Chinese (Civ6)

The Chinese people represent a civilization in Civilization VI. They are led by Mandate of Heaven Qin Shi Huang, under whom their default colors are dark green and white; Unifier Qin Shi Huang, under whom their default colors are reversed; Kublai Khan, under whom their default colors are light yellow and dark red; Yongle, under whom their default colors are yellow and dark blue; and Wu Zetian, under whom their default colors are red and yellow.
The Chinese civilization ability is Dynastic Cycle, which allows s and s to provide an extra 10% of the cost of technologies and civics, and grants them a free and whenever they complete a wonder. Their unique unit is the Crouching Tiger, and their unique tile improvement is the Great Wall.
== Strategy ==
Starting bias: None
China is a strong, versatile civilization, yet quite complex to master in terms of its gameplay. Some of their leader options set up arguably the strongest timing pushes in the game, from rush-building wonders in the Ancient and Classical Era to gigantic surges of and from fast-growing cities, and these will set the pace for the rest of the game in terms of which direction China wants to go and how fast it gets there.
=== Dynastic Cycle ===
The Chinese civilization ability increases the and bonuses from s and s (respectively) by 10%, allowing them to discover key technologies and civics more quickly once they trigger these. (Note that the cost of technologies and civics from a later era than the World Era is increased and those from an earlier era are decreased, but the boosts provide a flat amount of or equal to 40% of their unadjusted cost in Gathering Storm or 50% before this, and this is what Dynastic Cycle adds 10% to.)
The key is to decide which victory condition to pursue early on, and then beeline techs and civics that will unlock units, policy cards, and wonders which will help achieve it. This ability will also help the Chinese avoid falling too far behind in their civic development if they choose to focus on technological development, or vice versa. It proves particularly strong in the late game (when both technologies and civics are far more expensive), when using Spies to perform Steal Tech Boost missions (especially in single-player games on higher difficulty levels, during which the AI will eclipse human players' output throughout most of the game), and when pursuing a Domination Victory (since capturing a city from a civilization that is ahead in technological or civic progress potentially awards a or ).
The other effect of this ability, which grants the Chinese a free and from the era of each wonder they construct, encourages them to build wonders as soon as they unlock them. This maximizes the number of boosts they receive, and comes in especially handy for those boosts whose requirements are otherwise hard to meet.
=== The First Emperor (Mandate of Heaven Qin Shi Huang) ===
Arguably the most powerful leader ability in the game, its inherent complexity allows for a lot of game-breaking situations where the outcome of the game can be easily decided within the first two eras if done properly. While others will struggle to build early game Wonders due to their enormous opportunity costs, China will prosper in simultaneously erecting a large number of wonders, setting the stage for future eras to come.
==== Extra Builder build charges ====
Very straightforward, under Qin, each Chinese Builder will have 4 build charges, raised to 5 if they are trained in a city with Liang, making them extra cost effective. City planning and development with China, therefore, will always be a step ahead of other civilizations, where China will end up with more flexibility on how to use their Builders, ranging from building improvements, chopping features and, of course, rushing wonders.
Considering how powerful the wonder rushing ability is, and how crucial the first two eras are to China, Liang is always the recommended opening Governor.
==== Builders can expend a build charge to complete 15% of a wonder cost ====
This is undoubtedly the signature ability of Qin Shi Huang that elevates China as a dominant and flexible civilization. Every other aspect of China is quite underwhelming, but this one alone is more than enough to make up for it, if you can pull it off properly. Under Qin, China can use its Builders' charges to expedite the construction of wonders from the Ancient and Classical Eras. Each charge so expended provides 15% of the wonder's cost, so a Builder with 6 charges will be able to cover 90% of the needed for a wonder in 6 turns. 
At first, this may sound similar to the wonder-constructing bonus of Egypt or France, but this ability is decidedly the most powerful one by far. The best part about this ability is that its efficacy is totally independent from the city that hosts the Wonder, and that effect is magnified so much more in the early game. 15% or 20% extra towards wonders isn't that meaningful if the city itself has very low , which is most likely the case in the first two eras. Being able to complete a fraction of the Wonders' cost by expending Builder charges mean you can simultaneously construct multiple wonders, as long as you have enough Builders to boost them all, regardless of how productive the cities are. A good trick to keep in mind is that when using Builders to build improvements, you can leave them at 1 charge left. Multiple Builders with 1 charge left make it possible to use multiple Builders' charges to expedite the same Wonder in the same turn.
Another sequence of events that you should remember when playing as China to maximize efficiency:
# Set the city production queue to the Wonder you want.
# Use the Builder to rush that Wonder.
# Switch the production queue to something else.
# End turn and repeat from step 1 until the Wonder is complete.
Remember that in the first two eras, your output will contribute minimally to the progress of building Wonders. By switching production back and forth, you guarantee your Wonders will be built in time without setting other priorities back, including churning out more Builders, building s, or expansion. This method of switching production even allows you to build multiple wonders at once in the same city, by having multiple Builders ready in position once you switch production to the Wonders they are standing on.
You can also go beyond the 15% wonder cost per charge by stacking other percentage-based wonder boosts:
* Monument to the Gods adds 15% extra towards wonders, making each Builder charge worth 2.25% extra wonder cost.
