of the republic.

Boards designed for powder conditions exaggerate the differences even more for more floatation on the powder. On January 1, 1912, the Republic of China (ROC) was established, signaling the end of the Manchu-dominated Qing Empire. Freeride and alpine boards, however, have a directional shape with a wider and longer nose. Chinese was the official language, though periods of Mongol and Manchu conquest saw the arrival of Mongol and Manchu as alternate official languages. Tail/nose width - Many freestyle boards have equal nose/tail specs for equal performance either direction. Luoyang, Chang'an (today's Xi'an), Nanjing, and Beijing are the four cities most commonly designated as capitals of China over the course of history. There is no standard way to quantify snowboard stiffness, but novices tend to prefer softer flex, racers stiffer flex, and everyone else something in between. (see section "Geography, Political" below for examples),.

Usually a softer flex makes turning easier while a harder flex makes the board more stable at high speed. Political relations with dependencies (tributary kingdoms) were maintained by international marriages, military aids, treaties, and gifts. Flex - The flexibility of a snowboard affects its handling and typically varies with the rider's weight. This happened especially since the emperor often was many layers of power removed from the outside world, making him susceptible to manipulation because his sources for information could manipulate that information causing him to make incorrect decisions, especially when their age at becoming emperor often had no bottom limit, with rule passing heriditarily but also given "in trust" to another relative. Shorter sidecut radii (tighter turns) are generally used for halfpipe riding while longer sidecut radii (wider turns) are used for freeride/alpine/racing riding. Political power sometimes fell into the hands of powerful officials, eunuchs, or imperial relatives, often at the expense of a child heriditary emperor. Most boards use a sidecut radius between 8-9 meters. The emperor also consulted civil and martial ministers, especially the prime minister.

The curve has a radius that might be a short as 5 meters on a child's board or as large as 17 meters on a racer's board. However the emperor had ultimate, supreme, and unquestionable authority as the political and religious leader of China. This curve aids turning and affects the board's handling. The territory varied with several expansions and contractions depending on the strength of each emperor and dynasty. Sidecut - The edges of the board are symmetrically curved concavely, so that the width at the tip and tail is greater than the center. After the Qin, China experienced about 13 more dynasties, many of which continued the extensive system of kingdoms, dukedoms, earldoms, and marquisates. This is termed "toe/heel-drag" and can be cured by choosing a wider board or by adjusting the stance angle. This ended with the Qin Dynasty unification, during which the office of the emperor was set up, and a system of bureaucratic administration established.

Riders with larger feet may have problems with the toes or heels overhanging the side of the board. This is also the time of the beginnings of Confucian philosophy and that of many other philosophies that greatly influenced Chinese philosophy-political thought. Most folks ride boards in the 24-25 cm range. Although there was a central king who held nominal power, and powerful hegemons sometimes held considerable influence, each state was ruled as an independent political entity. Alpine boards are typically 18-21 cm wide, although they can be as narrow as 15 cm. The Chinese civilization consisted of a patchwork of several states, each ruled by a king (王), duke (公), marquess (侯), or earl (伯). Freestyle boards are up to 28 cm wide, to assist with balance. Before unification by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC, "China" did not exist as a coherent entity.

Width - The width is typically measured at the waist of the board, since the nose and tail width varies with the sidecut and taper. Another is a partial skeleton from Minatogawa being only 18,000 years old. Another factor riders consider when selecting a snowboard is the type of riding it will be used for, freestyle boards being shorter than all-mountain boards. The earliest evidence examples of fully modern humans in China come from Liujiang, China where a cranium dates 67,000 years BCE. The longer the board, the more stable it is at high speed, but also a bit tougher to control. This model is known as Mitochondrial Eve Hypothesis. Rather, snowboards correspond to the weight of the rider, and a board length should be selected so the rider falls in the middle of the manufacturer's weight range for that model and size. However it is now more widely accepted that all modern humans genetically share a direct ancestor, a female nicknamed "Mitochondrial Eve" from Eastern Africa 150,000 years BCE.

It is a myth that the height of the rider dictates the length of the snowboard. sapiens having archaic features. Most people ride boards in the 140-165 cm range. erectus to H. Length - Boards for children are as short as 90 centimeters; boards for racers, or "alpine" riders, are as long as 215 cm. erectus populations (known as "multiregional") as some evidence in ancient bones show a transitional change from H. Freestyle (pipe): waisted, semi-stiff, medium length, soft boots, either twin-directional or directional, light, deep sidecuts. It remains a controversial subject to whether fully modern humans evolved from separate H.

