China China , also known as Zhongguo , the Middle Kingdom , ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) and Cathay , ( TV : " Marco Polo " ) was the oldest and most populous nation on Earth by the 20th century . ( TV : " Four to Doomsday " ) It was located on the continent of Asia . Its capital city was Peking , also known as Beijing . Languages . Many languages were spoken in China , such as Mandarin , which was the most prominent language on Earth in the 21st century . ( TV : " " ) Other dialects included Cantonese , Hokkien and Manchu . ( TV : " The Mind of Evil " ; AUDIO : " Sympathy for the Devil " ) The Doctor and China . The Doctor visited China several times at various points throughout its history . ( TV : " Marco Polo " et al . ) The Third Doctor was once heard to speak in both Cantonese and Hokkien . ( TV : " The Mind of Evil " ) In his fourth incarnation , the Doctor claimed that he could speak all Chinese dialects including Mandarin and Cantonese . By that point in his life , he hadn ' t visited China in four hundred years . ( TV : " The Talons of Weng - Chiang " ) The Eleventh Doctor would later write a message in Chinese script . ( TV : " The Angels Take Manhattan " ) History . Early history . China was originally known as the Middle Kingdom . The word " China " originally meant " perfume d garden " . The word eventually came to be associated with the Middle Kingdom . ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) " Circa " 5519 BC , Monarch abducted Lin Futu and other natives of China . ( TV : " Four to Doomsday " ) Prior to the unification of China and the reign of Qin Shi Huang , bands of Chinese dacoity lived in the mountains of Sichuan . They committed acts of banditry on behalf of their god Weng - Chiang , an ethnic corruption of Sung - Chiang , the god of thieves and criminal s . These groups were the ancient forebears to the Tong of the Black Scorpion . In the 3rd century B . C . , Qin Shi Huang unified China under one empire , of which he became the first Emperor . ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) In 221 BC , the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond visited the early - Qin dynasty to leave a message for River Song on a vase . The message was the expression , " Yowza " , written in period Chinese script . ( TV : " The Angels Take Manhattan " ) In 210 B . C . , the Second Doctor , Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield encountered Qin Shi Huang . ( AUDIO : " The Emperor of Eternity " ) He later died from from obesity and heavy metal poison ing from eating powdered jade , mercury and gold dust intended to make him live longer . ( PROSE : " The Eleventh Tiger " ) One of the ships used by the Eternal s in their contest for Enlightenment was a Chinese ship crewed by Chinese sailors from the Qin dynasty . ( TV : " Enlightenment " ) 13th century . The Venetian Marco Polo travelled throughout China ( then called Cathay ) as the then - emperor Kublai Khan would not permit him to return home . In 1289 , the First Doctor , Ian Chesterton , Barbara Wright and Susan Foreman travelled hundreds of miles to Kublai ' s palace in Peking . Polo planned to give the TARDIS to Kublai Khan , but eventually allowed the Doctor and his companion s to escape . ( TV : " Marco Polo " ) The journey lasted several months . ( PROSE : " Nightshade " ; AUDIO : " " ) While closely pursued by guards , Amy Pond and Rory Williams brought Chinese food from the Liao Palace to the TARDIS . ( GAME : " The Gunpowder Plot " ) 17th century . In the 17th century , the Manchu dynasty usurped the empire from the Ming dynasty . To resist the Manchus , several old Hung secret societies re - formed . They eventually evolved into the Tongs and Triads , including the Black Scorpion . ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) 18th century . In the 18th century , the British established a lucrative opium trade in China . ( PROSE : " Foreign Devils " ) 19th century . In December 1800 , riots orchestrated by the Chinese Emperor and his Chief Astrologer broke out in Canton against the British Trade Concession in an attempt to obstruct the British opium trade . The Second Doctor , Jamie and Zoe visited China at this time . ( PROSE : " Foreign Devils " ) Prior to the 1860s , China fought Britain and France in the Opium Wars ( PROSE : " The Eleventh Tiger " ) which led to the fall of the Chinese Empire . ( PROSE : " The Nightmare Fair " , AUDIO : " The Nightmare Fair " ) In 1865 , the First Doctor , Ian , Barbara and Vicki Pallister visited China where they encountered the Wong Kei - Ying and Wong Fei - Hung who helped them defeat the Mandragora Helix . ( PROSE : " The Eleventh Tiger " ) In 1872 , Magnus Greel ' s 51st century time cabinet landed in the Jade Emperor Temple in Shangdong province . Li H ' sen Chang found Greel and , believing him to be the god Weng - Chiang , became his devoted follower . The cabinet was seized by Emperor Tongzhi ' s army . In 1873 , Professor George Litefoot ' s family departed China after his father had died . As a going - away present , Emperor Tongzhi gave Litefoot ' s mother a puzzle box which turned out to be Greel ' s time cabinet . ( TV : " The Talons of Weng - Chiang " , PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) 20th century . Captain Jack Harkness was active in China during the Boxer Rebellion , where he worked with explosives . ( TV : " The Blood Line " ) The First Doctor and his granddaughter Susan Foreman visited Peking during the rebellion and used smoke bombs to escape . ( AUDIO : " The Flames of Cadiz " ) In 1911 , Sun Yat Sen led an alliance of Nationalist warlords in a revolution which overthrew the boy Emperor Pu Yi . The alliance formed into the Kuomintang which became the governing party of China . Chiang Kai - shek became leader of the Kuomintang and made efforts to suppress the growing communist movement in China fostered by the USSR in the north . The communists were successfully driven to the mountain s of north and central China , bordering Mongolia . However , unable to dislodge them further , the struggle devolved into a stalemate . ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) On 27 July 1928 , the Fifth Doctor , Tegan Jovanka and Turlough met Edward Grainger near Mount Lishan in China . ( PROSE : " Falling from Xi ' an " ) In 1931 , Japan invaded the province of Manchuria in north - east China and established the puppet state of Manchukuo . ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) The occupying Kwantung Army set the Chinese peasants in the region to work constructing Zhong Ma Fortress , where the young military scientist Ishii Shiro led experiments in biological warfare . ( PROSE : " Log 384 " ) Disputes between China and Japan over Manchuria / Manchukuo persisted through the middle of the decade . ( PROSE : " The Year of Intelligent Tigers " ) In 1932 , the Chinese and Japanese clashed in Shanghai . The intervention of western powers seeking to protect their trade centres in the city defused the situation . ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) In 1933 , the Seventh Doctor and Edward Grainger went on a mission to occupied Manchuria to save Mai Ling from the Zhong Ma Fortress . ( PROSE : " Log 384 " ) Fighting occurred between the Chinese and Japanese forces in 1936 . ( PROSE : " Doctor Who and the War Games " ) In July 1937 , the Japanese Army , which had agitated for further expansion into China beyond Manchuria , engineered a fight between the Chinese forces at Marco Polo Bridge . This sparked war between the two nations . Shortly after , the Japanese began launching air raids against Shanghai and KMT troops trains moving Chinese soldiers to the front lines in Shangdong . In August 1937 , the Fourth Doctor and Romana I visited China , where Hsien - Ko was attempting to prevent the death of Magnus Greel . The Japanese eventually moved into Shanghai . In 1941 , a group of Alpha Centauran s became stranded in Shanghai . The Doctor , " a couple of centuries " before his fourth incarnation , assisted them . ( PROSE : " The Shadow of Weng - Chiang " ) The experiments conducted in Zhong Ma Fortress and its successor , Unit 731 , produced biological weapon s which the Japanese used to devastating effect in China before they surrendered to the Americans in 1945 . ( PROSE : " Log 384 " ) In 1967 , Fitz Kreiner was taken to China by Red Army soldiers . ( PROSE : " Revolution Man " ) In the 1970s , China sent General Cheng Teik as a delegate to the first World Peace Conference in London . He was killed by his aide , Chin Lee , who was under the control of . ( TV : " The Mind of Evil " ) Perhaps as a result of this , China was very reluctant to participate in the second World Peace Conference until persuaded by Sir Reginald Styles . ( TV : " Day of the Daleks " ) In 1979 , China invaded Vietnam . ( TV : " Tooth and Claw " ) In 1997 , China gained sovereignty over Hong Kong . In advance of this , agents of China ' s Public Security Bureau created the fake Tao Te Lung triad to lure in potential kingpins and neutralise them . ( PROSE : " Bullet Time " ) In a parallel universe , China also gained sovereignty over Hong Kong at this time . ( AUDIO : " Sympathy for the Devil " ) In 1998 , the Three Families discovered that the Blessing passed through Shanghai . ( TV : " The Blood Line " ) 21st century . By 2009 , China was part of the worldwide nuclear grid overseen by UNIT . ( TV : " The Poison Sky " ) Osterhagen Station 5 was located there . ( TV : " Journey ' s End " ) In 2009 , the People ' s Republic of China was among the nations which agreed to let John Frobisher speak on their behalf to the 456 . ( TV : " " ) On Christmas Day 2009 , when the used the Immortality Gate , all 2 . 5 million soldiers of the Chinese Central Military Commission became duplicates of him . ( TV : " The End of Time " ) During the Miracle Day phenomenon in 2011 , China dropped out of the United Nations . ( TV : " The Gathering " ) In 2021 , the Seventh Doctor noted that China " pretty much [ ran ] " the Moon . ( AUDIO : " The Harvest " ) In 2048 , China was taken over by Hong Kong . ( PROSE : " St Anthony ' s Fire " ) 22nd century . During the 22nd century Dalek occupation of Earth , a human resistance movement was formed in China , but was crushed by the Dalek s within days . ( AUDIO : " Masters of Earth " ) Undated events . Chinese scientist Chung Sen experimented with time travel . ( TV : " Invasion of the Dinosaurs " ) Alternative timelines . In the Year That Never Was , Martha Jones claimed to have gone to Beijing to collect one of the vials of liquid needed to arm the gun she was allegedly preparing to kill with . ( TV : " Last of the Time Lords " ) In Donna ' s World , China was choked by the ATMOS gas before the Sontaran invasion of Earth was thwarted by the sacrifice of Torchwood Three . ( TV : " Turn Left " ) References . Clara Oswald had a travel guide to China in her collection . ( TV : " The Bells of Saint John " ) Senator Alcott ' s worst fear was the Chinese . Chin Lee nearly had the Keller Machine kill him through this fear , but the Third Doctor stopped her . ( TV : " The Mind of Evil " )