* Autocracy adds 10% extra towards wonders, making each Builder charge worth 1.5% extra wonder cost.
* Corvée adds 15% extra towards wonders, making each Builder charge worth 2.25% extra wonder cost.
* Brussels adds 15% extra towards wonders, making each Builder charge worth 2.25% extra wonder cost.
* Ik-Kil adds 50% extra towards wonders if the wonders are built in an adjacent tile, making each Builder charge worth 7.5% extra wonder cost.
The first 3 of 5 in the list above are something you can get (or attempt to get) every game, raising the value of each Builder charge to 21% Wonder cost. A standard Chinese builder trained in a city with Liang will come with 5 charges, meaning each one of them will complete any Wonder by itself.
==== List of Ancient and Classical Era wonders ====
This section is dedicated to discussing the eligible wonders, including how much of a priority certain Wonders are, and in which situation which wonders should be built. This section is written under the assumption that resources, time, and opportunities are limited, which means you'll have to de-prioritize another wonder each time you pick one to build. If you're playing on a low difficulty level or have a good start that can guarantee more wonders than normal, nothing's stopping you from trying for wonders that are classified here as "situational" or "not a high priority," and if you're going for a Cultural Victory, all of these wonders will be good sources of late-game . Note that Machu Picchu will not be discussed here, since it cannot be rushed.
* Great Bath: As discussed in great detail on its page, the Great Bath's extremely early arrival is associated with the highest opportunity cost in the game, as well as high level of competitiveness. This is undoubtedly a strong Wonder with great benefits, but rushing this Wonder means you will need to start your game researching Pottery while training a Builder. Excluding Astrology, Pottery is often the worst of the three starting technologies to research first, and starting with a Builder means you forgo exploration. Not to mention, unless you are playing on Hyperreal setting, you cannot control how many Floods you will get, so generally you have other Wonders of higher priorities than this.
* Stonehenge: During the course of the development of Civilization VI, players tend to shy away more and more from this Wonder, as it is consistently ranked really low by the community while at the same time really prioritized by the AIs.Great Wonders elimination thread on CivFanatics China, despite having little to no religious tendency, can benefit from an early one, since you are guaranteed access to the Divine Inspiration belief, which can grant a huge amount of that can be used to purchase Builders and Settlers with the Monumentality Dedication. This is a decent choice, but it isn't really a top priority. Maybe consider this Wonder if you bump into a natural wonder early, which lowers the research cost of Astrology. Otherwise, the AIs will most likely unlock that tech first and beat you to the Wonder.
* Etemenanki: This is a pretty good Wonder if you can find a city spot with a lot of Floodplains. Since your early exploration will most likely be lacking due to other investments into infrastructure and Wonders, it is difficult to find out whether you spawn in a Marsh-heavy area to be able to truly activate the empire-wide bonus towards Marsh. It is a nice Wonder on Wetlands maps or maps with Rainfall setting as Wet, but not always the most reliable one on other maps.
* Hanging Gardens: An underwhelming Wonder all around, 15% bonus (excess) is a terrible bonus for a civilization without any bonus that guarantees excess in the first place. This Wonder should be really low on your build list.
* Temple of Artemis: An amazing Wonder dedicated to growth, , and developing strong early cities. High growth and means churning out Settlers is an easy task, allowing China to expand rapidly in the early game. The tech that unlocks is Wonder is Archery, something you would need early anyway to defend yourself against people who try to stop you from building Wonders. Prioritize it if you have a resource in your territory that can be improved with a Camp.
* Pyramids: Undoubtedly one of the best Wonders in the game, and even more so when playing as Qin Shi Huang. The free Builder granted will help you almost complete another Wonder, while the extra builder charge can never be highlighted enough on how strong that is for China. This is an absolute must-have, so always be on the lookout for a flat Desert tile in the early game and beeline for Masonry (which happens to unlock the Great Wall as well).
* Oracle: A very powerful Wonder if built in a large city, or a city with high growth potential to host a lot of specialty s and should be used in combination with Pingala's Grants. The fact that China is most likely going for a Cultural Victory under Qin means they will be reliant on getting , so this one should be high up on the priority list every game, maybe only behind Pyramids.
* Great Lighthouse: A terribly weak Wonder, even on a water map. The selling point of 1 extra for naval units barely makes any difference in naval warfare, and there is almost no reason why China would want to participate in naval warfare in the first place. Build it for the only if you have extra resources.
* Colossus: Mediocre at best. This is a Wonder that does not give you anything exclusive. An extra and a free Trader are nice, but can be achieved by simply settling another city. Not to mention, the level of competitiveness for this Wonder is low - the AIs don't like it too much, so its construction can be delayed even if you are a big fan of the Colossus.
* Jebel Barkal: is an important currency, especially for a cultural civilization, and with proper city placement, this Wonder can give you a lot of . In all fairness, it is quite useful for China, since you will need but don't want to go overboard with building Holy Sites. It also goes well with the Monumentality Golden Age Dedication. It is also great in conjunction with the Oracle, since the Oracle gives you a discount in patronage using . In practice, to find a Desert Hills tile in the middle of your empire to maximize the output is quite a challenge while playing China. If you have an area with a lot of Desert and Desert Hills tiles, Petra is the better and more obvious choice.
