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When most people go to China, they only want to see the Great Wall and Forbidden City in Beijing, walk along the Bund at Shanghai or take in the Terracotta Warriors at Xi'an. Maybe they'll throw in a visit to Guangzhou or take a Yangtze River cruise. But there's much more to China than just these famous sites.

There are plenty of amazing tourist attractions in China, from ancient cities to forests to temples to rice fields that look like they've been designed by artists to sacred mountains and stunning waterfalls. This desire to explore off the beaten path where Chinese tourists outnumber foreign tourists isn't just confined to 20-something backpackers. Any traveler armed with a good phrase book, a pot of patience and a marvelous sense of humor should do just fine.

Hundreds of years ago, the Chinese built massive stone walls around their cities to defend them from invaders. Xi'an was no exception. This city's wall survives today, and is considered one of the most well preserved in China. The wall is 12 meters (40 feet) tall and about 15 meters (50 feet) wide at the bottom, tapering to 12 meters (40 feet) at the top. Walking on this wall is a must-do for visitors to this ancient capital of China.

Located about a mile northwest of the ancient city of Dali in southern China, The Three Pagodas are one of the best preserved Buddhist structures in China having endured several man-made and natural catastrophes. The middle pagoda, built during 824-840 AD by king Quan Fengyou, is 69.6 meters (227 feet) high and is one of the tallest pagodas in China. The other two pagodas were built about a century later.

Established in 1982, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is the first national forest park in China and is part of the Wulingyuan Scenic Areas. With its clear streams, weird-looking peaks, wildlife and abundant sub-tropical vegetation, the park is a year-round magnet for visitors. Key attractions include the Golden Whip Stream where visitors can see fish swimming in the crystal-clear water.

The Stone Forest, or Shilin in Chinese, is a set of karst formations in southwest China. The stones jut from the earth similar to the way a stalagmite does in a cave. These stones are thought to be 270 million years old. The area was an ocean floor and the flow of water created the majestic pinnacles. The stone forest receives over 2 million visitors a year.

dreamstime/© Lin Gang

Lijiang Old Town is one of Yunnan Province's top tourist magnets, drawing visitors who want to sample life in a minority area. Kublai Khan was the first emperor to live in this 800-year-old town that is affiliated with the Naxi minority culture. Almost 350 bridges cross canals that meander through the city, which is a good place to see colorful Naxi architecture and residents wearing native costumes.

Travelers who've seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon already know how scenic the Wudang Mountains, located in northwestern Hubei Province, are. Besides being scenic, the Wudang Mountains is the most sacred Taoist mountain range in China. There travelers will find temple complexes, including the palatial Nanyan Temple, considered the most spectacular of the 36 temples on Wudangshan because it's built of rock from the cliff behind it.

Zhouzhuang is one of the most famous water towns in China. Often referred to as the "Venice of the East," the town is criss-crossed with rivers and streams lined with ancient houses. Located less than 32 km (20 miles) from Suzhou in east China, Zhouzhuang is famous for its twin bridges, Shide and Yongan that are symbols of the town. A boat ride is a good way to see the city.

Mount Tai, in Shandong Province, is one of China's Five Sacred Mountains. Climbing Taishan ("shan" is mountain in Mandarin) was one of the first things a new emperor did; it's said that 72 emperors made the climb. They left behind great temples, inscribed tablets and other cultural relics. Travelers with imperial leanings will want to climb the 6,000-step east route as that's what the emperors did.

Tiger Leaping Gorge is situated on the Yangtze River in southwestern China. About 15 km (9 miles) in length, the canyon passes through a series of rapids surrounded by mountains on both sides that sharply rise 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) above the river. It is believed to be the deepest canyon in the world - depending on the criteria applied. The hiking trail through the gorge is one of the most accessible and satisfying in China, with dramatic scenery. The hike is not to be taken lightly though. Even for those in good physical shape, it's a workout and can certainly wreck the knees. Accommodation along the way is in guesthouses, so hikers won't need a tent.

Suzhou is a picturesque city located on the Grand Canal about 65 km (40 miles) from Shanghai. It is famous for its silks, the canals that run through the city, and for its classical gardens with their fish ponds and rockeries. Suzhou has about 80 classical gardens; the Humble Administrator's Garden is among the most famous. A canal boat ride is a good way to experience the exquisiteness of Suzhou.

Travelers along the ancient Silk Road will definitely want to stop at Dunhuang for a visit to the Mogao Caves, which are representative of early Buddhist cave art. Unlike the Yungang Caves, which featured Buddhas carved into hillsides, the Mogao Grottoes mostly feature murals painted on cave walls. Some of the paintings date back to the fourth century. At one time, there were more than 1,000 cave temples.

The Longji or Dragon's Backbone rice terraces were built over 500 years ago during the Ming Dynasty. The terrace fields are found in Longsheng about a two hours drive from Guilin. From a distance, during the growing season, these winding terraces appear as if they were green woven cables laid out over the hillsides, starting at the riverbank and ending near the mountaintop. Visitors can meander through the paddies and villages, greeting and being greeted by horses, pigs, chickens and hard working locals.

Located in northwest Beijing, the Summer Palace was once a playground for China's imperial families who wanted to escape Beijing's summer heat. It was constructed in 1750, but was destroyed a hundred years later when the French and British invaded Beijing. Its restoration was not without controversy as the Empress Cixi embezzled funds from the Navy to build the Marble Boat, which really isn't marble but wood painted to look like marble.

The Yangtze River runs along some of China's most interesting and famous sites, including the stunning Three Gorges. On a Yangtze River cruise, travelers will travel through some of this immense country's most gorgeous landscapes and may also have the option of taking shore excursions to various interesting sites. The Yangtze River is also home for a number of this country's endangered species, including the Chinese alligator and river dolphin.

Perched precariously halfway up a cliff some 75 meters (246 feet) above the ground, the Hanging Monastery is one of the most remarkable sights in China. Consisting of a complex of 40 rooms linked together by mid-air corridors and walkways, this remarkable monastery appears to be glued to the side of a sheer precipice. The original monastery was built in the 5th century and has been repaired and extended many times during its long history.

Reed Flute Cave known as "the Palace of Natural Arts" is located in the northwest of Guilin in southern China. According to a legend, Reed Flute Cave got its name because people believed that the reed by the cave's mouth could be made into flutes. The limestone cave offers a majestic fairyland of stalactites, stalagmites, stone pillars, stone curtains, birds, plants and animals in fantastic shapes and colors.

The Yungang Caves or Grottoes at Datong is one of the great examples of early Buddhist cave art. Here, monks carved more than 51,000 statues, ranging in size from several inches to tens of feet high into the hillside. Work on the carvings in the 252 grottoes took place in the fifth and sixth centuries. If possible, visitors recommend coming here in off-season when it is less crowded.

One of the main reasons to visit Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, is to see West Lake, a large freshwater lake that is the symbol of this East China city. Forested man-made islands with temples and pagodas dot the lake, which is rarely deeper than five feet. West Lake, considered one of the most beautiful lakes in China, is divided into smaller lakes. It was once an imperial retreat.

Located in southwestern China, Jiuzhaigou is a nature reserve officially known as Jiuzhai Valley in English. The national park has been described as a fairyland because of its many waterfalls; snow-covered karst mountains, and its 108 blue, turquoise and green colored lakes that are so crystal clear one can see the bottoms. It is also the habitat of giant pandas, though the chances of seeing them are slim due to the park's size and the number of tourists.

The Longmen Grottoes are densely dotted along the Xiangshan and Longmenshan mountains in the eastern central part of China. Construction of the grottoes began in 493 AD. There are over 2100 niches, more than 100,000 Buddhist statues, some 40 pagodas and 3600 tablets and steles in the caves. The 17 meter (56 foot) high statue of Vairocana in Fengxian Temple is the most representative of the trove.

Pudong is a district in Shanghai on the eastern side of the Huangpu River that has emerged as China's financial and commercial hub. A skyline of gleaming skyscrapers rises out of what was mere farmland only 20 years ago. Skyscrapers includes the symbolic Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center, the Jin Mao Building and the Shanghai Tower that was finished in 2014.

The Hani Rice Terraces are located on the southern slopes of Ailao Mountain in Yuanyang, and have been cultivated for over 1,000 years. Carved by hand by the Hani people, these rice terraces have turned a barren hillside into a lush sub-tropical paradise. Water is saved in the hilltop forests, and channeled down to the terraces for irrigation. The rice terraces are flooded from December to March, presenting a spectacular view to travelers.

Mt. Emei is home to the first Buddhist temple in China, built in the first century. But the most remarkable of the Emeishan Buddhas is the Leshan Great Buddha that was carved out of a hillside in the eighth century. The statue stands about 71 meters (233 feet) high and has three-meter (11 feet) long fingers on each of its enormous resting hands. The Giant Buddha ended up making the raging rivers below more navigable as stone remnants from the statue were dropped into the water.

