The following discussion is the successful nomination for January's portal selected article.

Ended 23:59, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

The People's Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, (simplified Chinese: 中华人民共和国; traditional Chinese: 中華人民共和國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó listen^ⓘ), is a country located mostly in East Asia, with a smaller proportion of its area located in Central Asia. Due to its large and stable population, its rapidly growing economy, its large research and development investments and military spending, and other capabilities, the PRC is often considered by analysts and commentators as an emerging superpower.

At over 3.7 million square miles (over 9.5 million km²), the PRC is the third or fourth largest country by area. China's landscape is varied with largely desert on the north and humid and mountanious on the east and largely dry on the western part of the country. It is also the world's most populous nation, with over 1.3 billion citizens and borders the most countries in the world with 14 independent countries. The present day location of PRC was the birthplace of the Chinese civilization that dates back to at least 18th century BC. The PRC was officially founded as a state on October 1, 1949 in Beijing during the closing stages of the Chinese Civil War. (More...)

The following discussion is the successful nomination for February's portal selected article.

Ended 23:59, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Xiangqi (Chinese: 象棋; pinyin: xiàngqí; Wade–Giles: hsiang⁴-ch'i²; listen^ⓘ), is a two-player strategic Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi and janggi. Xiangqi is native to China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess. The first character 象 xiàng here has the meaning "image" or "representational", hence Xiangqi can be literally translated as "representational chess". Although 象 also means "elephant", which is one of the pieces, so "Chess with Elephants" is another literal translation.

Chinese chess has a long history. Though its precise origins have not yet been confirmed, the earliest indications reveal the game have been played as early as the 4th century BC in China.

Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in the world. Distinctive features of Xiangqi include the unique movement of the pao ("cannon") piece, a rule prohibiting the generals (similar to chess kings) from facing each other directly, and the river and palace board features, which restrict the movement of some pieces. (more...)