* Colosseum: Easily one of the best Wonders in the game, since it can keep all cities inside its radius Ecstatic, or least Happy, for a long period of time. The biggest downside of this Wonder is its placement requirement: it needs an Entertainment Complex with an Arena inside, neither of those things you want to expend early on, and it is unlocked with Games and Recreation, an awkward civic that is hard to boost. The good thing is the level of competitiveness for this Wonder is medium, so its construction can be slightly delayed without repercussions, if you are lucky.
* Apadana: Undoubtedly a great Wonder, but hard to pull off in practice. It is unlocked with the all-important Political Philosophy civic, and you can rest assured that on high difficulty, the AIs are always there before you, and they definitely love this Wonder. Also, you can only build this Wonder in 1 of the 6 tiles next to your , which is quite a restrictive placement rule. Remember, this Wonder also grants s whenever a Wonder (including itself) is completed in the same city as it is, so you will have fewer choices in choosing which city should host which Wonders. However, if pulled off, this Wonder can give a lot of s, establishing a strong diplomatic foothold in city-states.
* Petra: Very strong, especially when built in an area with a lot of Desert Hills. Flat Desert tiles are fine for China as well, since you can improve them with Great Walls. China is so much better at building Petra than other civilizations that if you want it, you most likely will get it without question. This Wonder turns one of your cities into a well-oiled machine all the way into the late game. Always try to build this if you have enough Desert tiles in a city to justify it.
* Terracotta Army: Somewhat ironically, not that useful for China. You are a defensive cultural civilization, most likely you want to be left alone, and of course it is ever so rarely you would want to declare wars on your neighbors. Your army will be kept to the minimum since you have to dedicate resources to train Builders and build Wonders, so the free s will go to waste. As long as you are on friendly terms with other leaders (i.e. don't declare war on them), asking for Open Borders shouldn't be too difficult. Not a priority.
* Statue of Zeus: An extremely situational Wonder. On one hand, it helps you raise an army that you probably lack due to all the Wonder building. On the other hand, the civic that unlocks it is a detour from Feudalism, and it forces you to build an Encampment and a Barracks - not exactly what you want. If you want a defensive army, you may as well build separate units rather than wasting a slot on an Encampment. Remember, the Colosseum also has strict requirements, but Entertainment Complex + Arena + Colosseum, without any doubt, is a way better investment for China than Encampment + Barracks + Statue of Zeus. This isn't a very competitive Wonder, so maybe after unlocking Serfdom with Feudalism, you may want to take a look back at it if the opportunity is still there. Otherwise, there are always better things to do.
* Mausoleum at Halicarnassus: An awesome Wonder because its bonus is not only powerful but exclusive. An extra charge for every is massive, regardless of the direction your empire is going. If you want to change your direction to a Scientific Victory, this Wonder is your friend. If you want to stay cultural, Wonder-building s are enhanced tremendously by this Wonder. The extra yields for Coast are like a cherry on top of such a unique bonus. Try your best to get this Wonder.
* Great Library: This is a great Wonder all around for China. Although it is said that China can attempt a Scientific Victory, it is much better at a cultural one. Dynastic Cycle is a weak civilization ability and cannot carry you to a Scientific Victory just by itself. Just like every other cultural civilizations, you will be less competitive at earning s since Campus is not your main . This Wonder gives you a free every time another empire recruit a , which plays into your strength and your civilization ability incredibly well. Try to get it if you can.
* Mahabodhi Temple: A decent religious Wonder, but as noted above, China has little interest in religious pursuits. It can combine well if you manage to build Stonehenge, since it lets you evangelize your religion completely without expending any , but most of the time, ignore this Wonder. 
Researching Masonry and building the Pyramids should always be at the top of China's agenda, as this will help optimize the effectiveness of their Builders. Ilkum, Serfdom, and Public Works should be slotted as soon as they are unlocked - the latter two, in conjunction with Qin Shi Huang's leader ability and the Pyramids, will give Chinese Builders an unparalleled 7 build charges. In Rise and Fall, their Builders can have up to 8 charges if trained in a city to which Liang has been assigned as a Governor, and these can be put to particularly good use in pursuit of a Science Victory by building the Royal Society and sending Builders to every city that has a Spaceport. Each fully-charged Builder China expends will provide 16% of the needed for the requisite projects, allowing them to reach Mars or an exoplanet in record time.
When selecting governments, Autocracy plays well to a wonder-focused approach in the early game (as outlined above), and Communism (or, in Gathering Storm, Synthetic Technocracy) will be very helpful if China is aiming for a Science Victory. Religion does not necessarily have to be part of the Chinese strategy, but if it is, they benefit from choosing beliefs that provide additional and either or (depending on what their victory of choice is). 
