Doesn’t the name China just make you curious? Officially known as the People’s Republic of China, and for being the vast, fiercely foreign land of chopsticks, smog, and rich culture, alongside being the world’s largest exporter of goods, China carries over five thousand years of rich history and unique facts.
From green terraced rice paddies to the sharp peaks Mount Everest in the Himalayas, to the Yangtze River, rural heartlands and sprawling cities of Shanghai and Beijing, China has lots of geographic variety to offer, in addition to quirky, interesting truths about its inhabitants’ traditions.
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Begin your oriental quest by checking out these twelve facts about Chinese civilization:
12. Geese are used instead of police dogs in Xinjiang, China
In the agricultural Xinjiang Province, geese are primarily employed like police dogs tend to be in other parts of the world as part of a police force.They actually work better than dogs in many cases, as geese have an impeccable hearing and are very observant.
Plus, they spread their wings wide and are loud when they need to alert of a situation.If need be, they will attack strangers as dogs do in efforts to safeguard the equity amongst the Chinese people.This idea wasn’t quite invented in China – In the ’80s in West Germany, the U.S. military operated 900 geese to help guard military bases. How’s that for an interesting fact of the day?
11. The most fireworks in the world are set off on Chinese New Year’s Eve.
One of the interesting facts about Chinese New Year is that, according to the legend of Nian, the loud sounds of the fireworks scare off any monsters or bad luck that may be lurking around this time of year.Per the story, there was once a monster named Nian that would enter into people’s houses on New Year’s Eve. Most would hide safely in their homes, but one little boy thought to bring out fireworks to ward him off, and successfully did so.
As a result, it’s since a traditional Chinese tradition to light fireworks on New Year’s Eve. Despite bans on fireworks due to pollution in some of China’s cities, the city-goers pop off the fireworks anyways.Celebrated by more than twenty percent of the world, this time of year when everything gets decked out in red is a big deal. It’s the most important holiday for the Chinese, actually.A China interesting fact is that there’s no set date for Chinese New Year – it’s actually celebrated from Jan 21st to February 20th. Who doesn’t love a reason for an extended celebration?
Oh, 2019 is the Year of the Pig, just in case you were wondering.
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10. Cricket fighting is a pastime for both children and adults alike in China.
One of the unique facts about China is that cricket fighting is a pastime of the country's citizensCrickets are found in absolute abundance in this colossal country. In Beijing, Autumn marks the start of cricket fighting season, a Chinese tradition that has been practiced for over a thousand years.An annual cricket fighting tournament is held in this capital city on the grounds of a large temple, where the matches take place in small plastic containers.
The shows are recorded and then shown on big screens so visitors can see it live. As far as competition, crickets are matched up according to their size, to ensure fair battle.In some parts of China, like Macau, cricket fighting was at one time quite popular, where people would even place bets on their preferred cricket, making it a gamblers sport. To be even more dramatic, funerals were held for the crickets that went on to the other side following the cricket matches. They even have special mortuaries for the crickets. Ok, maybe that’s going too far.This interesting pastime is the real fortune cookie of China, for those that are clued in enought to know about it.
9. Christmas is not a public holiday in China.
One of the interesting facts of China is that the Chinese don’t receive a day off from work just because it’s Christmas.Christmas, along with Christianity, has been banned from China for years, however, ironically enough, Christmas Day is one of the biggest shopping days of the year in this contemporary country.The younger crowd celebrates Christmas as a sort of celebration time to spend with loved ones, sort of like how Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the West. Some people even go around singing Chrismas carols for fun, even if they’re not sure exactly what they mean.
One of the fascinating facts of China is that despite the fact that China produces most of the plastic Christmas trees worldwide, most Chinese citizens don’t have one in their home for this holiday.It’s also an occasion to celebrate goodwill and to give to those in need such as the homeless, orphans, the elderly, and the disabled. However, one of the facts about China culture at Christmas is that it’s not technically a declared federal holiday, as it is in other parts of the world.
8. China is one of the top eight countries in the world with the largest number of bird species.
As of 2013, 1314 different bird species have been documented that inhabit this vast land. Two of these species, the Crested bobwhite, and the Java sparrow, have been introduced by humans. China is home to a rare bird species – the Sichuan treecreeper, the Chinese fulvetta, and the Yunnan nuthatch.
China’s woods, grasslands, wetlands, and badlands are home to these bird species, where about one hundred are endemic to China alone. In the Qinling mountains are where some of the most noteworthy birding sites are found, home to about a quarter of all of the bird species in China.In addition, nine of the planets fourteen crane species reside in this country as well as sixty-two species of pheasants. Now, that’s quite the remarkable array of birds!
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7. There is only one-time zone in China.
What interesting facts are there about China, you might ask?Well, apart from India, China is one of the largest countries on the earth that has only one time zone, and it’s the single large zone in the world.
Beijing Standard Time is eight hours ahead of GMT. After years of organized, various time zones throughout the country, it was established in 1949 under then-leader Mao Zedong, that having a just one would facilitate a sense of national unity amongst the Chinese people.Since Beijing was to be the new capital of China, the new time zone was formed to reflect its name.
6. China is the world’s most populated country!
As of 2018, one of the unique facts about China, is that there are about 1.42 billion people living in China, making it the most populous country in the world.So, that muddles down to about one-fifth of the world’s population living in China. Believe it or not – one in five people in the world is Chinese.
More than twenty million people live in Beijing alone.The size of China’s population has proved to be a consistent political issue within the nation, so much so that China’s residents persevered through a chunk of history when citizens were only permitted to conceive one child. But, more on that later in the FAQs!One neat tidbit about Chinese culture is that in Hong Kong, if you have a daughter followed by a son, it’s believed to bring “double happiness.”