One of China's major tourist destinations, Mount Huang is a mountain range in eastern China also known as Huangshan ("Yellow Mountain"). The area is well known for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly shaped granite peaks and views of the clouds from above. Frequently shrouded in mist, the many peaks appear to float on clouds and have very fanciful names such as 18 Arhats Worshipping the South Sea, Lotus Flower Peak, Celestial Capital and Paint Brush. In ancient times almost 60,000 stone steps were carved into the side of the mountain range. Today there are also cable cars that tourists can use to ride directly from the base to one of the summits.

A Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo is the highlight of any trip to northeastern Guangxi Province. With its breathtaking scenery and taste of a life far removed from the concrete metropolis, the scenery along the Li River is one of the top tourist attractions in China. Mist-covered karst mountains dot the landscape adding to the aura of serenity. Traditional fishing boats ply the river, using cormorants to catch their fish. The best way to enjoy the scenery is to take a boat ride between Guilin and Yangshuo; since the terrain is flat, many travelers like to bicycle back.

This mighty army of terracotta warriors and horses, found in three vaults, is one of the most famous archaeological finds in the world. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Xi'an and one of the most popular in all of China. The 8,000 lifelike terracotta warriors and 130 or so chariots have silently stood guard over the soul of China's first unifier for more than two millennia. Although the weapons were stolen and the coloring has faded greatly, their existence and the fact that no two soldier's faces are alike serves as a testament to the amount of labor and skill involved in their construction.

Victoria Harbour is one of the deepest container ports in the world. The bay offers stunning views of the skyscrapers of Hong Kong island on one side, and the Tsim Sha Tsui shoreline on the other. It is also one of the busiest harbors in the world with hundreds of ferries, junks and speedboats darting up and down the shore. Every night, many skyscrapers on both sides of Victoria Harbour light up in a synchronized show, known as one of the largest permanent light and sound festival in the world. One of the best ways to see the harbor is a trip on the Star Ferry.

Built in the early 15th century, the Forbidden City served as the home for emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties until Puyi, the last Emperor of China abdicated in 1912. It is a walled complex, surrounded by a moat, that is the world's largest palatial complex. Legend has it that its 980 buildings contain 9,999 rooms, though the actual number is about a thousand lower. It is unarguably the most popular tourist attraction in Beijing, with the crowds to prove it.

As the winter palace of the Dalai Lama from the 7th century the Potala Palace in Lhasa symbolizes Tibetan Buddhism and its central role in the traditional administration of Tibet. With over 1,000 rooms, the Potala contained the living quarters of the Dalai Lamas while they lived, and their sumptuous golden tombs when they died. It remained the residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India, after the Chinese invasion in 1959. The palace also houses great amounts of rare cultural relics including gold hand-written Buddhist scriptures and gifts from Chinese emperors. The palace is 14 stories tall and any visit involves climbing a lot of stairs up & down so make sure you are fully acclimated before visiting.

The Great Wall of China is one of man's greatest engineering feats and longest outdoor museum, stretching from Gansu Province in the west to Shanhaiguan on the Bohai Sea in the east. It was built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from the attacks of nomadic tribes from the north. Most people will visit the wall somewhere in the Beijing area, where it is more easily accessible and where it snakes impressively over the mountain peaks. It is China's No. 1 tourist attraction.

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When most people go to China, they only want to see the Great Wall and Forbidden City in Beijing, walk along the Bund at Shanghai or take in the Terracotta Warriors at Xi'an. Maybe they'll throw in a visit to Guangzhou or take a Yangtze River cruise.

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Almost all of us are familiar with the great man-made attractions in (CNN) - China: The Forbidden City in Beijing. The Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an. Shanghai's skyscraper forest in Pudong.

For a country of its massive size and varied geography, however, it's surprising how relatively few people outside China appreciate the extent of the country's other attractions, many of them natural wonders to rival any in the world.

Is it possible to limit a list of China's superlative attractions to a mere 40? Not really. But a photo memory card goes only so far. And, as this story illustrates, it's impossible to stop clicking once you get a camera in front of some of China's most beautiful places to visit. The list is in alphabetical order:

The 900-year-old village of Hongcun has long drawn in-the-know Chinese visitors, who love its tranquil vibe and distinctive architecture. The striking Huangshan mountain backdrop (see No. 2) doesn't hurt, either. Its classic structures, Moon Lake and picturesque locals have been an inspiration for art students for decades.

Walking the narrow lanes paved with quartzite and seeing farmers working in rice fields, with the reflection of ancient houses in the lake, should provide enough material to get you started on your own visual masterpiece.

Hongcun Village is roughly 70 kilometers northwest of the city of Huangshan in Anhui Province. Major cities connected to Huangshan Airport by direct flights include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi'an.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site set amidst "the loveliest mountains of China," Mount Huangshan, aka Mount Yellow, is a once-in-a-lifetime trek for many Chinese. The 1,863-meter mountain is renowned for its oddly shaped pines, spectacular rock formations, hot springs and seas of misty and melancholy clouds. A trip here provides a mountain of feeling.

Major cities connected to Huangshan Airport by direct flights include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi'an.

A major landmark in southeast China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mount Wuyi was the setting for the development and spread of neo-Confucianism, influential in East Asia since the 11th century. Bamboo raft drifting in the Nine Bend River (lower gorge) is a popular activity among visitors. The two-hour, eight-kilometer trips provide grand views of Mount Wuyi. It's the best way to take in the serene beauty of the smooth peaks and clear water.

Mount Wuyi is about 350 kilometers northwest of Fuzhou, the provincial capital of Fujian. Major cities connected to Fuzhou Airport by direct flights include Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Xi'an.

Yes, a humble mudflat is a favorite destination of Chinese photographers. A small region along the southeast China coastline, Xiapu nevertheless has the largest mudflat in the country, encompassing 40 square kilometers and more than 400 kilometers of coastline. Along its tiger-striped beaches, bamboo structures and poles, buoys and fishing vessels provide human counterpoints to the area's natural beauty.

The nearest hub of Xiapu Mudflat is Fuzhou, provincial capital of Fujian. It's about 175 kilometers away. Major cities connected to Fuzhou Airport by direct flights include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi'an.

Echoing Sand Mountain is a series of dunes surrounding Crescent Lake. Named for its distinctive shape and aural characteristics, its echoes can be heard as the wind blows over the dunes. Visitors ride camels up the dunes, which rise to 250 meters. With gardens blooming on its banks, Crescent Lake offers a lovely visual counterpoint to all that sand.

Echoing Sand Mountain and Crescent Lake is six kilometers south of Dunhuang. China Southern operates a daily return flight between Xi'an Xianyang Airport and Dunhuang Airport. Air China flies between Beijing and Dunhuang once a day.

Erected mostly in the early 20th century, the fortress towers at Kaiping were built by famously outbound Kaipingers, who brought home the many architectural styles they saw abroad, including Islamic, Roman and even ancient Greek. The towers were built as a display of wealth, and as a practical way of protecting locals from war and theft. Approximately 1,800 fortress towers still stand amid Kaiping's vast rice fields.

Kaiping is located 130 kilometers southwest of Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong. Regular buses are available between Kaiping Bus Terminal and various long-distance bus terminals in Guangzhou. Direct buses and ferries are available between Kaiping and Hong Kong.

When the Chinese long for views of the nation's most scenic hills and rivers, they book a bamboo-boat cruise in Yangshuo. The riverside town in southern China is most famous for its karst hills and traditional fishing-village lifestyle.

Downtown is touristy. Visitors can rent bikes and head to the countryside to find a more calming scene: bamboo boats chugging along the river, fishermen setting out with cormorants, farmers toiling in fields with lush peaks soaring high above.

Most travelers reach Yangshuo from Guilin. Buses bound for Yangshuo leave every 15 minutes from Guilin Bus Station on Zhongshan Lu and Guilin South Railway Station. The journey takes around 90 minutes.

The highest waterfall in Asia, majestic Huangguoshu "Yellow Fruit Tree" Waterfall plunges a dramatic 77.8 meters across a 101-meter-wide span.

It's one of a handful of mammoth waterfalls in the world that's accessible for viewing from almost any angle -- from above, below, front, back, left or right. The best visiting season is June to August, when the water reaches a peak flow of 700 cubic meters per second. The nearest traffic hub to Huangguoshu Waterfall is Huangguoshu Airport. It's about six kilometers away. Major cities connected to Huangguoshu by direct flights include Beijing and Guangzhou.

Look beyond the beaches of Sanya to find the world's largest Guanyin statue, erected near Nanshan, China's southernmost mountain.

The story goes that the three-sided statue faces mainland China, Taiwan and the rest of the South China Sea -- meaning that the bodhisattva blesses not only China, but the whole world. At 108 meters tall, the figure was raised and enshrined in 2005 and is one of the tallest statues on the planet.