==== Early Canal construction ====
In Gathering Storm, The First Emperor has the added benefit of allowing Qin Shi Huang's China to build Canals after researching Masonry. Apart from offering an even better incentive to beeline Masonry, however, its usefulness is limited. Canals are expensive, and they don't give any yields apart from the situational when a Trader passes through one. If you want to boost from Industrial Zones, both Aqueducts and Dams are much better options in terms of placement rules and yields. Overall, it is useful to know you have this extra tool at your fingertips, but how often you can make use of it is an entirely different story. You will never feel the need to build Canals immediately after they're unlocked, considering how full your plate is at this time.
=== Gerege (Kublai Khan) ===
Kublai Khan is the second leader in Civilization VI that can lead two civilizations; however, there are quite a few distinctions that can be drawn between him and Eleanor of Aquitaine. While Eleanor is a cultural leader through and through no matter the civilization she leads, Kublai's ability offers a higher level of utility and versatility. While Eleanor is highly synergistic with France but not so much so with England, Kublai works well with both toolkits of China and Mongolia. Nevertheless, the most glaring issue with Kublai Khan is the civilizations he leads are unidimensional: China is overwhelmingly a cultural civilization while Mongolia always aims for a Domination Victory, while Kublai seems to be worse than both pre-existing leaders to lead the civilizations to their preferred victories. He cannot match Qin Shi Huang on the cultural path and pales in comparison to Genghis Khan in terms of conquest. However, choosing Kublai Khan to lead either China or Mongolia means a higher degree of flexibility, and also, in the case of Kublai versus Qin, reliability. China under Kublai Khan is very straightforward thanks to his risk-free and omnipresent bonus from very early on.
==== One extra Economic policy card slot in all governments ====
This is what defines Kublai Khan, a powerful bonus that starts being effective right after researching the first civic, Code of Laws. The two Economic cards unlocked by this civic are Urban Planning and God King. While Urban Planning is so much stronger than God King, most civilizations with no innate bonus toward early game generation are forced to run God King instead to found a pantheon in a reasonable amount of time. This extra Economic slot allows you to run both cards concurrently: you have an extra valuable toward all cities while still being able to generate . Then, once you have a pantheon, you can swap God King out for something like Ilkum and still run Urban Planning on top - these bonuses stack to provide an excellent platform for early development!
Later into the game, cards that boost yields (like Natural Philosophy), city development (like Serfdom), wonder construction (like Skyscrapers), or late-game output (like Satellite Broadcasts) are all Economic cards. Also, an extra Economic slot allows you to pick governments without many inherent Economic slots, such as Autocracy, to make use of its wonder-building effect. 
Overall, this is a strong ability that starts to have an impact from the very first few turns to the end of the game. The best part is that this ability requires no planning at all, so it is more suitable to new players than what Qin Shi Huang has to offer. 
==== Gain one random Eureka and Inspiration when establishing a Trading Post in a given civilization for the first time ====
This bonus is the less impactful of the two but not totally useless. Every time you establish the first in a major civilization, you gain a random and , which goes well with the civilization ability of China. What it means by "random" is that the game will look at the earliest era where you still have techs and civics whose boosts haven't been triggered yet and then give you one and one . For example, if you have researched or triggered the boosts for all techs and civics of the Ancient Era, the game will give you a random and of the Classical Era, and though some techs/civics are more expensive than the others of the same era, this will not affect how the game will pick which boosts to give you. However, that also means the boosts you receive are totally random and there won't be a chance where you receive a boost in the Atomic Era when the world is still in Classical. 
A trick with this ability is to avoid trading with any major civilizations until very late in the game, instead relying on s to city-states for output, since late game boosts are a lot harder to trigger manually. For that reason, Kumasi is an incredible city-state for Kublai Khan to be the Suzerain of. Nevertheless, there is a catch to this. The later the game goes, the longer it takes to finish a . In the Ancient and Classical Era, the Trader takes a minimum of 21 turns to complete a round trip, plus 1 turn to return to the origin city, making it 22 turns. This minimum gets bumped up to 32 turns in the Medieval/Renaissance Era, 42 turns in the Industrial/Modern/Atomic Era, and a whopping 52 turns in the Information/Future Era, making the job of establishing a a laborious and somewhat unrealistic task. Therefore, a good compromise is to send out your s to major civilizations around the Medieval and Renaissance Eras, where boosts are getting harder to trigger, but the amount of time required for one round trip is still reasonable. Overall, as long as you remember to send out your s at some points, you're good to go, but don't expect this ability to carry you through the game.
=== Lijia (Yongle) ===
At a glimpse, Yongle is an insanely powerful leader, with an ability that incorporates the best parts of the Khmer and Tokugawa. He can gain a massive amount of , and from populous cities, while simultaneously converting of satellite cities into even more and for his empire, or grow them into core cities as well. The sky is the limit for China under Yongle.
==== The three Lijia projects ====
These projects are available right from the get-go, in every city, without a requirement. They allow China to convert into or with 50% efficiency, or into with 100% efficiency. The lack of any requirements for these projects allows Yongle to rush for a pantheon at an incredible speed. If Mali and Indonesia aren't present in the game, you're almost guaranteed the first pantheon pick, which most of the time translates into a quick second city with Religious Settlements. Lijia (Faith) also allows you to bypass God King, an underwhelming card that most civilizations are forced to run to found a pantheon.
