Facts about China

THE AMAZING FACTS OF

CHINA

The modern word “China” most likely derives from the name of the Qin (pronounced “chin”) dynasty. First Emperor Qin Shi Huang (260-210 B.C.) of the Qin dynasty first unified China in 221 B.C., beginning an Imperial period which would last until A.D. 1912.

China is often considered the longest continuous civilization, with some historians marking 6000 B.C. as the dawn of Chinese civilization. It also has the world’s longest continuously used written language.

China is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, and the U.S.). It has an area of 3,719,275 square miles (slightly smaller than the U.S.) and its borders with other countries total more than 117,445 miles. Approximately 5,000 islands lie off the Chinese coast.

Fortune cookies are not a traditional Chinese custom. They were invented in early 1900 in San Francisco.

China uses 45 billion chopsticks per year.

Reincarnation is forbidden in China without government permission.

The World's Biggest Mall, located in China

Facebook, Twitter and The New York Times have been blocked in Chinasince 2009.

The World's First Paper Money was created in China1,400 years ago.

In China, over 35 million people still live in caves.

The Sunrise in parts of China can be as late as 10 AM

1 in every 3 socks you have were made in the district of Datang in Zhuji, China, now known as "Sock City".

One in every five people in the world is Chinese. China’s population is estimated to reach a whopping 1,355,692,544  by July 2014. China’s population is four times that of the United States.

Toilet paper was invented in China in the late 1300s. It was for emperors only.

The Chinese invented kites (“paper birds” or “Aeolian harps”) about 3,000 years ago. They were used to frighten the enemies in battle.

In the Tang dynasty, every educated person was expected to greet as well as say goodbye to another person in poetic verse composed on the spot.

The Chinese invented ice cream by packing a milk mixture and rice into snow

Tickling was a form of torture used in ancient China on nobility because it left no mark and recovery was quick.

 A forbidden love in China between a young man and older widowed woman forced the couple to live in a mountain cave. Over the course of 50 years, the man carved a 6,000 stairs into the mountainside so that his wife could easily descend from the cave

China is also known as the “Flowery Kingdom” and many of the fruits and flowers (such as the orange and orchid) are now grown all over the world.

The Chinese invented paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

Cricket fighting is a popular amusement in China. Many Chinese children keep crickets as pets.

The number one hobby in China is stamp collecting.

Giant Pandas (“bear cat”) date back two to three million years. The early Chinese emperors kept pandas to ward off evil spirits and natural disasters. Pandas also were considered symbols of might and bravery.

On September 27, 2008, Zhai Zhigang made the first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut.

A civil servant named Su Song built the first mechanical clock between A.D 1088 and 1092. It could tell the time of day and also track the constellations so that accurate horoscopes could be determined.

The name of China’s capital has changed over the centuries. At one time or another it has been known as Yanjing, Dadu, and Beiping. Peking or “Beijing means “Northern Capital.” Beijing is the officially sanctioned pinyin spelling based on the Mandarin dialect. Beijing is the second largest city after Shanghai.

It was customary for wealthy men and women in the late empire to grow the nails of their little fingers extremely long as a sign of their rank. They often wore decorative gold and silver nail guards to protect their nails.

According to popular legend, tea was discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong in 2737 B.C. when a tea leaf fell into his boiling water. The Chinese consider tea to be a necessity of life.

Martial arts are practiced throughout China and were largely developed from ancient farming and hunting methods.

Anyone caught smuggling the secrets of silk making out of ancient China were put to death

Originating as far back as 250 B.C., Chinese lanterns were an important symbol of long life. Lanterns were once symbols of a family’s wealth, and the richest families had lanterns so large, it required several people with poles to hoist them into place.