The Guanyin Statue is located within Hainan's Nanshan Culture Tourism District, which is some 40 kilometers from downtown Sanya. Shuttle buses are available between Yalong Bay and Nanshan.

Hainan delivers the best tropical setting in China. Yalong Bay is the pinnacle of the resort getaway. The 7.5-kilometer crescent beach is the most popular and developed stretch of Hainan's southern coastline.

It provides all the quintessential experiences of a Southeast Asian holiday, with as many luxury hotels as palm trees -- more than 20 international luxury hotels line the beach of Yalong Bay. The beach is also a haven for water sports warriors, including surfers who sometimes ride uncrowded waves all day.

If you visit in July, August, October or during Spring Festival, you'll be surrounded by Chinese families, mostly sporting old-school swimsuits.

Yalong Bay is 28 kilometers southeast of Sanya. Sanya Airport operates flights to all major Chinese cities, as well as nine international cities including Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this mountain resort was once a summer palace used by Qing Dynasty emperors on holiday. Delicate gardens and a 70-meter pagoda remain. Lush grasslands, marvelous mountains and tranquil valleys still make it a cool place to avoid the heat.

Shuttle buses depart from Beijing to Chengde hourly during the day, ticket is RMB 50

The largest Orthodox church in East and Southeast Asia stands in China's most Russian-accented city, Harbin.

Russian expats built the 54-meter-tall, 721-square-meter neo-Byzantine structure in the early 20th century as a spiritual symbol for the local Orthodox community after the Russian-Japanese War. The church was used as a warehouse by the Communist Party for about two decades and is now a state-run museum showcasing the city's architecture, art and heritage.

88 Xiulong Jie, Daoli District, Harbin, Heilongjiang 黑龙江省哈尔滨市道里区透笼街88号

Nope, you're not in Utah. It's Henan. This 12-kilometer, U-shaped valley marked by a stripe of purplish red quartz sandstone has earned the name, "The No.1 Valley of Narrow Gorges in China." Its steep cliffs, lush vegetation and jagged valley attract sightseers from all over China.

The nearest traffic hub to Longtan Valley is Luoyang, a major city in Henan Province. It's about 60 kilometers away. Major cities connected to Luoyang Airport by direct flights include Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

This is not the profile of Beaker the Muppet's giant Chinese cousin; it's a karst pillar standing between the cliffs and peaks of the 108-kilometer-long Enshi Canyon, China's answer to the Grand Canyon. This incense stick-shaped structure is 150 meters tall, but only 4 meters wide, making it incredible that it stands at all, let alone that it's survived several major earthquakes.

Local legend holds that the pillar is a piece of incense given by a deity to the ingenious Tujia people. The residents could light it in times of disaster and the deity would descend to help.

Enshi is approximately 230 kilometers west of Yichang, site of the Three Gorges Dam, and 530 kilometers west of Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei.

Flights are available to Yichang twice a week (40 minutes) and to Wuhan twice a day (80 minutes).

More than 400 people claim to have seen a Bigfoot-like creature among the lush vegetation of Shennongjia over the past century, yet no hard evidence has been found to prove the "yeti's" existence.

The 3,200-square-kilometer nature reserve also purports to be "the only well-preserved sub-tropical forest ecosystem in the world's mid-latitudes," with more than 5,000 species of animals and plants. It's home to snub-nosed or golden monkeys (金丝猴), a rare and protected species in China.

Wuhan is the nearest major city and traffic hub to Shennongjia. From Wuhan's long-distance bus station at Xinhua Lu, take the daily coach to Xingshan County (兴山县). Then transfer to a mini-bus from Xingshan to Shennongjia.

These stilted houses are the dream lodgings of Chinese art and literature lovers. Every year, armies of young backpackers flock to the ancient town of Fenghuang (which literally means "Phoenix") for its rich Miao and Tujia ethnic culture.

Many also come to pay homage to celebrated Chinese writer Shen Congwen (沈从文), whose novel "Frontier City" put the 1,300-year-old town in limelight. Fenghuang maintains its original layout and architecture, with around 200 residential buildings, 20 streets and 10 winding alleys, all of which date as far back as the Ming dynasty.

Fenghuang is 430 kilometers west of Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan. Long-distance buses are available four times a day from West Changsha Bus Terminal to Fenghuang Bus Terminal for RMB 130. The journey takes nearly four hours.

The giant quartz sand pillars of Wulingyuan are said to have been the inspiration for James Cameron's floating mountains on the planet Pandora in his Oscar-winning movie "Avatar."

In reality, the Wulingyuan area in Zhangjiajie, a city in Hunan Province in southern China, is home to more than 3,000 of these stone columns. The tallest pillar in the stone forest stands more than 400 meters high. Wulingyuan authorities have renamed one of the pillars "Mount Hallelujah," the name of the main floating peak on Pandora.

Zhangjiajie is about 320 kilometers northwest of Changsha, Hunan's provincial capital and the region's main traffic hub.

Trains and direct flights are available between Zhangjiajie and many Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The sand is singing, but what's the song? Singing Sand Bay, aka Yinken Sand Bay, is a 110-meter-high dune, 50 kilometers from Baotou, a major city of Inner Mongolia. Sliding off a 45-degree angle, the wind here is said to sing in soft whispers.

Batou can be reach from many major cities in China by air, including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou

Feng shui and Buddhism have deep influences on China. Both can be found at Brahma Palace. Beneath the foot of Little Lingshan Mountain, and near Taihu Lake and the 88-meter-tall Lingshan Giant Budda, the palace epitomizes Chinese feng shui -- it's surrounded by mountains and water, portending both good fortune and health.

Built for the Second World Buddhism Forum in 2009, the Buddhist theme park is filled with luxury, with gold and glamor gilding many surfaces.

Major cities connected to Wuxi Airport by direct flights include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, Lushan National Park, with its centerpiece of Mount Lu, is more than a tourist attraction. It's a cultural and spiritual symbol of China. Upward of 1,500 famed painters and poets from various periods of ancient and modern China -- Li Bai (李白) of the Tang Dynasty and Xu Zhimo (徐志摩) in 1920s, to name two -- have traveled here to be inspired by Lu. Masterpiece poems are engraved in calligraphy on the mountain cliffs.

The nearest traffic hub is Mount Lu Airport. It's about 10 kilometers away. Major cities connected to Mount Lu Airport by direct flights include Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

"One of the most beautiful rural areas in China."

That's how Wuyuan (a small county located at the junction of Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces in eastern China) is best known. Colorful blossoms and a relaxed, countrified pace attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each spring.

The nearest traffic hub in Wuyuan County is Jingdezhen, a major city in Jiangxi Province. It's about 98 kilometers away. Major cities connected to Jingdezhen Airport by direct flights include Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

The vodka-clear Heaven Lake is said to resemble a piece of jade surrounded by 16 peaks of the Changbai Mountain National Reserve, near the border of North Korea. With an average depth of 204 meters, it's the deepest lake in China.

This is also a hot spot for water monster fans -- in the last two decades China travelers have reported accounts of a lake creature as long as 20 meters. Sunny days here are rare. July to September is the best time to visit. Even then, it can be chilly and wet.

The nearest traffic hub to Heaven Lake is Changbai Mountain Airport. It's about 60 kilometers away. Major cities connected to Changbai Mountain Airport by direct flights include Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang.

Stalagmites and stalactites? You never know when those school lessons will come in handy. Exploding with color, the Benxi Water Cave was formed more than five million years ago. Today its main sections are a "drought cave" and a "water cave."

A dramatic array of stalagmites and stalactites are covered in vibrant greens, yellows and reds. The water cave contains the world's longest underground river at 5.8 kilometers. Of this, only 2.8 kilometers are accessible by boat.

The drought cave is rather small. Only 300 meters are open to the public. The temperature in the cave remains a constant 10 C. Sweaters and pants are highly recommended.

Along 30 kilometers of Golden Pebble Beach (it's also known as the Jinshitan Scenic Area) just outside downtown Dalian, ancient rock formations have been twisted by time and elements into bizarre replicas of animals -- camels, monkeys, tigers, even dinosaurs.

The largest is a 40-meter-high rock named after a "dinosaur who explores the sea." It's said to resemble a giant dinosaur bathing in the sea.

Golden Pebble Beach is in the northeast of Dalian City. It can be reach by Dalian's light rail which runs regularly

More than 1 million migrating birds of various species stop over at this wetland in Ningxia twice a year (April-May, September-October). The rest of the year, around 200 species of birds call the wetlands home, including a large number of protected species, such as black cranes and the Chinese merganser.

The area is also the reported habitat of giant salamanders that grow as long as 1.6 meters. Desert, water and reed mashes blend in this 80-square-kilometer area, which forms a unique geographic phenomenon called sand lake ("sha hu" in Mandarin).