Later in the game, these projects still have a myriad of uses. First, Lijia (Food), when used in combination with the Aqueduct + Industrial Zone setup, is crucial for cities to reach 10 Population and unlock the second part of Yongle's ability, and that's when all the yields go crazy. Second, Lijia (Faith) and Lijia (Gold) can convert of smaller or satellite cities into empire-wide currencies, making them useful and minimizing micromanagement in the late game. With basically a foolproof method of gaining an unlimited amount of and , China under Yongle is a threat to be reckoned with on any victory path.
Considering the level of importance these 3 projects will be for your empire, attaining Suzerainty of Hong Kong is an absolute must if that city-state appears in your game. It will increase the conversion rate efficiency by 20%, which is 20% of extra or 10% of extra or .
==== Extra Science, Culture and Gold for cities with 10 Population or more ====
And this is why Yongle is such a menace. 1 , 1 and 2 is the same amount of yields Tokugawa gains per specialty district (roughly 3 Population) for his s, which is already a powerful ability. Yongle gains the same amount for every Population in cities with 10 Population or more (so this is at least around 3 times better). Not to mention, Tokugawa's ability is limited by the number of s, which in turn is limited by availability, while Yongle's does not have this restriction. The only restriction Yongle has can be easily removed by running his unique project, Lijia (Food). Gaining yields per Population is also reminiscent of the Prasat, one of the best buildings belonging to one of the best civilizations in the game. However, 0.5 per Population of the Prasat cannot be compared with 1 , 1 and 2 per Population of Yongle, especially when you consider that the Prasat has a requirement, and quite a high cost, including its own cost and the cost of a Holy Site and Shrine. Although Yongle's ability comes online slightly later than the aforementioned two, the moment Yongle's cities reach 10 Population, no other and granting abilities can even come close to this.
The moment one of your cities reaches 10 Population, you will gain 20 , 10 , and 10 per turn, which is an incredible burst of power. Also, this ability makes Pingala an even more powerful opener for Governors, since both of his Level 1 titles basically turbo-charge Yongle's ability. For this reason, early growth is of utmost importance when playing as Yongle. Beside Lijia (Food), other modifiers can be employed to boost city growth as quickly as possible:
* Hanging Gardens: Yongle is one of the rare leaders who can make meaningful use of this wonder, which gives all cities 15% extra growth. 
* : Happy cities gain 10% extra growth while Ecstatic ones gain 20% growth, on top of other bonuses. For this reason, wonders that supply early - namely the Temple of Artemis and the Colosseum - will become even stronger under Yongle.
* Magnus' Surplus Logistics grant 20% bonus growth for his city and for domestic s that end in this city. This can make Magnus an even more powerful opener than Pingala for Yongle, who can essentially get the benefit of the latter simply by growing cities with the former.
* Fertility Rites pantheon increases growth by 10% in all cities. This can be helpful in games where Religious Settlements have already been taken.
* Suzerainty of Mitla increases growth by 15% in all cities with a Campus, and since Yongle pushes China to a new high in terms of , this is not hard to satisfy.
* Later in the game, Colonial Offices policy card grants 15% growth in all cities that are not on the continent.
Also, the fact that he can reliably grow all of his cities to high Population means he can make good use of the Rationalism policy card. Although China has no bonuses towards gaining extra adjacency for Campuses, once in a while you will have a Campus with high starting adjacency, since this is the easiest specialty to gain high starting adjacency, which adds an extra layer of for China.
Overall, Yongle is a powerful addition to the Chinese leader roster that can compete well for the title of the best leader ability in the game. Not only does he have access to an abundant amount of both and , he is also given the key to unlock those bonuses reliably every game.
=== Manual of Entrapment (Wu Zetian) ===
At first glance, Wu Zetian may look like a copy and paste of Black Queen Catherine, the Spy at Defensive Tactics being the only immediate difference (though still not something to overlook, as Castles has twice the cost as Defensive Tactics have in , giving you an earlier Spy than any other civ). But this belies just how good Wu Zetian can get. Firstly the aforementioned early Spy can give you a massive step up in terms of Diplomatic Visibility by the Classical Era. No one will have a Spy this early, as even Catherine won't get hers until the next era, and other civilizations won't get theirs until the Renaissance.
Having a Classical Era Spy doesn't mean you can start stealing s and Great Works right away, as there is a high chance there isn't any port of entry nearby for your Spy to start stealing. However, you can use this time effectively by trying to level up your Spy via easy missions, like Foment Unrest, which also plays well into the second part of her ability. Each Spy operates as though they were 1 level higher. This isn't a massive bonus initially, as there are no Spies in the target city, but can still improve the chances of Siphon Funds or Steal Great Works if the opponent has any, and this can stack with the Intelligence Agency. Furthermore, Wu gains 100% of the target city's , , and which has been produced this turn whenever an offensive espionage mission is successful. Remember that you require 8 turns to finish a mission, so on average you only gain 12.5% of the relevant yields from the target city - and that's assuming you succeed, which is never certain. Late in the game, any viable city is almost guaranteed to have a Spy protecting it - and before that, the yields from any given target city tend to be quite modest - but if you manage to find a good city at a good time, go for it!
