10 Jaw-Dropping Facts About China
China’s civilisation spans over 5,000 years and now has a population of over 1.35 billion people. The sovereign state is steeped in history and culture, and so we thought we should all learn a bit more about it. Here are 10 jaw-dropping facts about China.
1. Caves
In China, approximately 30 million people live in caves. Many of the cave-dwellers live in the Shaanxi province.
2. New Year’s Eve
Heading off to China for New Year? Watch out for the monster “Nian”, as he comes out to eat people on New Year’s Eve, according to Chinese Mythology.
3. Chopsticks
Guess how many trees are cut down on an annual basis to make chopsticks in China? Twenty million. The trees that are cut down are roughly 20 years old.
4. Fortune Cookies
You might be surprised to learn that fortune cookies weren’t actually invented in China, but in San Francisco, USA.
5. The Great Wall of China
Rice flour must be powerful stuff as it’s holding some of the bricks together in the Great Wall of China.
6. Instant Noodles
42.5 billion packets of instant noodles were consumed in China in 2011 alone. That could feed the Algerian population with three meals a day for a year.
7. The Number 8
The number 8 is a lucky number in China as it sounds similar to the word ‘prosperity’.
8. Reincarnation
Reincarnation is hard, isn’t it? Well, it’s even harder in China, as it’s forbidden without government permission. The current Dalai Lama and other Buddhist monks in Tibet have also been banned from the religious and philosophical act.
9. Railway Lines
China’s railway lines could loop around Earth and back again, as they total 93,000 kilometres – and Earth’s circumference is 40,075 kilometres.
10. Pigs
Want to know where half of the world’s pigs are located? You’ll find about 50% of them (475 million) in China. It’s therefore no surprise that they’re the world’s largest pork consumer.
Want to learn more about our planet? Read 10 Crazy Facts About Paris.
