PBS China: From the Inside offers a medley of resources including a Soundscape that takes a bunch of different sound clips recorded across China and places them on a map. The interactive map allows for students to click from dozens of sounds in order to hear the voices, music, and ideas that are being communicated in those regions. I think that this could be a great engagement tool for beginning an instructional segment on China, especially by allowing students to hear the prayers of the tibetan monks and the songs that caretakers would sing to orphans.
From the website are also articles that describe elements of the country’s democracy, the muslim peoples that live in the west, the role of women, the effects of natural disaster, and the pursuit of freedom and justice by the Chinese people. These articles are not necessarily long (~4 paragraphs each) and serve as a great stopping point to potentially places ideas in a graphic organizer. If you are ever looking for a web based activity, the PBS China: From the Inside site might be for you.
http://www.pbs.org/kqed/chinainside/nature/index.html
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