Sand Lake is 56 kilometers north of Yinchuan, the provincial capital of Ningxia. Buses are available daily between Sand Lake and Yinchuan's North Gate Bus Terminal.

China's largest inland saltwater lake. This view is one of the great draws of Qinghai Province in China's far northwest every June and July. The lake sits 3,205 meters above sea level and is a three-hour bus ride from the nearest traffic hub of Xining. Few tourists make it to this part of China to enjoy this oil painting of a scene, not counting packs of mad cyclists who come for Tour de Qinghai Lake International Cycling Race every summer.

Tour companies in Xining organize trips to Qinghai Lake. Buses bound for Qihai Lake are available every morning (7:45 a.m.) from Xining Train Station.

In addition to the world-renowned Great Wall, the city wall belonging to Xi'an, first constructed more than 2,000 years ago, also represents the power and wisdom of the Middle Kingdom in its ancient heyday.

What exists of the wall today are remains from 1370, when during the Ming Dynasty the fortification was 13.7 kilometers long, 12 meters high and between 15 to 18 meters wide. It now surrounds downtown Xi'an. Spend three or four hours biking along the wall and you'll get great views of China's old capital city.

Climb up the city wall from Yongning Gate (永宁门) on Nan Jie in Xi'an's Xincheng District.

So that's why they call it the Yellow Sea. As old as the city of Qingdao, the Trestle Bridge has sat astride the Yellow Sea since 1892. First built for the reception of Li Hongzhang (李鸿章), a prominent statesman during the Qing Dynasty, Trestle Bridge has since become a symbol of the city.

Walking the 440-meter-long bridge is a great way to enjoy breezes coming off the sea. At one end is Huilange Pagoda, a classic beauty that hosts historic and cultural exhibits throughout the year.

Seaside Resort, 11 Jingshan Lu, Qingdao, Shandong Province (山东省青岛市京山路11号海滨风景区)

According to some, the most magnificent waterfall in the country. As the largest waterfall on the Yellow River, and second largest in China, Hukou Waterfall is known around the country for once gracing the RMB 50 note.

At 20 meters high and 30 meters wide, the fall is located on the border of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. The May to October flood season is the best time to visit, when water flow and velocity increase, sometime swelling the fall into a 50-meter-wide spectacular scene.

The nearest traffic hub to Hukou Waterfall is Yuncheng Airport. It's about 82 kilometers away. Major cities connected to Yuncheng Airport by direct flights include Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Yellow River Hukou Waterfall Scenic Area, Hukou Town, Ji County, Linfen, Shanxi Province (山西省临汾市吉县壶口镇黄河壶口瀑布景区)

This 1,500-year-old site is an important Buddhist landmark. It houses 252 caves and more than 51,000 Buddha statues, most carved between the fifth and sixth century during the North Wei Dynasty. The sandstone statues -- the tallest stands 17 meters, the tiniest two centimeters -- combine multiple styles of Buddhist art, including Chinese, Gandhara and Persian. Grottoes 16 through 20 are the five best preserved caves. They shelter five Buddhas modeled after five Wei emperors.

Yungang Grottoes are 18 kilometers west of Datong city. Direct flights are available between Datong and Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Legend holds that only the lucky will be treated to this view. Also known as "Conch Gully," Hailuogou park sits at the eastern foot of Gonggar Mountain in southwest China's Sichuan province.

According to legend, the gully was a wasteland until a renowned Tibetan monk played his treasured conch there and attracted many animals, who became so enchanted with the place that they took up residence. To memorialize the monk and his conch, the gully ever after became known as Conch Gully.

The magnificent glacier, which drives through woodlands, cliffs, peaks and gullies, is accessible all year round. It appears at its best in early morning sunshine. More than 10 hot springs are spread beneath the glacier. Two are open to the public, including one at an elevation of 2,600 meters.

The nearest traffic hub to Hailuogou Glacier National Park is Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan province. It's about 300 kilometers away. Major cities connected to Chengdu Airport by direct flights include Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Xi'an.

This massive lake is the crown jewel of Jiuzhaigou, a region full of stunning alpine lakes and waterfalls.

The lake is filled with incredible water that changes color throughout the day and year. The color comes from the reflection of the surrounding landscape, as well as algae and calcified rocks at the bottom of the shallow lake. Autumn is the best time to visit, when the lake surface appears as a multihued painter's palette.

Direct flights are available between Jiuzhaigou's Jiuhuang Airport and major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an and Chengdu. The nearest traffic hub to Jiuzhaigou is Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, which is one hour by air or 11 hours by bus south of the lake.

The former winter home of the Dalai Lama and seat of the former Tibetan ruling government, this nine-story attraction stands 3,700 meters above sea level, making it the highest palace on the planet. The Potala Palace's current incarnation is a state museum. More than 1,000 rooms remain, as well as the original layout of the White Palace (living quarters of the Dalai Lama) and the Red Palace (once a spiritual center of Tibetan Buddhism).

All visitors to the palace are restricted to a one-hour stay.

Potala Palace issues a limited number of tickets every day. To secure a ticket during peak season (May 1-October 31), independent travelers are advised to pick up a ticket coupon outside the palace a day before their visit.

This stunning view is the reward after a thrilling ride over one of the world's most dangerous roads, Karakoram Highway. The many "landslide site" signposts along the way haven't stopped devoted travelers, who mostly set out from Kashgar (喀什), the westernmost city in China. Standing 3,600 meters above sea level on the Pamir Plateau, the glacier lake's water reflects the surrounding mountains like a huge mirror. Best time to go is May to October.

No public transportation is available between Kashgar and Karakul, but plenty of tour companies and hotels in Kashgar organize small groups and customized trips to the area. The lake is about four hours from Kashgar by road.

This sub-alpine meadow is so distinct in northwest China that, according to legend, one of Genghis Khan's troops was so awed by its color that he gave the area the name "Nalati" (meaning "place where the sun emerges" in Mongolian). The prairie is a great place to experience Kazak customs. Locals still play traditional sports, live in yurts and raise falcons to hunt for the family dinners. Best time to go is July to October.

China Southern operates a daily return flight between Urumqi and Nalati.

These Buddhist towers are the chief landmark of Dali, an ancient town in China's southwest Yunnan Province. The main tower was first built in mid-ninth century in the hope to easing regular flooding. At 69 meters and 16 stories high, it was a "skyscraper" for the Tang Dynasty and is still the tallest pagoda in China. Each of it tiers is decorated with Buddha statues.

The other two identical towers stand 42 meters and were erected almost a century later. The three holy structures form an equilateral triangle. Shutterbugs can get great shots from many different angles.

The three pagodas are just north of downtown Dali. Direct flights (30 minutes) and train (eight hours) are available between Dali and Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan.

Pudacuo is the first national park in China to meet the criteria set by The World Conservation Union, a major global environmental organization. More than 20% of the country's plant species and around one-third of its mammal and bird species call this wetland plateau home. Photographers especially love the area's many types of orchids and China's highly endangered black-necked cranes. In Bita Lake in the park, the Bita double-lip fish is an ancient fish dating back 2.5 million years.

Pudacuo is 22 kilometers east of Shangri-la, a tourist town in northwest Yunnan Province.

With its mountain backdrop and shores lined with ancient houses, the Nanxi River inevitably became the cradle of classic Chinese water-and-ink painting. By drifting down the Nanxi River on a bamboo craft, travelers can enjoy views of locals doing laundry along the river and fishermen employing traditional methods of using cormorants to catch fish. The xiangyu is a rare freshwater fish unique to the Nanxi.

The nearest traffic hub to Nanxi River is Wenzhou, a major city in Zhejiang Province. It's about 23 kilometers away.

Major cities connected to Wenzhou Airport by direct flights include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hangzhou. There are nine established drifting routes on the river, ranging from one to 10 kilometers in length.

In the 1950s, the Chinese government evacuated and flooded 928 square kilometers of villages, plains and hills to build a reservoir. The indirect result was a surreal view. Around 1,078 islands dot the lake.

Outdoors activities are the draw of this ginormous recreation and resort area -- speedboating, water skiing, animal-themed island-hopping, mountain climbing. Travelers can also find excellent seafood and everything from budget cabins to five-star hotels.

Direct buses run from Hangzhou West Bus Station to Thousand Island Lake Town. Buses depart every 30 minutes -- then take a taxi or bus to the scenic area.

"Here's an idea. Let's make farming even more difficult."

Literally meaning "peaceful clouds," Yunhe and its surrounding rice terraces have been home to farmers for at least 1,000 years. Winding in a maze up mountainsides from 200 to 1,400 meters, individual terraces can be constructed of as many as 700 layers. Rainy days are the best time to visit, when steam from evaporating river water floats through the terraces, creating a kind of agricultural dreamscape.