5. Did you know the Panda bear is one of China’s national treasures?
From being a mascot at the Olympics, to starring in Hollywood movies, the Panda Bear is a prominent character in global society, and it’s especially dear to the Chinese culture.One of the facts about panda bears in China is that they’re regarded as warriors, and thought to be as strong as tigers – which is how the Chinese themselves like to be recognized as well. They’re able to forage their own food, climb trees, and withstand very chilly temperatures.
On the other hand, pandas are also honored for their peaceful and amicable nature, rarely ever attacking others. Also, the pandas black and white colors are symbolic of yin and yang, and the panda is seen as a physical representation of this.If you ever read antiquated Chinese literature, chances are you’ll encounter a panda of sorts on at least one of the pages, one of the fun facts about China for kids that are fond of this animal.
4. There’s an enormous life-size collection of terracotta sculptures at the Terracotta Army Museum in Xian, China.
One of the most significant archaeological excavations of the twentieth century is that of the terracotta warriors and horse sculptures that have been uncovered among the massive remnants at the Terracotta Army Museum in Xian, China.These thousands of sculptures were formed so the warriors are in battle formation, and they represent the late Emporer Qinshihuang’s mega imperial guard troops. Some believe that these figures were constructed to accompany the emperor to his afterlife.
This is a live museum that shows the life stories of the Emperor Qinshihuang, the first Emperor of the first unified dynasty of Imperial China.One of the fun facts about China is that this country is home to over fifty-two UNESCO world heritage sites, ranging from ancient ruins to natural wonders, and the Terracotta Army Museum is one of them!
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3. Chinese LOVE to eat.
Odds are if anyone is going to be celebrating anything in China, it’s going to involve eating something that includes rice, noodles, or soy sauce. One of the most common greetings in this territory is “ni chi fan ma?,” Chinese for “have you eaten yet?”
Typical dishes include the staple foods of rice or noodles served with items such as beef, pork, chicken, duck, and seafood to accompany, though pork tops these choices, as China has the largest pig population in the world. The Chinese also love to eat vegetable soup, and do enjoy tea before or after dinner, but not during.Considered one of the most cherished cuisines on the planet, one of the facts about China food is that the Chinese like to incorporate practically every part of the animal or plant in the meal. Waste not, want not.
The Chinese believe that food has inherent medicinal qualities – pork, for example, proves successful in increasing one’s chi, while the collagen found in shark fin soup is good for the skin.An unexpected aspect of China culture is those table manners that may be considered “rude” in other countries, are very much accepted here. Yawning, spitting, grunting, and burping is completely socially acceptable in this nook of the world.One of the fun facts about food in China and a key feature of Chinese cooking is the wok – one of the most common cooking utensils in the country. It’s used for stir-fry, steaming, pan-frying, boiling, searing, and for preparing soup, while making for excellent heat distribution.
Some people may keep dogs as pets in other parts of the world, but the Chinese do enjoy the delicacy of dog meat. If you ever hear the term fragrant meat while in China, you guessed it – that refers to dog meat, one of the weird facts about China you probably didn’t know!Hong Kong has the highest number of restaurants per capita.so if you’re trying to get your hands on some dog meat sometime, look no further.
2. Did you know The Forbidden City in Beijing, China is the largest ancient palatial structure on the globe?
Constructed in 1420, China’s best-preserved imperial palace, The Forbidden City, stretches over an area of over one hundred and eighty acres, and features a whopping nine hundred and eight buildings, with over eight thousand rooms.This relic was the imperial palace of China for about five hundred years and also the residence of twenty-four late emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
This palace took fourteen years to build, complete with a fifty-two-meter wide moat around it, a traditional garden, and over one million pieces of valuable works of art, with items in the collection ranging from paintings, ceramics, ancient books, bronzes, to jade pieces.The halls and walls display the essence and culmination of traditional Chinese architecture, with the principal frames of all of the buildings having been edified with Phoebe zennan wood from the wildernesses of Southwest China.The main colors of the Forbidden City are red and yellow, with red symbolizing good fortune and yellow resembling supreme power.
1. The Great Wall of China is also known as the Wall of 10,000 Miles.
The Great Wall of China was built over two thousand years ago along the country’s Northern border, forty-five miles Northwest of Beijing. It was constructed to deter the threat of invasion from the Huns in the North, and in the Emperor’s eyes, to totally annihilate that potential.One of the facts about history of China, the Wall was also built to protect the Silk Road – a prime trade route, and to protect the delivery of private information.There is not actually a specific measurement of the wall itself, but according to its name – 10,000-li (Chinese for miles), it’s a little over three thousand one hundred miles long. This enormous wall was built by civilians, soldiers, and convicted criminals.
One of the interesting facts about the Great Wall of China is that its base was assembled with two thousand giant slabs of granite. The rest of the wall was built mainly with stones found in the local areas with pounded earth. The West Han Dynasty liked to use sand and pulverized stones filled with sheets of twigs and stalks to erect the wall in grassland areas and in desert areas prone to weathering by the wind.
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The Great Wall has sometimes been referred to as the longest cemetery on Earth, with over one million people having had died while building it, with archaeologists finding human remains buried below the wall.One of the facts about China Great Wall is that this construction represents the unification of the country. This is so because, in response to the acknowledgment of the threat of the Northern invaders, Emporer Qin Shi Huang ordered the walls to be linked together as one main one, instead of individual ones for each empire.Contrary to the popular belief that one can see the Great Wall from space, this is a myth. However, it can be seen with present-day technology, just not the naked eye.
Source: Worldatlas
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