Freestyle (rails): waisted, flexible, short, soft boots, twin-directional, light. By less than 100,000 years ago all proto-human populations disappeared as modern humans took over or drove other human species into extinction. These boards are made specifically for use in powder. By 100,000 to 50,000 years ago modern human beings settled in all parts of the Old world (including the New World, Americas 25,000 to 11,000 BCE). Swallow-Tail: Generally a wider board that as a split running down it's tail, which gives it the general look of a swallow's tail. Homo sapiens idaltu). All-Mountain: waisted, varying flexes and lengths, soft boots, sometimes slightly directional, meant to perform well as a Freeride and Freestyle board. Fully modern humans (Homo sapiens) are believed to originally have evolved roughly 200,000 and 168,000 years ago in Ethiopia or Southern Africa (ei.

Freeride: waisted, sometimes flexible, medium to long length, soft boots, directional. erectus settled into various areas in the Old World. Racing/Alpine: long, stiff to very stiff, hard boots, slightly waisted, directional. By 2 million years ago the first wave of migration from the species in association with H. Originally it is thought that these early hominis first evolved in Africa during the Pleistocene and that human evolution first took place in Africa expanding 7 million years. erectus have been studied since the late 18th century to 19th century in various areas of Eastern Asia including Indonesia (in particular the Island of Java) and Malaysia.

Evidence of primitive stone tool technology and animal bones in association to H. One particular cave in Zhoukoudian (now known as Peking) has fossilised evidence dating to 300,000 and 550,000 years old. Archeological evidence suggests that the earliest occupants in China date as long as 2.24 million to 250,000 years ago by an ancient human relative (hominin) known as Homo erectus. Significant disputes persist as to the nature and extent of China, possible Chinese reunification and the political status of Taiwan.

The PRC has historically resisted the ROC's identification of itself as Taiwan, especially in light of the movement supported by residents of Taiwan and others who advocate Taiwan's identity as an independent political entity. On the other hand, the ROC—while never formally renouncing its earlier claims or changing official maps that show its territory as including both the modern-day PRC, Mongolia and Tibet—has moved away from this former identity representing its rule over all of China, and increasingly identifies itself as Taiwan. The PRC does not recognize the ROC, as it claims to have succeeded the ROC as the legitimate governing authority of all of China including Taiwan. The United Kingdom and Portugal transferred their colonies of Hong Kong and Macau on the southern Chinese coast to the PRC in 1997 and 1999, respectively.

Meanwhile, the disorganized and potentially corrupt ROC government of the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan, where it continued to be recognized as the legitimate government of all China by the Western bloc and the United Nations until the 1970s, when most nations and the UN switched recognition to the PRC. The CPC established a communist state—the People's Republic of China—that laid claim to be the successor state of the Republic of China. The latter ended in 1949 with the Communist Party of China in control of mainland China. The following three decades were a period of disunion — the Warlord Era, the Sino-Japanese War, and the Chinese Civil War.

In 1912, after a prolonged period of decline, the institution of the Emperor of China disappeared and the Republic of China was established. Image:China2C Mao .jpg. Although secretly supporting the rebels, the Empress, Ci Xi, made public efforts to aid foreign forces in suppressing the uprising. This second conflict was the Boxer Rebellion which aimed to repel Westerners.

Later, a second major rebellion took place, although this latter uprising was considerably smaller than the cataclysmic Taiping Civil War. Prior to this conflict a number of Islamic Rebellions, especially in Central Asia, had occurred. Although the imperial forces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history - costing at least twenty million lives (more than the total number of fatalities in the First World War). The civil war was started by an extremist believer in a school of thought partly influenced by Christianity who believed himself to be the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus.

Most prominent of these was the Taiping Civil War which lasted from 1851 to 1862. However the primary cause of the decline of the Chinese empire was not European and American interference, but rather the consequence of a series of internal upheavals. See Imperialism in Asia. This set the stage for the 19th century, in which China adopted a defensive posture against European imperialism while itself engaging in imperialistic expansion into Central Asia.

In the 18th century, China achieved a decisive technological advantage over the peoples of Central Asia, with which it had been at war for several centuries, while simultaneously falling behind Europe in that respect. However, these restrictions proved ineffective against the assimilation of Manchus into the Chinese identity and culture. For example, after the foreign Qing (Manchus) conquered China, because they were ever suspicious of the Han Chinese, the Qing rulers put into effect measures aimed at preventing the absorption of the Manchus into the dominant Han Chinese population. Oftentimes regime change was violent and strongly opposed and the ruler class needed to take special measures to ensure their rule and the loyalty of the overthrown dynasty.

After the Ming dynasty, came the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, which lasted until the overthrow of Puyi in 1911. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Mongols in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty, which lasted until 1644. The Mongols, under Kublai Khan, established the Yuan Dynasty. The Song Dynasty fell to the invading Mongols in 1279.