Yunhe County is 67 kilometers southwest of Lishui city. Shuttle buses between Yunhe and Lishui are available at Lishui Train Station. To get to Lishui, take a train from big cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing.

Editor's note: This article was previously published in 2012. It was reformatted and republished in 2017.

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40 beautiful places to visit in china - cnn

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Almost all of us are familiar with the great man-made attractions in (CNN) - China: The Forbidden City in Beijing. The Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an. Shanghai's skyscraper forest in Pudong. For a country of its massive size and varied geography, however, it's surprising how relatively few people outside China appreciate the extent of the country's other attractions, many of them natural wonders to rival any in the world.

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Top 10 China Travel Destinations for 2018

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Top 10 China Travel Destinations for 2018

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China's Top 10 Places You Should Visit in 2018

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Explore China in 2018 by visiting some of China's 10 currently most-recommended destinations, including Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai.

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Enjoy some of these traditional Chinese games with your family, perhaps when you are learning about China or celebrating Chinese New Year. Some of them may seem familiar to you, as they are similar to games that we already know.

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https://www.chinahighlights.com/giant-panda

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No it isn't.

In appearance it is very powerful, but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of - it is a paper tiger. - Mao Zedong[1]speaking on the United States, 1956

Can China do a '62 with India again?
Well, it cannot. Both the neighbors are nuclear armed and there is a real danger today of Mutually Assured Destruction in case of an adventure of that scale.

China has seen an economic rise like no other in the last 40 years, and is now the 2nd biggest economy of the world.

From a sleepy, opium addicted[2] nation of the 19th and early 20th century, China is all set to now claim this century as its own, reclaiming a position of prominence in culture, trade and diplomatic influence around the world.

In the last 25 years, the Chinese defense expenditure has seen double digit growth consistently and its current defense expenditure stands at $185-200[3] Billion.
But there is more to it than meets the eye.
World's largest army by number and largest economy by PPP, today spends more on policing its own people[4] than national defense.

In the last 55 years, the Chinese military might has primarily been used to subjugate helpless and unarmed Tibetans, ridiculing minorities in Xinjiang, suppressing information online, implementing highest number of executions[5] and mass harvesting[6] organs of dissidents and prisoners.

The large Chinese fighting machine - The People's Liberation Army, has become a symbol of institutional corruption in the country today, becoming its greatest challenge[7].

"Only our own corruption can destroy us and cause our armed forces to be defeated without fighting."[8] - PLA commissioner.

In the 60's, during the tougher times, when the funding was tighter, PLA used to generate extra income by farming and raising its own pigs. With the advent of greater resources, the generals has kept their financial independence, and are now often caught selling ranks[9], military license plates[10], pilfering land[11], doing corruption[12]and procuring substandard equipment[13].

Let us analyse their equipment.
Main Battle Tanks
PLA has 7580 Main Battle Tanks today - a tad more than even the US. But, only 450 of them, Type 98As and Type 99s can be called modern with 125-millimeter guns, composite armor, modern suspension, and advanced fire control systems. The remaining tanks are mostly of 1950 Russian Vintage.

Chinese Airforce
Of the 1321 Chinese Jets, only 502 can be called modern. These are 296 variants of the Russian Su-27 (India has a more advanced SU-30 MKi) and 206 indigenously built J-10s that even Pakistanis have refused to buy. The remaining 819 fighter planes are mostly J-7s, J-8s and Q-5s - which were designed in the 1960s and have severed limitations.

Air Craft Carrier
China has an aircraft carrier just like India, the name is Liaoning. It is of 1983 vintage russian platform which is much shorter than INS Vikrant, and half the size of USS Nimitz and does not even have a catapult on board - reducing the payload capacity of the fighter planes considerably. It even lacks radar and refuelling planes on board, which gives the Indian flat-tops (there are 3 in the offing) a special edge.

Submarines
Another area of concern - Only about 30 of the 54 Chinese submarines are less than 20 year olds. These submarines are subdivided into 4 classes - Shang, Han, Yuan, and Song and all are unanimously considered inferior to Nuclear Powered INS Arihant[14] and the upcoming Scorpène-class submarines - all made in India.

China also has the 1960s-vintage Mings (Class 035), which are of WW II Russian vintage, completely unreliable and prone to regular engine failure[15].

Manpower
While this is quite subjective, I would just like to quote a few facts.

The island of Japan occupied China in the 30's and 40's. Shoddily equipped Vietnamese forces killed over 9000 Chinese PLA forces within 4 weeks in 1979. And who can forget the 123 brave Indian men of Rezang-La - who killed over 1300 of the Chinese troops in 1962.

I can go on and on but, Nuff Said.

China today is surrounded by neighbors who are either unstable, or 'unfriendly'. Its aggression on smaller neighbours (especially in the South China Sea) has lead to retaliation instead of submission.

They claim that the Nobel Peace Laureate, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama is an evil terrorist. While, the man who attacked the Indian Parliament - Maulana Masood Azhar is an angel of peace.

It is no surprise that the up and coming world power can only count allies in countries like North Korea, Pakistan and Zimbabwe (no offence to these countries).

I do not intend to infer that the Chinese Army is weak or that the Indians should not take them seriously. My attempt is just to show a few chinks in their armour.

And while we are discussing all this, an Indian Chowki looks like this:

Thank you for reading. Cheers and Peace :)

Update 1: A few comments have requested for a comparative analysis of Indian and Chinese Forces. I have chosen not to include it in this answer, primarily due to the fact that numbers are very misleading in this particular case - thus, instead - I have tried to analyse the Chinese numbers individually. The core intent here is to unravel the truth that hides behind these mega-super numbers. The Indian figures are public knowledge anyways and are freely available. Hope this helps...:)

Footnotes

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Is Chinese Army better than Indian Army?

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Answer (1 of 29): No it isn't. > In appearance it is very powerful, but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of - it is a paper tiger. - Mao Zedong [1]speaking on the United States, 1956 Can China do a '62 with India again? Well, it cannot.

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Emma

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China has the largest population with 1.3 billion people.
China is the 3rd largest country by area at 9,706,961 sq km 3,747,879 sq miles.
47% of the population live in urban areas.There were 17 dynasty in China from BC to AD. Tourist attractions.They will go to Terracotta Army, and the summer palace.

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Fun China Facts for Kids - Interesting Information about China

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Learn some interesting information about China while enjoying a range of fun facts and trivia that's perfect for kids! Read about the Great Wall of China, its major cities, population, languages, rivers, animals, economy and much more.

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Beijing Made Easy | Beijing Society | Drugs in China

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After years of careful policing by the Communist Party, drug use is starting to creep back into Chinese society. Read about the Chinese drug scene on Beijing Made Easy.

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China's Top Ten Attractions, 10 Must-visit Sights in China

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The top attractions in China include the famous Great Wall, Terracotta Army, the Forbidden City and more. See more information and photos for the top 10.

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Chinese food is famous all over the world, but you may be shocked by its surprising range and variety of ingredients if you've only eaten in Chinese restaurants abroad. Chinese food has countless delicious and fantastic dishes. And people from different areas have different cuisine types, which can be bland, sweet, salty, spicy, or sour.

What the Chinese Eat

Find out about some of the unique dishes of a nation who are willing to eat just about anything. Also see...

China's Regional Food Types

China can be divided into several regions with distinct styles of cooking. The ingredients used are based on the natural and agricultural products of each region.

The main features of China's regional cuisines can be described as follows:

China's Religious and Health Food Cuisines

What You Should Know About Eating in China

Chinese Dining Etiquette and Culture

As an ancient civilization, China pays great attention to established etiquette. With thousands of years' development, China has its own unique dinning culture and etiquette, which foreign visitors may find quite different from what they are used to, and even consider weird.

Chinese Cooking - Recipes and Instructions

Chinese cooking is renowned throughout the world. Chinese food has a distinctive culinary style all its own. The emphasis is on fresh, seasonal ingredients, prepared with a minimum of fuss and beautifully balanced for color, texture, and presentation. See The 7 Top Chinese Cooking Methods.

Our Chinese cooking recipes teach you how to cook delicious Chinese dishes, more cooking recipes.

Travel with China Highlights and Taste Delicious Chinese Food

Want to taste authentic Chinese food? China Highlights tours provide you an opportunity. See our most recommended Chinese food tours, which combine must-see attractions in China with meals in carefully selected restaurants.

Or you can contact us and we can tailor-make a Chinese food tour for you based on your interests and requirements.

Our Most Popular Chinese Food Articles

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Chinese Food/Cuisine: Culture, Ingredients, Regional Flavors

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Chinese food is famous all over the world, but you may be shocked by its surprising range and variety of ingredients if you've only eaten in Chinese restaurants abroad. Chinese food has countless delicious and fantastic dishes. And people from different areas have different cuisine types, which can be bland, sweet, salty, spicy, or sour.

