The vast historical influence of China is also evident in the traditional cultures of some of its neighbors, most notably Vietnam, Korea and Japan, with them even adopting the Chinese writing massage guangzhou  system at some point, some of which is still in use in the latter two today.

  The first civilizations in China arose in the Yangtze and Yellow River valleys at about the same time as Mesopotamia, Egypt and India developed their first civilizations.

   A Chinese tomb contains a heliocentric model of the solar system, about 1,700 years before Copernicus.

  In mathematics, "Pythagoras' theorem" and "

  China was also the first civilization to implement meritocracy of any form. This meant that unlike in other ancient cultures, official posts were not hereditary but instead had to be earned through a series of examinations, which were first conducted during the Han Dynasty, and further refined into the Imperial Examination guangzhou escort System and opened to all regardless of family background during the Tang Dynasty.

  In the 15th century the Ming Dynasty fleets under Admiral Zheng He reached as far as East Africa.

 The ships were technically very advanced, much larger than European ships of the day and with a system of watertight compartments that Europe was not to match for several centuries.

China also explored the world and traded extensively with other nations. By the 5th-6th centuries AD, voyages to India and the Arab countries were routine.

  However, China has always been inward-looking. China is "zhong guo", literally "center land" often translated "middle kingdom;" guangzhou escort all others are "wai guo ren", literally "outside land people", often translated "barbarians."

   The Emperor did not receive ambassadors, but only tribute bearers. Around 1425, China turned inward with a vengeance. Records of the great trading voyages were destroyed and the ships allowed to rot.

  For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. Paper, gunpowder, the compass and printing (both block and movable type) for example, are Chinese inventions.

 Chinese developments in astronomy, medicine, guangzhou escort and other fields were extensive.