For a long period of time, especially between the 7th and 14th centuries, China was one of the most advanced civilizations in the world in technology, literature, and art. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, China reached its golden age. In 580, China was reunited under the Sui. A period of disunion followed again.

After the fall of authoritarian Qin Dynasty in 206 BC came the Han Dynasty which lasted until 220 AD. This state, however, did not last for long, as its legalist approach to control soon led to widespread rebellion. They were all unified under one emperor in 221 BC by Qin Shi Huang, ushering in the Qin Dynasty, the first unified centralized Chinese state. The Shang were in turn invaded by the Zhou (12th to 5th centuries BC), whose centralized authority was slowly eroded by the ceding of state-like authority to warlords ruling small states; eventually, in the Spring and Autumn period, many strong independent states, in continuous war, paid but nominal deference to the Zhou state as the Imperial centre.

However, the first confirmed dynasty is the Shang, who settled along the Huang He river, dating from the 18th to the 12th centuries BC. But since then, archaeologists have uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs that point to the possible existence of the Xia dynasty at the same locations cited in ancient Chinese historical texts. Until scientific excavations were made at early bronze-age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province, it was difficult to separate myth from reality in regard to the existence of the Xia Dynasty. The first dynasty according to Chinese historical sources was the Xia Dynasty.

Chinese civilization was also one of the few to invent writing independently, the others being ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerians), India (Indus Valley Civilization), and, some hold, Ancient Egypt—though it may have been learned from the Sumerians. China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization. In many contexts it may be more appropriate to speak of "mainland China" (中國大陸,zhōngguó dàlù in Mandarin), especially when contrasting it with other, politically different regions like Hong Kong, Macau, and territories administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan). Sinologists usually use "Chinese" in a more restricted sense, more akin to the classical usage of Zhongguo, or to the meaning of the "Han ethnic group", who make up the bulk of Mainland China.

Informally, in economic or business contexts, "the Greater China region" (大中華地區) refers to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. In many contexts, "China" is commonly used to refer to the People's Republic of China or mainland China, while "Taiwan" is used to refer to the Republic of China. The term "China" can narrowly mean China proper, or, often, China proper and Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang, a combination essentially coterminous with the 20th and 21st century political entity China; the boundaries between these regions do not necessarily follow provincial boundaries. The Western "China", transliterated to Shina (支那) was also used by Japanese from the nineteenth century, but is now obsolete and is regarded as an offensive term by the Chinese.

In any circumstance, the word China passed through many languages along the Silk Road before it finally reached Europe and England. Alternate theories on the origin of the word "China" exist. Despite the fact that the Qin dynasty was short-lived and was often regarded as overly tyrannical, it unified the written language in China and gave the supreme ruler of China the title of "Emperor", hence, the subsequent Silk Road traders would identify themselves by that name. English and many other languages use forms of the name China (and the prefix Sino-), which is believed to have derived from the name of the Qin dynasty that first unified the country, even though it is not completely resolved and the origins are still controversial to an extent [1].

Their disparate histories are collectively the history of Zhongguo. Thus it is asserted that all 56 officially recognized ethnic groups are Zhongguo ren (中國人), or Zhongguo people. The Republic of China, as it controlled mainland China, and later, the People's Republic of China, have used Zhongguo as an entity existing theoretically to mean all the territories and peoples within their political control as well as those outside of it (people in the Republic of China on Taiwan now usually use Zhongguo to refer to the PRC and use Taiwan to refer to itself). The term Zhongguo came to be related to geographic, cultural and political identity and less to ethnic origin.

It was used in this manner from the tenth century onwards by the competing dynasties of Liao, Jin and Song. In this way Zhongguo came to represent political legitimacy. The southern dynasties, for their part, recently exiled from the north, called the Northern Wei Lu (虜), meaning "criminal" or "prisoner". For example, the Xianbei called their Northern Wei regime Zhongguo, contrasting it with the Southern Dynasties, which they called the Yi (夷), meaning "barbarian".

This was doubly so after the loss of the Yellow River valley, the cradle of Chinese civilization, to these peoples. During the period of division after the fall of the Han Dynasty, the term Zhongguo was subjected to transformation as a result of the surge of nomadic peoples from the northern frontier. During the Han Dynasty and before, Zhongguo had three distinctive meanings:. Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet, and the island of Taiwan, over time, came to be dominated (to a greater or lesser extent) by, or officially ruled by, imperial China, and are often included as a part of Zhongguo, though acceptance or denial of such claims remains politically controversial, especially where Zhongguo means PRC.