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http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/countries/china.html

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Other articles where Sino-Soviet dispute is discussed: 20th-century international relations: The Sino-Soviet split: A still more energetic U.S. riposte would await the end of Eisenhower's term, but "Mr. Khrushchev's boomerang" (as Dulles termed Sputnik) had an immediate and disastrous impact on Soviet relations with the other Communist giant, China.

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money

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Chinese Money, Clear Photos of Chinese Currency

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This page gives detailed information on Chinese money including denominations, how to recognize fake money, Chinese money photos, and China bank notes tours.

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China | Traditional farming - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help

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China - Traditional farming - In the thousands of years that farming has been practiced in China, the Chinese have refined and perfected their agricultural techniques. For example, they developed an elaborate system of maintaining the nutrient levels in the soil by collecting all organic wastes (including human wastes), fermenting them, and applying them to the fields.

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Domestic China trips are allowed in China (except for areas with medium or high risk). For more latest travel information such as where you can travel and what you will need, please see:

Chinese people celebrate a lot of festivals each year. Most of these festivals take place on important dates in the Chinese lunar calendar. Covered below are some important festivals celebrated by the Chinese people, with links to specific festivals that provide detailed information on festival celebrations, photos and more.

If you are fond of local pageantry, you might want to check to see whether your visiting dates coincide with local festivals at your particular destinations. See also China Public Holidays 2020 , Best Times to Go to China.

Chinese Festivals in Major Cities/Regions

Foreign Festivals Celebrated in China

China Festivals by Month

Most Popular Chinese Festivals Articles

Popular Festival Tours

See China's highlights and experience the atmosphere of one of China's top festivals with our Festival Tours.

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Chinese Festival and Event Celebrations, Highlighted Festival in China

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Domestic China trips are allowed in China (except for areas with medium or high risk). For more latest travel information such as where you can travel and what you will need, please see: Chinese people celebrate a lot of festivals each year. Most of these festivals take place on important dates in the Chinese lunar calendar.

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Top 10 Chinese Traditional Festivals, Featured Chinese Festivals

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The traditional Chinese festivals include Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, Tomb Sweeping Festival, Double Seven Festival and the Winter Solstice.

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Chinese money.

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What is the Chinese Currency?

The official Chinese currency is the Renminbi which you will also see it referred as the Yuan. What is the difference?

It is used interchangeably, but "Renminbi" is the "official" term used to refer to China's currency. It literally means "the people's currency". "Yuan" is the actual unit, and seems to be the more casual term used by every day people on the streets. Similar to the way "sterling" and "pound" are used in the U.K.

Here are some China Money facts:

The currency code used for the Yuan is CNY, as in the currency codes for the US Dollar USD, the British Pound GBP and the Euro EUR.

The currency symbol for the Yuan is ¥, as in the currency symbol for the US Dollar $, the British Pound £, and the Euro€.

The RMB currency units are:

The Yuan = 1

The Jiao = 1/10 Yuan i.e. one Chinese dime

The Fen = 1/10 Jiao i.e. one Chinese cent

Bank notes come in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100, they are all different sizes and colors. In the front they all depict the portrait of Chairman Mao:

*Chinese Money Bank Notes Source: Wikipedia Commons

In the back, each depicts a famous and recognized site in China:

The Renminbi is used in mainland China only.Hong Kong and Macau have their own currencies, the Hong Kong dollar and the Pataca respectively.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) is China's central bank. Much like the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, it oversees monetary policy in China.

Among the world's 100 largest banks, China takes the top spot with 13 in total, while the United States comes second with 11.

China's "Big Four" banks, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Bank of China top the list.

Up until 2005 the Yuan was pegged to the US dollar. What does that mean? It means that when the US dollar fluctuated in value against other currencies, either up or down, the value of the yuan would move with it.
The Chinese Yuan is no longer pegged and is now allowed to float within a narrow band established by the People's Bank of China. The exchange rate floats with reference to a basket of foreign currencies including the U.S. Dollar, the Euro, the Japanese Yen, Korean Won, and in a lesser degree, the British Pound, Thai Baht, Russian Ruble, Australina Dollar, Canadian Dollar and Singapore Dollar.

Check out our section for travel to China and answers to the more common money questions:

Exchange Rates

Where to change money

Will my ATM card work in China?

Paying with Credit Cards in China, etc.

More China Facts

The Chinese Economy

Agriculture: What China farms

Industry: What China makes

Services: China's service industry sectors

Exports/Imports: Who does China trade with? What do they export/import?

China Money: Chinese currency and banking

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What is the Chinese Currency? The official Chinese currency is the Renminbi which you will also see it referred as the Yuan. What is the difference? It is used interchangeably, but "Renminbi" is the "official" term used to refer to China's currency. It literally means "the people's currency".

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One of the rivers in China is Yangtze which is one of the largest rivers in the world. The water volume is also immense, also some other largest rivers are there.

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Chinese Money, Clear Photos of Chinese Currency

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This page gives detailed information on Chinese money including denominations, how to recognize fake money, Chinese money photos, and China bank notes tours.

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"Chinese food" is the most popular food in the world, but authentic Chinese food has many differences with Western food! Here are 15 or so more facts to educate and shock you.

Chinese food

1. World's Biggest Variety of Flavors - It's Not All the Same!

Did you know that Chinese food has 5 Key Flavors that must be balanced according to Traditional Chinese Medicine - sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and spicy?

Flavors vary considerably across China. For example, Sichuan cuisine is famous for numbing spiciness, Hong Kong cuisine is sweet or savory, northern cuisine is salty, and southern minority cuisine is sour. See Regional Cuisines.

2. China's North/South (Wheat/Rice) Food Divide

Steamed buns

The colder, drier north favors wheat production, so northerners eat dumplings, wheat noodles, steamed buns, and stuffed buns mostly. See Northern Cuisine.

In the south, Chinese eat bowls of rice or rice noodles with almost every meal (as well as far greater varieties of fruit and veg), and only occasionally eat wheat.

3. Chinese Eat Almost Everything That Moves!

Foreigners are often shocked what Chinese eat. Many Chinese dishes make foreigners feel weird or squeamish, like dog hotpot, insects, scorpions, snakes, rats, pig's ears, heads, feet, hearts, lungs, liver, kidneys, intestines, and boiled blood.

4. Huge Quantities of Vegetables

Various vegetables in a market

Chinese eat far more fruit/vegetables than in the West - about twice as much dietary fiber... resulting in bowel movements twice the size of Western ones! Read more on China's Top 10 Vegetables.

5. Crazy Vegetable Variety

Crazy variety is not limited to China's "meats"... Many of China's vegetables and fruit you won't have seen or heard of before, like pomeloes, bitter cucumber, yard-long yams, tree fungi, and dozens of untranslatable weed-like plants.

6. It Must be Fresh in China - Canned/Frozen Food Spurned

Wet markets (where live/freshly-butchered animals and freshly picked foods are sold) abound in China - almost one per city block. Many Chinese go every day. Fridge freezers are catching on, but fresh veg is still a must. Tins are despised.

Also, according to Chinese medicine food must be eaten in season to combat too much yin (cold weather) and yang (hot weather), dryness, or dampness. E.g. huge white radishes (with high yang) are very popular in winter.

7. Chinese Eat Bones... Or Spit Bone Splinters

Fish

Chinese don't like waste, so whole animals are often served. E.g. fish are not filleted, just gutted, with head and bones intact. Sometimes bones are soft enough to chew up; sometimes they must be de-mouthed (onto a side plate).

Chinese believe meat near the bones is the best, and that marrow is very nutritious, so bones are deliberately chopped to splinters to release the marrow - watch out while eating. Bone broth is popular.

8. Everything's Bite-Size for Chopstick Eating

Chinese don't eat with knives and forks, traditionally, which is seen as violent or barbaric, but with chopsticks. As chopsticks don't actually chop, all food is very soft or chopped up into bite-size pieces before cooking.

9. China Uses 45 Billion Pairs of Chopsticks a Year

That's an unremarkable average of 2 or 3 pairs a month for its approaching 1.4 billion population. The government has imposed a disposable chopstick tax to reduce usage.

Most (disposable) chopsticks are softwood or bamboo, so that's about 100 square miles or the area of Queens of trees/bamboo ... or 50,000 tonnes - imagine trucks of chopsticks lined up end-to-end for 30 miles.

10. The Same Thing Can Be Cooked a Dozen Ways

Like Bubba's shrimp in Forest Gump, there are many ways to cook Chinese food. For example, a fish could be steamed, boiled, stewed, quick-fried, stir-fried, deep-fried, roasted, sautéed, marinated in brine, pickled in vinegar, soy-sauced, or sweet-and-sour-sauced.

11. Food Decoration Can Verge on the Ridiculous

A fish dish is decorated with cucumber slices and red peppers.

