How many provinces does China have?
Provinces of China
Provincial-level administrative divisions (Chinese:省级行政区; pinyin:shěng-jí xíngzhèngqū) or first-level administrative divisions (一级行政区; yī-jí xíngzhèngqū), are the highest-level Chinese administrative divisions. There are 34 such divisions, classified as 23 provinces (Chinese:省; pinyin:shěng), four municipalities, five autonomous regions, and two Special Administrative Regions. All but Taiwan Province and a small fraction of Fujian Province (currently administered by the Republic of China) are controlled by the People's Republic of China.
Zhou (country subdivision)
In the People's Republic of China, "zhou" today exists only in the designation "autonomous prefecture" (), administrative areas for China's designated minorities. However, "zhou" have left a huge mark on Chinese place names, including the province of Guizhou and the major cities of Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Lanzhou, and Suzhou, among many others. Likewise, although modern Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese provinces are no longer designated by "zhou" cognates, the older terms survive in various place names, notably the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu, the Korean province Jeju-do, and Lai Châu in Vietnam.