The early Spy is also very useful for stealing tech boosts, which are further boosted by Dynastic Cycle, allowing for a greater focus on the civics tree without sacrificing too much progress on the tech tree, by letting other civilizations do the bulk of the for you. Besides, Theater Squares are important for scientific players too, because many s have civic requirements, and again, s go further for China because of Dynastic Cycle. 
For these reasons, a few key promotions for Wu Zetian's Spies are:
* Cat Burglar: Steal Great Works as if 2 levels more experienced.
* Disguise: Takes no time to establish presence in an enemy city. Useful on Spies with Cat Burglar, allowing you to move this Spy quickly from city to city to steal Great Works.
* Technologist: Steal Technology as if 2 levels more experienced. Goes well with the Chinese civilization ability.
* Linguist: Time to complete all missions reduced by 25%. Useful if you want to maximize the yield bonus from Wu's ability. Stacks with Machiavellianism.
The August 2023 Update not only buffed both parts of Wu Zetian's ability (previously the level bonus only applied to offensive missions and the yield bonus was limited to 50% of the target city's and ), it adds a new unique element: Wu Zetian can now purchase Spies with . This is a powerful bonus, as every other civ has to hard-build Spies with they could be using for infrastructure or military units! However, China are inclined towards a Culture Victory - which typically needs late in the game - but lack advantages or incentives towards the religious game. Having a midgame use for before the arrival of Naturalists and Rock Bands is certainly an interesting development for China under Wu Zetian. You may want to build Holy Sites early on if it is safe to do so, but don't have to drop everything to rush for a religion - remember, this "religious" infrastructure exists not for religious play but for (if you do get a religion, the Divine Inspiration belief is an excellent choice, as it will provide more from wonder-building and as China you want to do that anyway). Alternatively, Preserves with a Grove can do that job and provide other yields, as long as the terrain has suitably high Appeal.
Overall, Wu even after the buffs is arguably still a middle of the pack leader for most games, and can be underwhelming if you don't manage to achieve much with your first Spy (i.e., if said Spy gets killed on his or her first offensive mission). She can synergize with China's general strengths for a Culture Victory, using her Spies to steal Great Works and China's Great Wall to build from the Medieval Era, though with some drop off late in the game. You can use Steal Tech Boost to help you pick up the military technologies on the bottom half of the tech tree whilst focusing your research on rushing towards technologies such as Flight that directly help with cultural games.
=== Thirty-Six Stratagems (Unifier Qin Shi Huang) ===
Unifier Qin Shi Huang puts China on a completely different footing - a war footing. Rather than the peaceful advantages from other leader abilities, he can instead turn the threat into an opportunity by converting these units to his side and then using them against his opponents.
This ability works exactly the same way as the Heathen Conversion ability for Apostles: go next to Barbarian units, use the charge, and these Barbarian units become yours at the expense of the unit itself being consumed. As it specifically applies to melee units, you will want to make sure your initial unit production is directed towards Warriors, and ensure that at least one melee unit is converted each time you use Heathen Conversion - this will mean you get another charge out of it.
Interestingly, the Hagia Sophia offering extra religious charges also extends to the conversion charges from this leader ability, presumably due to the code being shared. However, with no incentive or advantage for Unifier Qin to found a religion, this will be a wonder to capture rather than build.
Barbarian Outposts cannot spawn in land where you have visibility, so after you've done your initial scouting, send your units back home. Sooner or later, you'll notice a Barbarian Scout approach your borders; leave it alone, and it will return to its Outpost and then send more units your way. For most civilizations, this is something to proactively avoid; for Unifier Qin, it is the opposite, as those attacking units will soon become yours as long as your melee units get in position to convert them. This actually becomes stronger on higher difficulty levels, where more Barbarian units will be summoned - and stronger ones, too, once the AI headstart is translated into output. If Babylon is in the game, even better: their tech-leaping ability sometimes translates into more advanced Barbarian units, and now they can be yours! Similarly, if Gaul is present, you may get access to Men-At-Arms for free nearly a whole era earlier. Even better, while Babylon and Gaul are struggling to accumulate and to upgrade or build their expensive units, you can piggyback on their special ability while circumventing these challenges.
However, theories will remain theories if the RNG of Barbarian spawns is not in your favor. Unifier Qin is an incredibly feast-or-famine leader; overall, among the 5 options for Chinese leaders, Unifier Qin is, by a large margin, the least reliable one, due to the fact the foundation of his ability is beyond anyone's control. Clearly, this ability is meant for you to be able to instantly gather a large army which can be used effectively for conquest, but it can also support a peaceful game by not only protecting you from pesky Barbarians, but allowing you to have a defensive army without using that could have gone towards infrastructure or wonder-building. If you cannot snowball in the early game when Barbarians are the most rampant, it can get significantly harder as the eras go by (unless Babylon is in the game), so it is quite crucial to realize when and in which game you should change course to rely on other bonuses of China.
Note: In the Secret Societies game mode, Vampires that expend their last conversion charge are disbanded. In the Zombie Defense game mode, Zombies converted by this ability remain under Chinese control permanently, and newly converted Zombies also have the Barbarian Conversion ability to convert even more Barbarians/Zombies.