Chinese chefs, particularly Jiangsu cuisine experts, go overboard on presentation. They believe "the first bite is with the eyes". Dishes are served in precise patterns or lifelike shapes, brightened by intricate vegetable carvings and decorative herbs.

12. Dish Names Can Be Misleading

Chinese like to give to dishes catchy names. Some names have nothing to do with their ingredients. For example:

'Husband Wife Lung Slices' is not cannibalism (which you'll be relieved is not allowed in China), but thinly sliced bovine lung, tongue, or some other cut, seasoned with chili oil.

'Ants climb trees' (蚂蚁上树 mǎyǐ shàng shù) is vermicelli with spicy minced pork.

Remember, a 'field chicken' (田鸡 tiánjī) is a frog! A tour guide or translator will help you avoid surprises. We offer our services below.

13. Food Is Superstitiously Symbolic

Mooncakes

Chinese attach particular meanings to certain foods based on shapes, colors, pronunciations, and legends. Superstition and tradition dictate certain foods must be eaten for certain festivals/events to invoke a blessing.

For example, ingot-shaped dumplings mean wealth at New Year, and round mooncakes represent family reunion at Mid-Autumn. See The Symbolism of Chinese Foods.

14. Dishes Are Shared Lazy-Suzy-Style

In traditional Chinese meals, dishes are shared communally. Dishes are served in the middle of a table, and people sit with their rice bowls around it.

In restaurants, especially for tables seating 10 or 12, there are usually lazy Susan turntables to permit easy sharing among diners. See What Restaurants Are Like in China.

15. The Guest Is Seated at the Table's "Head"

The honored guest is customarily seated furthest from the door with the fish, chicken, duck... heads pointing his way.

Discover Chinese Food with China Highlights

Our customers enjoy authentic Chinese food.

If you want to experience authentic Chinese food culture on a China tour, and avoid the pitfalls, China Highlights can help you!

Recommended Tour:

Or you can contact us and we can tailor-make a Chinese food tour for you based on your needs and wants.

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"Chinese food" is the most popular food in the world, but authentic Chinese food has many differences with Western food! Here are 15 or so more facts to educate and shock you. Chinese food Did you know that Chinese food has 5 Key Flavors that must be balanced according to Traditional Chinese Medicine - sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and spicy?

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Chinese religion

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Facts about China: RELIGION 2010-2011 | Interesting statistics & info

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China Mike's interesting, fun facts & statistics about Chinese religion: China is officially an atheist state with one of the lowest percentages in the world of people who consider themselves religious. [ Wikipedia "Religion in China" ] Buddhism and Daoism [...]

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Sera Monastery in Tibet

China is a multi-religious country. Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism have all developed into culture-shaping communities throughout Chinese history.

Freedom of belief is a government policy, and normal religious activities are protected by the constitution. For many of China's citizens, their religion is a defining feature alongside their national pride.

The Diversity of Religion in China

While many think of China as a homogenous culture, it may surprise you to learn that the religious scene in China is quite diverse. Most of the world's major religions are practiced by native Chinese people with great devotion.

In almost every city, you are sure to see a diverse range of ethnic groups participating in their historical religious traditions ranging from Buddhism to Christian Protestantism.

Religion and philosophy are often intertwined in China. Taoism and Confucianism are two examples of philosophical beliefs in China that also carry a religious element. Aspects of ritual and beliefs about the afterlife exist independently of the philosophies to create religious aspects to some of China's oldest philosophical beliefs.

The Growth of Religion in China

Leshan Giant Buddha

A 2015 Gallup poll reported that 90% of Chinese citizens classify themselves as atheists or non-religious.

However, this is a difficult number to measure due to the fact that many people practice the rituals and thought patterns of various religions but would not classify themselves as a member of a certain group.

Chinese folk religion is a good example of how the people view religious beliefs as a part of their way of seeing the world without putting a label on it. The folk religion is characterized by broad beliefs in salvation, prayer to ancestors and former leaders, and an understanding of the influence of the natural world.

The Four Official Religions of China: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Christianity

Religion today is growing in diversity and openness to the worldwide context. No religion has ever assumed a dominant position in China. Foreign religions, influenced by time-honored Chinese Culture and tradition, have gradually become fixtures with distinctive Chinese characteristics.

The four major religions in China (Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Christianity) each have a long history of influence. We will discuss each of the following in more detail below.

Buddhism

Longmen Buddhist Grottoes

Buddhism spread from India to China some 2,000 years ago.

The majority of Buddhist believers are Han Chinese while Buddhist believers in Tibet also make up a sizable portion. They are typically from the Tibetan, Mongolian, Lhoba, Moinba and Tujia nationalities.

Buddhists make up the largest religious communities in China. However, since many Han practice a historical/cultural Buddhism rather than a daily practice, it can be difficult to count their exact numbers. See what else we have about Buddhism in China.
Recommended Buddhist Sites
Taoism

The Temple of Heaven is a famous Taoist temple located in Beijing.

Taoism is native to China and has a history of more than 1,700 years. Its founder was Lao Tzu and its doctrines are based on his writings about the Tao or the Way. Taoism is centered on the "three treasures" which are: Humility, Compassion, and Frugality.

You are probably already familiar with some of the symbolism of Taoism without even realizing it. The famous Yin and Yang symbol is a foundational illustration os Taoist beliefs. In it, we can see the importance of harmony in the Taoist tradition.

It is considered a polytheistic religion and is still quite influential in rural areas inhabited by the Han Chinese and several minority groups, such as the Yao. Taoism also has a strong presence in Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia. Check out our other sources on Taoism in China.
Recommended Taoist Sites
Islam

Many beautiful mosques dot the landscape with traditional Islamic architecture.

Islam spread from the Arab Countries to China more than 1,300 years ago. It now has more than 14 million believers among the Hui, Uyghur, Kazak, Ozbek, Tajik, Tatar, Kirgiz, Dongxiang Sala and Banan ethnic groups.

The Islamic followers mainly live in Provinces of Xinjiang, Ningxia, Ganxu and Qinghai in northwest China. There are also Islamic communities scattered in almost every city.

Chinese Muslims do not eat pork, dogs, horses, donkeys or mules. There are many famous mosques in China that make excellent stops on a religious tour of China's culture.
Recommended Islamic Sites
Christianity

A Catholic cathedral in Guangzhou

Catholicism and other forms of Christianity began to make their way into China very early. In 635, a missionary of the Nestorian sect came to China from Persia. The religion was slow in gaining a strong foothold in China but is now well established.

It was after the Sino-British Opium War in 1840 that Christianity developed rapidly in China. Chinese Catholic and Christian communities grew in number and influence across the country.

Today, there are many famous churches that make for interesting religious visits. Now there are more than 3.3 million Catholics and nearly 5 million Protestants in the country. Learn more about Christianity in China.
Recommended Christian Sites
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Religion in China, Religious Beliefs in China

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Sera Monastery in Tibet China is a multi-religious country. Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism have all developed into culture-shaping communities throughout Chinese history. Freedom of belief is a government policy, and normal religious activities are protected by the constitution. For many of China's citizens, their religion is a defining feature alongside their national pride.

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China was found in 1949 on 1st of October

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the great wall of china is in beijing

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School in China | News For Kids, By Kids | Scholastic.com

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In many ways, schools in China are much like schools in America. The campuses are much smaller and the number of students per teacher much higher, but the schools have playgrounds with basketball courts as well as track and field. But they are also surrounded by steel fences with a security gate.

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There food

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Rice

Chinese love to eat, and Chinese food includes a large variety of ingredients, which can be reflected well in the saying (although it is a bit exaggerated): "the Chinese eat everything with four legs, except for tables, and everything that flies, except for airplanes".

Our article explains what Chinese people eat. Some ingredients can be obtained at your local supermarket, while others can only be found at a Chinese/Asian supermarket.

Staple Foods

Rice

Rice is a major staple food in China. It is mainly grown in southern China. Chinese people eat rice almost every day for meals. People also use rice to produce wine and beer. It is one of the most popular foods in China and is used in many dishes.

One of the most popular dishes is Yangzhou fried rice. Learn more about rice dishes.

Noodles

Noodles

Noodles are a basic staple food in China. Chinese people love noodles very much, especially in the north. Chinese noodles are generally made from wheat flour, rice flour, or mung bean starch.

Noodles are often served in soup, or stir-fried with meat, eggs, or vegetables. Learn more about Chinese noodles.

Tofu (Bean Curd)

Tofu, or bean curd, is a food of Chinese origin. It is made from soy milk, water, and a curdling agent.

Chinese tofu

Tofu contains little fat and is high in protein, calcium, and iron. It has been a staple of Chinese and Asian cuisine since ancient times, and has recently become a popular ingredient used in Western vegetarian dishes.

