Interesting facts about China

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Since I am clearly enjoying my new series of articles of exploring different cultures by writing about countries (Saudia Arabia, United States of America) this one is going to be my absolute favorite. Interesting facts about China will bring you close to the classic heritage of this country.

As one of the biggest superpowers in the world, with an unrivaled population, China also has one of the longest and most interesting histories. A lot has happened here and a lot continues to happen, and in this article, we’ll expose a few fun facts that might surprise you.

Interesting facts about China:

1. China, officially the People’s Republic of China is a country in East Asia.
2. It has a total area of 9,596,960 square km.
3. Beijing is its capital and Shanghai is its largest city.
4. Chinese is the official language of China. 
5. Renminbi (yuan; ¥) (CNY) is its official currency. 
6. Its land bordering countries are Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, North Korea, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam (thus, China has the most number of neighbors touching its borders).
7. With more than 1.4 billion people, China holds the world record for having the largest population on Earth.
8. The nominal GDP of China is $12.405 trillion which is the second highest in the world.
9. The per capita GDP is $9,161 which is the 91st highest in the world.
10. China prides itself in having an economy that is based solely on private property ownership. It is a leading example of state capitalism.
11. The industrialization of China has led to increased air pollution. Because of this four of the world’s ten most polluted cities are located in China.
12. There are over 50 ethnic minorities that call China home.
13. China is the world’s largest producer of cement, producing about 60% of the world’s cement.
14. Experts predict that by 2030, China will have the largest population of Christians in the world.
15. China is home to the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. The mountain’s highest peak reaches to over 29,000 feet.
16. Urbanization has been extremely rapid in this country. In just 30 years, about 300 million people have relocated from rural areas to the more urbanized cities.
17. China is home to approximately 475 million pigs, over half of the world’s pig population.

Cultural facts of China:

1. China has a rich cultural history that includes painting, calligraphy, and Kung Fu.
2. The Chinese New Year celebration lasts for 15 days.
3. In China, every year is represented by one of 12 animals.
4. The Chinese language consists of 40,000 characters, and by the time children reach the fourth grade they are expected to know 2,000 of these characters.
5. Red is considered a very lucky color in China.
6. Approximately 80 billion wooden disposable chopsticks are used each year in China. About 20 million trees are cut down each year to meet this demand.
7. For a long time, lanterns were a symbol of life and the family’s wealth. It is said that the wealthiest families had humongous lanterns that required a couple of people to lift up.
8. In Ancient China, soldiers sometimes wore armor made from paper.
9. More people speak Mandarin, a Chinese Dialect, as their first language than any other language in the world.
10. If you think you’ve got big eyebrows, wait until you check out China’s Leshan Giant Buddha. That stone statue has 5.5-m-long eyebrows.
11. China has the longest canal in the world. This canal is the Grand Canal of China.

Historic facts about China:

1. The word China is believed to have originated from Qin, which was the dynasty that ruled over the land from 221 B.C. to A.D. 1912.
2. The old wall i.e., The Great Wall of China tells several tales of its glorious past and is probably among the most visited tourist destinations in the world.
3. The Chinese first figured out how to make silk, and it was such a secretive process at first that anyone who told another person how to spin silk could be killed.
4. The Dragon Boat Festival is held every year in honor of Qu Yuan, who was a very heroic man in Chinese history. To celebrate his life the Chinese race long skiffs that are designed to look like dragons.
5. Kites were invented by the Chinese and have since been used in battle and to predict the success of certain voyages.
6. China is believed to have the world’s longest continuous civilization, dating back over 40 centuries.
7. China launched its “One Child Per Couple” policy in 1979 and was the first country to implement such a policy in an effort to control the rapidly expanding population.
8. IT is considered one of the four ancient civilizations. The others are Babylonia, Mayan, and Egyptian.
9. The Great Wall of China is one of the most popular human-made structures on the planet.
10. The total length of the Great Wall is 21,196 kilometers, which is about 13,171 miles or 834,514,560 inches.
11. The average height of the Great Wall of China is 6-7 meters (20-23 feet).
12. The last Chinese emperor, named Puyi, became a leader at the age of three.
13. Thousands of years ago, the Chinese were some of the first people to use silk, jade, bronze, wood, and paper to make art.
14. Many Chinese emperors considered themselves to be descendants of dragons.

Fun facts about China:

1. The Chinese language is the longest language still in use and in writing in the world.
2. The Chinese invented the water wheel in 31 A.D. and the Iron plow way long before the Europeans did it.
3. 200 years ago, the game that later turned into football (soccer) was invented in China.
4. The world’s first soccer ball was a leather ball filled with feathers and hair, and the game was called ‘Tsu’ Chu,’ which literally means ‘kicking the ball.’
5. The Chinese also invented some math concepts. They started using the decimal system in the 14th century B.C., 2,300 years before the Europeans.
6. Despite being a wide and large country, China only has a one-time zone – Standard Chinese time. This means that in the West of China, the sunrise can be as late as 10 AM.
7. Ice cream originated in China. It was first invented in 2000 BC when the Chinese put together soft milk and rice in the snow.
8. China banned video game consoles for many years. This ban was finally lifted to allow game consoles in 2014.
9. China is credited with the invention of paper, as well as printing.
10. About 3,000 websites are blocked in China. This includes such popular sites as Facebook and YouTube.
11. In China, cricket fighting is a popular amusement sport.
12. Put together, all of China’s railway’s lines could loop around the earth twice.
13. China is home to a cluster of ancient rock pillars called the Stone Forest.
14. The artistic writing called calligraphy was invented in China.
15. China’s diverse habitats are home to hundreds of species of animals and plants. More than 3,800 species of fish and hundreds of amphibians and reptile species live in the rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

As I wrote in the very beginning that this one is quite special for me to write on I have brought a small twist for you all. To make this even more fun, I want to challenge you. How many of these China facts did you already know before reading this? Share your result in the comment section.