=== Crouching Tiger ===
The Crouching Tiger can never fully replace the Crossbowman, which is also unlocked by Machinery. Compared to its contemporary, it has the same Combat Strength, 10 more Ranged Strength, and 1 less , but is 40 cheaper. While the Crossbowman's greater gives it a huge advantage on offense, the Crouching Tiger is better suited for defense, especially when used in conjunction with the Great Wall.
Like all units with 1 , the Crouching Tiger exposes itself to retaliation each time it gets close enough to fire at an enemy, but placing it on a Great Wall segment gives it a +10 Defense Strength bonus. The Garrison works especially well with a Crouching Tiger placed on a Great Wall segment, since it will gain 10 Combat Strength on both offense and defense. Another use for this unit is to put it in an Encampment, so you can enjoy its high Ranged Strength without fear of retaliation. Nevertheless, if you time your attacks right, it's possible to move Crouching Tigers within range of enemy units and fire before they can react! 50 Ranged Strength will do decent damage to all Medieval Era units except Knights, especially if you've managed to accumulate some s beforehand.
Since the Crouching Tiger is a standalone unit, you cannot pre-build other units to upgrade into them, but its low cost allows you to quickly train some of them if you're targeted for declarations of war, especially with Feudal Contract (which is unlocked with Feudalism, a civic China will always want to beeline). In the expansions, there shouldn't be any repercussions if you train one Crouching Tiger just for the Era Score, since it isn't vital to any Chinese strategies. Make sure you keep that unit around rather than deleting it, though - city ranged attacks take the highest Ranged Strength of any unit you have, and for China the Crouching Tiger will hold that distinction until you build a Frigate or Field Cannon. 
=== Great Wall ===
The Great Wall is a mediocre tile improvement in vanilla Civilization VI and Rise and Fall because it requires the highest level of commitment among all improvements, yet its yields are not always worth the investment. However, it puts on a completely different face in Gathering Storm, playing a key role in propelling China toward a fast Cultural Victory.
The Great Wall initially provides the same defensive bonus as a Fort, though it becomes available earlier and has more placement restrictions. As with all Fort-like improvements, it provides any unit on its tile with a +10 Combat Strength bonus on defense. This aspect is available a whole era earlier than the regular Fort, and since it is built by a Builder rather than a Military Engineer, it is quite a lot cheaper. Great Wall segments can't be built in neutral territory like Forts and other defensive improvements can, but building them at choke points can help China repel invaders with a smaller army than normal. The Chinese unique unit, the Crouching Tiger, complements the Great Wall quite nicely because of its defensive nature.
The Great Wall's initial yield is 2 , plus an additional 2 for each adjacent Great Wall segment. Since a Great Wall cannot be next to more than two other segments, this maxes out at +6 , which is rather strong if you have suitable open land to put multiple segments in a line. You can even start putting down Great Wall segments right after unlocking it to boost your economy; however, you shouldn't go overboard because it doesn't provide the , , or that cities need early on. The fun truly starts after you unlock Castles, as every Great Wall will provide 2 for every adjacent Great Wall, which means as long as you can clear land and line up your Great Walls, each segment (except for the ones at the two ends) will provide 6 and 4 as early as the Medieval Era. Therefore, Castles is a crucial checkpoint that China has to reach on the tech tree; meanwhile, on the civic tree, Feudalism needs to be beelined to unlock Serfdom. Depending on how long you can chain your Wall segments, you can unlock civics from this point onward at an incredible speed that can be matched by very few other civilizations. And of course, after researching Flight, Great Walls will start generating . An optimally placed Great Wall segment can generate 4 , which is as much as a Great Work of Music. Before the release of Gathering Storm, a Great Wall segment has no base yield and receives only +1 and +1 from adjacent segments, meaning each one can only reach 2 and 2 at most.
Considering how important this improvement is to China, especially when you are aiming for a Cultural Victory, there are a few quirks with its placement rule that you should know. As with most other improvements, (all three types of) Floodplains block the placement of Great Wall segments, so Chinese cities should be founded along rivers that won't flood. Unlike other Fort-like improvements, however, the Great Wall can be placed on Volcanic Soil and cannot be removed by natural disasters, so areas near Volcanoes are very attractive for China. Also, since you can only place Great Walls along your borders, beware of the situation where you place a few segments of Great Walls, leave them for a while, and then cannot continue extending them since the borders have since expanded outward. This situation is especially pronounced with coastal cities, since their borders will always expand outward towards the oceans where you cannot place your Walls.
In the Zombie Defense game mode, the Great Wall functions like a Barricade and deals damage to Zombies and other enemies trying to approach China's cities, giving them a defensive edge.
=== Victory Types ===
As explained above, Science and Cultural Victories are the easiest paths for the Chinese to follow. A Cultural Victory will be easier under Qin Shi Huang (Mandate of Heaven) since building wonders also has direct ties with (especially considering how much better early wonders scale in ), whereas a Science Victory will be easier under Kublai Khan (thanks to the s from his s, especially on larger maps with more players) or Wu Zetian (thanks to her espionage advantages). Yongle has a boost to both of these win conditions through the empire-wide yields he can gain from his leader ability.