Thus Zhongguo quickly came to include areas farther south, as the cultural and political unit (not yet a "nation" or "country" in the modern sense) spread in a southerly direction, including the Yangtze River and Pearl River systems, and by the Tang Dynasty it even included "barbarian" regimes such as the Xianbei and Xiongnu. The "Chinese" thus defined their nation as culturally and politically distinct from - and as the axis mundi of surrounding nations; a concept that continued well into the Qing Dynasty, although being continually redefined while the central political influence expanded territorially, and its culture assimilated alien influences. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was used only to describe the states politically descended from the Western Zhou Dynasty, in the Yellow River (Huang He) valley, to the exclusion of states such as Chu and Qin. The term has not been used consistently throughout Chinese history, however, and carries certain cultural and political connotations both positive and negative, some ideological, and early states considered part of Chinese history are not called "Zhongguo".

Zhong (中) means "middle" or "center" while guo (国 or 國) means "country," "kingdom," "state," or "land", referring to the claim that China stood at the centre of that society's "known world", surrounded by lesser tributary states. China is called Zhongguo in Mandarin Chinese (Simplified: 中国, Traditional: 中國; also romanized as Jhongguo or Chung-kuo), which is usually translated as "Middle Kingdom", but could also be translated as "Central State" or "Central Country". . Since then, the ROC has maintained administrative control over Taiwan, the Pescadores, several islands off the coast of Fujian province, and some islands in the South China Sea.

After its victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, forcing the Nationalists to retreat and relocate the ROC government to the island of Taiwan, which it had governed since the end of World War II. The imperial system in China ended with the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC) under Sun Yat-sen in 1912; however, the next four decades of ROC rule were marred by warlord control, the Second Sino-Japanese War during which the Empire of Japan occupied large parts of China, and the Chinese Civil War which pitted Chinese Nationalists against the Communist forces. By the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, China's political, economic, and military influence declined relative to the growing regional power of Japan and the influence of Western powers. For centuries, Imperial China was also one of the world's most technologically advanced civilizations, and East Asia's dominant cultural influence, with an impact lasting to the present day throughout the region.

The country's territorial extent expanded outwards from a core area in the North China Plain, and varied according to its changing fortunes to include multiple regions of East, Northeast, and Central Asia. With one of the world's longest periods of mostly uninterrupted civilization and the world's longest continuously used written language system, China's history has been largely characterized by repeated divisions and reunifications amid alternating periods of peace and war, and violent imperial dynastic change. With over one-fifth of the world's population, the majority of China exists today as a state known as the People's Republic of China, but it also refers to a long-standing civilization comprising successive states and cultures dating back nearly 5,000 years. China (listen (help·info); Traditional Chinese: 中國; Simplified Chinese: 中国; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōngguó; Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a geographical region in East Asia.

Military innovations include the crossbow and the grid sight, crossbow stirrup, repeating crossbows, poison gas (smoke from burning dried mustard), tear gas made from powdered lime, relief maps for battle planning, manned kites, fire lance, rockets, gunpowder incendiaries, gunpowder grenades, proto-handguns, various gun-related ammunition types and the cannon. Chinese astrology and constellations were often used for divination. Alchemy was Taoist chemistry, very different from modern chemistry. Nevertheless, there were several doctors who have increased the understanding of internal anatomy by violating this autopsy taboo.

However, this autopsy was unacceptable, because of the common belief that a corpse should not be violated. An example is acupuncture, although it is somewhat controversial in some quarters. They continue to play a growing role in the international medical community, and have achieved recognition over the last few decades in the West as alternative and complementary therapies. Traditional medicine and surgery were highly advanced at various points in history, and in some fields are still seen as innovative.

Studies in biology have been extensive, and historic records are consulted even today, such as pharmacopoeias of medicinal plants. "Pascal's" Triangle was discovered by mathematician Liu Ju-Hsieh, long before Pascal was born. The decimal system was used in China as early as the 14th Century BC. Pi (π) was calculated by 5th century mathematician Zu Chongzhi to the seventh digit.

The main applications of mathematics in traditional China were architecture and geography. Claimed numbers of followers of the Falun Dafa are also regarded as unreliable.). Falun Gong - exact numbers unknown (claimed not to be a "religion", though from a scholarly perspective is a spiritual practice. Islam - 1% to 2%.

Christianity - 2 to 4% (from Western sources; the Chinese official number is much smaller than 1%). Buddhism - exact numbers unknown [about 8%]. Taoism - exact numbers unknown. Confucianism - exact numbers unknown.

The Sanguo Zhi records the following monologue: "If we can lead the host of Wu and Yue (the area of southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang) to oppose Zhongguo, then we should break off relations with them soon." In this sense, the term is synonymous with Hua (華) and Xia (夏). The area now called the North China Plain. Five are in Zhongguo.". Three are with the Man and Yi barbarians.

The Historical Records states: "Eight mountains are famed in the empire. Territories under the direct authority of the "central" authorities. The Book of Poetry explicitly gives this definition. The area around the capital or imperial domain.