Amazing Facts » Facts And Trivia About Countries – China

Amazing Facts about China

Whether we like it or not, China plays a critical role in the global economy. In just ten years, a small emerging market has transformed into a geopolitical empire. Read more about its population, size, major cities, languages, its geography, history, animals, economy and much more.

The below facts will be particularly interesting for those aficionados who love their Chinese food, Chinese gadgets, clothes and other Chinese items.

• Did you know that officially, China is known as the People's Republic of China?
• With over 1.3 billion people, China has the largest population in the world. On an average, it is estimated that one in every five people in the world is Chinese. China’s population is nearly four times that of the United States.
• However, by area, they are only the third largest country at about 9.7 million square kilometers.
• China has only one time zone, despite being approximately the same size as continental USA. However, continental USA has four time zones.
• Temperatures in the Turpan Depression in China can range from 49°C in summer to -29°C in winter.

• Beijing is China’s capital city, while Shanghai is the most populated city. The other major cities include Shenzhen, Chongqing, and Guangzhou.
• China is a part of the Asian continent. Its bordering countries include Afghanistan, Burma, Bhutan, India, Burma, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, North Korea, Russia, Vietnam, and Tajikistan. In addition, China shares maritime boundaries with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
• China is home to the fourth longest river in the world, the Yangtze River, which is about 5,800 kilometers long, and the sixth longest, the Yellow River, that stretches about 4,700 kilometers.
• The Great Wall of China is the largest man made structure in the world, stretching an incredible 8,850 kilometers. It is said that the mortar used to bind the Great Wall’s stones was made with sticky rice.
• It is also the home of the famous Giant Panda.
• China’s national sport is table tennis, also called Ping-Pong.
• Did you know that more people speak Mandarin, as their first language than any other language in the world?
• Apart from Mandarin, there are many other different languages spoken in China and which include Wu, Yue, Gan, Minbei, Xiang, Minnan, and Hakka.
• Fourth graders are expected to know a minimum of 2,000 of the over 40,000 written Chinese characters. By the time, they leave college; they would know about 4,000 or 5,000 characters. Each character is learned by looking at it and memorizing it.
• Over forty-five percent of the Chinese population lives in urban areas.
• The Chinese New Year celebration lasts for 15 days. One of 12 animals represents each year. The year, 2015 is the year of the sheep or goat.
• The Chinese year is based on lunar schedules, or the cycles of the moon. It takes 60 years for a complete cycle of the Chinese calendar. The Chinese calendar dates back to around 2600 B.C., and is widely regarded as the oldest known calendar.
• Did you know that the first paper Money was created in China about 1,400 years ago?
• If you were to connect all of China’s railway lines, it would encircle the earth twice.
• It is believed that half of all the pigs on our planet live in China.
• In China, it is estimated that over 31 odd million people still live in caves, which are called yaodongs. This is said to be more than the entire population of Australia.
• Although China is largely an atheist nation, there are over fifty million Christians in China.
• China’s air pollution is so bad that it travels across the Pacific Ocean and is responsible for over 25 percent of the pollution in San Francisco.
• Funnily, if you breathed freely in Beijing for a single day, it would be the equivalent of smoking over 20 cigarettes
• It is estimated that about ten million dogs and four million cats are sold on the mainland for consumption every year, according to a survey in 2006 carried out by the Animals Asia Foundation. Apparently, these animals are a culinary delicacy.
• It took around 37 years to make the Terracotta Army, which is a set of around 8,000 clay soldiers that guard an Emperor’s tomb in Xi’an.
• The World’s Biggest Shopping Mall is located in China. However, 99% of it is empty.
• China's Bailong Elevator carries visitors more than 300m up a cliff's edge.
• The Forbidden City, a palace complex in Beijing, contains close to 9,000 rooms.
• The Chinese white dolphin that lives off southern China are often pink in color.
• China is home to a cluster of ancient rock pillars called the Stone Forest.
• China's Leshan Stone Statue of a Giant Buddha has eyebrows that are 5.5 meters in length.
• Many Chinese emperors considered themselves descendants of dragons.

Now for some bizarre and wacky facts;

• A sharp pin is placed directly under the neck and on the collars of new soldiers, so that they always keep their chins up during a parade. Well, that is not all, a steel pole is wired and tied to the soldier’s arms, so that their arms keep uniform height while marching.
• If you talk about poverty or complain about low salaries, just think that over 100 million Chinese live on just about one dollar a day.
• The tomato ketchup was not an American invention; it was originally a pickled fish sauce that was called ke-tsiap from China.
• Smart phone addicts have been given their own walking lane so as not to bump into normal walking pedestrians. However, Facebook, Twitter, and The New York Times have been blocked in China since 2009. PlayStations and other foreign gaming consoles are also illegal in China
• Instead of using the drive-through with their food, the Chinese actually park their cars and bring the food inside the restaurant to eat it. Maybe it is the pollution!
• Because of their keen vision and aggressive nature, geese are often used as police animals instead of watch dogs

Last, but not the least, the longest traffic jam in history that lasted 12 days and was about 62 miles long, was in Shanghai.

If you know any more amazing facts on China, that you feel needs mentioning, please feel free to post them in the below comments section.