Qin Shi Huang (Unifier) is weaker at these conditions, but instead has an assist towards Domination Victory thanks to an ability to effectively gain a large military at very little cost. This is particularly effective against scientific civs, who will unlock advanced units (that can then potentially appear in Barbarian Outposts) but may not build many themselves.
=== Counter Strategy ===
==== Qin Shi Huang (Mandate of Heaven) ====
Qin Shi Huang with this ability has a rather obvious timing push outlined by his ability within the first two eras of the game, as he will most likely dedicate all of their into building wonders that help shape his victory path and the remaining course of their game. It is also worth noting that the Chinese unique unit (which is also of a defensive nature) is not unlocked until Machinery and they will most likely not be building a lot of Great Wall segments, since Builder charges are incredibly valuable to China in the early part of the game. If the civilization you're using has a military advantage in the Ancient and Classical Era (unique unit, leader or civilization ability, etc.), it's even easier for you to strategize a military conquest over China. If you are a late-game oriented civilization, rush them with Warriors, Archers and early cavalry units; your job is not to take their cities (though it's great if you can), but to harass and force them to build an army to defend themselves, thus hampering their progress in laying a sound foundation. Once the Classical Era is over, so is their timing wonder rush.
==== Kublai Khan ====
Kublai Khan can afford to play a little bit more defensively. Due to the Chinese civilization ability, they will still likely focus on building wonders, but they will also be able to dedicate toward units and build charges toward the Great Wall. Similarly to the approach against Qin Shi Huang, invade them before they can prepare their military. In the late game, by declaring war on them every so often, you prevent them from establishing a in your nation and getting the free boosts.
==== Yongle ====
Yongle's leader ability is absolutely terrifying...for peaceful development. If you spawn near him, consider an early war even if you don't have obvious advantages to doing so. You don't even need to take his cities; you just need to disrupt their growth. Pillage everything in sight, particularly Farms, and you'll stop those cities from offering empire-wide yields that can help him snowball. That said, if you do capture his cities, so much the better - you can raze them and all that Population progress is undone.
==== Wu Zetian ====
There's relatively little counterplay for this ability immediately - not even Black Queen Catherine can get a Spy in the Classical Era, so you'll have to rely on sheer luck and maybe the Diplomatic Quarter to stop Wu Zetian's Spies. Just remember that her yield bonuses from offensive missions provide a strong incentive to send every Spy into foreign lands rather than keeping any for counter-espionage! Therefore, you can definitely consider giving her a taste of her own medicine.
Alternatively, if you can form an with Wu, she won't target your cities. Helpfully, her agenda makes her easier to befriend if you have a weak military...and if you have a strong one, she has no direct military advantages, so conquest should be possible.
==== Qin Shi Huang (Unifier) ====
If Unifier Qin can't convert Barbarians, he effectively doesn't have a leader ability. Going Barbarian-hunting like you're Gilgamesh is a good move if you start near him, and because Barbarian Outposts can't spawn in land anyone has visibility over, you might want to keep some units near his border - not to attack him or even to threaten him, but to deny him any Barbarians to flip to his side.
== Civilopedia entry ==
== Cities ==
== Citizens ==
Males 	Females 	Modern males	Modern females
Chen 	Chan-juan	Bingwen 	Changying
Fai 	Chang 	Changpu 	Daxia
Kong 	Fang-yin 	Dingxiang 	Dongmei
Kuan-yin	Huan-Yue 	Guiren 	Liling
Lei 	Jiang-li 	Huizhong 	Meifeng
Long 	Li-mei 	Longwei 	Mingxia
Shaiming	Ming-ue 	Shanyuan 	Mingzhu
Shen 	Qing-yuan	Tingfeng 	Qiaolian
Shing 	Shuang 	Yanlin 	Xingjuan
Sying 	Xin-qian 	Zedong 	ZhenZhen
== Trivia == 
* A Chinese city appears in the Civilization VI announcement trailer.
* When the Chinese were first added to the game, their colors were yellow-green and white. They were later changed to green and white, which now applies to all rulesets when led by Qin Shi Huang.
* The Chinese civilization's symbol is a head of a Chinese dragon.
* The Chinese civilization ability references an important political theory in Chinese history that explains the repetitive cycle of imperial dynasties rising, falling, and being replaced.
* China is also playable in the Path to Nirvana scenario.
* With four different leaders (five if Unifier Qin Shi Huang is treated as a separate leader), China in Civilization VI has the most leaders of any civilization in the history of the Civilization franchise.
==Soundtrack==
== Gallery ==
File:Crouching Tiger screenshot (Civ6).jpg|Two Crouching Tigers, one firing
File:Builders building The Great Wall (Civ6).jpg|Two Builder units building the Great Wall tile improvements
File:Chinese capital.JPG|Chinese capital in Medieval Era
== Videos ==
thumb|center|300px|First Look: China
== Related achievements ==
== References ==
== See also ==
* Chinese (Civ6)/Path to Nirvana
* Chinese in other games
ru:Китай (Civ6)
Category:Chinese