OK, whether you like or not, there is no way to hide from the word of "China". It is on the TV, it is in the headings of newspaper, and it is on the shelves of supermarkets; it might be your strong competitor, it might be your great supplier, or hopefully, it might be your generous customer.
It is so huge, so old yet so young, that no one can draw a complete picture of China. What I can do, is trying to give you a more "realistic" idea on China, from a businessman's (also biased) point of view.
Now, let's start from some simple questions:
How many people are there in China? (The number jumps out from your head may not be a right number for business.)
How fast is the growth speed of China? And the arguments.
Will China sustain such a speed in future?
Will China Become the leading nation of the 21st century?
Then we will discuss some topics on:
Ways to invest in China: stock market, real estate and direct invest
The gap between rural and urban (Grand Canyon)
The gap between urban residents
And thanks to Wikipedia, here are pages on provinces (or states) of China, which may help to build a better understanding on every division of this country.