It is served in soups, salads, and stir-fried dishes. The most popular tofu dish is mapo tofu.

Learn more about Chinese tofu and tofu dishes.

Meat and Poultry Ingredients

Chinese people basically eat all animals' meat, such as pork, beef, mutton, chicken, duck, pigeon, as well as many others. Pork is the most commonly consumed meat, and it appears in almost every meal. It is so common that it can be used to mean both meat and pork.

Peking duck is a famous duck dish in China.

Every part of the animal can be eaten, be it meat, skin, fat, blood, or entrails.

Chinese people rarely eat any raw meat. They prepare and cook meat in various ways. All meat can be boiled, stir-fried, stewed, roasted, poached, baked, or pickled.

Learn more about meat dishes:

Eggs

Scrambled eggs with chives

China has a large consumption of eggs each year. People consume eggs laid by many types of poultry; the most common ones are chicken, ducks, geese, pigeons, and quails.

Eggs can be steamed, boiled in soup, or fried with vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber, chives, green chilies, and green onions.

Food savvy Chinese people make lots of dishes with eggs. The most unique and famous ones are probably salted duck eggs and century eggs (preserved eggs) - both are produced and eaten all over China.

Learn more about egg dishes:

Chinese Vegetable Ingredients

Vegetables are, in general, the second most fundamental part of Chinese cuisine, after rice. Chinese people are fond of vegetables, especially leafy greens, and eat many different kinds at almost every meal. We sometimes preserve vegetables and eat them as snacks.

Listed below are some commonly used vegetables.

Leaf Vegetables

Leafy vegetables, including Chinese cabbage, spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, and other dark leafy greens, are very common and can be found easily in supermarkets. They can be stir-fried with sauce and condiments, used raw in salads, or pickled.

Chinese Eggplants

Chinese eggplants

Chinese eggplants are usually long with a purple skin. They are usually stir-fried with meat or stir-fried with garlic sauce. They can also be used in a salad with condiments, or pickled. One of the most famous Chinese eggplant dishes is braised eggplant.

'White Radishes'

Creamy white with a smooth skin, a raw white radish (daikon) tastes crispy and has a sweet, fresh flavor with a bit of a spicy bite. It is a good source of vitamin C. Chinese people prefer to use them in stir-fries, stewed in soup with meat, or pickled with sauce.

Chinese Mushrooms

Mushrooms used in Chinese food include wood ears, golden needle mushrooms (金针菇), shiitake (' shii-tree mushrooms' 香菇), oyster mushrooms (平菇), and tea tree mushrooms (茶树菇). Chinese people often use mushrooms, fresh or dried, when cooking a hotpot or making some meat soup.

Onion

Onion

Chinese people use onion in a wide variety of dishes, especially in stir-fries. It can be stir-fried alone as a dish, or stir-fried with pork or other meat like beef or mutton.

Soybean Sprouts

Rich in vitamins A, B, and C, soybean sprouts can be eaten raw in salads, and are also popular in stir-fried dishes.

String Beans

String beans

String beans are also known as green beans. They are usually stir-fried with pork, or dry fried until the skin turns brown.

Carrots

Carrots are a popular vegetable for Chinese people. They are widely used in many dishes, especially in the preparation of salad.

Bamboo Shoots

Bamboo shoots that are fresh, dried, or canned are very popular as an addition to stir-fries. They are used in numerous Chinese dishes and broths.

Learn more about Chinese vegetarian food.

Chinese Ingredients Used for Flavor and Seasoning

Ginger, garlic, and green onions

Ginger: the most common Chinese food ingredient used as a spice for seasoning. It is usually used along with garlic in stir-fried dishes, when making soup, or in a dipping sauce.

Garlic: it is often used to season cooking oil along with ginger. It is used throughout Chinese cooking.

Chilies: green or red, fresh or dried, they are usually added to dishes as a seasoning to improve the taste, or used to make chili and other sauces

Spring onions: often used as a garnish, or added to stir-fries in a wok

Coriander: a popular herb with a strong flavor, it is used as garnish, or used to make a dipping sauce

See more on The Top 10 Most Common Herbs and Spices Used to Flavor Chinese Food

Travel with China Highlights and Taste Authentic Chinese Food

Our customers enjoying Chinese food in a local restaurant

Want a trip to China to taste traditional Chinese food? We can help to make your trip a lot easier. See our most popular Chinese food tours below:

Or you can contact us and we can tailor-make it for you according to your requirements.

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What Chinese Eat, Chinese Food Ingredient

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The Chinese food types mainly include rice, noodles, vegetables, eggs and fishes, which vary from one region to another.

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Interesting facts about China:

China is commonly known as the People's Republic of China.

The origin of the word "China" derives from the Qin dynasty. The first emperor of the Qin dynasty was Qin Shi Huang (260-210 BC).

Throughout the century, the name of the capital of China has changed. It has been known as Dadu, Yanjing, and Beiping. Peking or Beijing means "Northern Capital".

China is considered to be the oldest civilization with some historians marking 6000 BC as the beginning of the Chinese civilization. Also, it has the world's longest used written language.

As of July 2012, China has the largest population in the world with over 1.3 billion people.

China is the third largest country by area at 9,706,961 sq km (3,747,879 sq miles).

China belongs to the continent of Asia. Bordering countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam.

China is also called the Flowery Kingdom, and many of the country's flowers and fruits, such as the orchid and orange, are now being grown all over the world.

One in every five people in the world is Chinese. China's population is four times larger than that of the US.

The highest mountain in the world, which is 29,028 feet tall, is named after the first surveyor of India, Sir George Everest. The Chinese people call Mount Everest Qomolangma, which means "Mother Goddess of the Earth."

China's national banner was adopted in 1949 and was first flown in Tiananmen Square, which is the world's biggest public gathering place, on October 1, 1949, the day when the People's Republic of China was established. The color red in the banner symbolizes revolution, the big star symbolizes communism, and all the little stars represent the Chinese population.

The summit of Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world, marks the border between China and Nepal.

There are many different languages that are spoken in China, including Mandarin, Wu, Yue, Minbei, Xiang, Minnan, Xiang, Hakka, and Gan.

The capital city of China is Beijing, while Shanghai is the most populated city. Other major cities are Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

Forty-seven percent of the population live in urban areas.

Every year, China experiences typhoons and also suffers from floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, and droughts.

The Yangtze River in China is the fourth longest river in the world and reaches 5,797 km (3,602 miles) in length. Also, the Yellow River is the sixth longest, stretching 4,667 km (2,900 miles).

China has the second largest economy in the world, right after the USA.

In 2003, China became the third country in the world to successfully send a person to space.

The Great Wall of China is the largest man-made structure in the world, extending 8,850 km (5,500 miles).

The popular giant panda is found near the Yangtze River in China.

The 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing were hosted by China. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were the most expensive in the history. They were estimated to cost $40 billion.

October 1 is celebrated by the Chinese as a national day in honor of establishing the People's Republic of China.

The national anthem of China is called "Yiyonggjun Jinxingqu," which means March of the Volunteers, and was written in 1935 by the poet Tian Han and composed by the artist Nie Er, honoring those who went to the front in battle with the Japanese invaders in northeast China in the 1930s.

Fun Facts about China:

Fortune cookies are not actually a traditional Chinese custom. They were invented by an employee in the Key Heong noodle factory in San Francisco.

Cricket battling is a popular form of entertainment in China, and many Chinese people keep crickets as pets.

China has only one time zone.

Many historians think that soccer began in China around 1000 BC.

Ping-pong was not invented in China, even though it is one of China's most popular games. It started in Britain, where it's called table tennis.

Stamp collecting is the number one hobby in China.

China has a dwarf theme park known as Kingdom of the Little People.

In ancient China, tickling was a form of torture performed on nobility because the recovery was quick and no marks were left.

Giant pandas (or bear cats) date back a few million years. They were considered as symbols of might and bravery.

Instead of black, white is the Chinese color for grieving and funerals.

The custom of tying feet, also called golden lilies, which were seen as a very sexual thing, started among the female performers and members of the Chinese court during the Song dynasty.

The celebration of the Chinese New Year lasts 15 days.

Zhai Zhigang made the first walk in space by a Chinese astronaut on September 27, 2008.

The wealthy used to grow the nails of their little fingers very long, which was a sign of their rank. In order to protect their nails, they often wore gold and silver nail guards.

The Three Gorges Hydroelectric Dam is the world's largest dam.

The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, is the most important celebration in China. The Chinese believe that every person on turns one year older on New Year, so that day is thought to be everybody's birthday.

For the Chinese, red symbolizes happiness and is used at Chinese festivals and many other celebrations, such as birthdays and weddings.

In ancient China, the lotus was considered a symbol of purity. The peony, or king of flowers, symbolized the spring; the narcissus was believed to bring good fortune; and the chrysanthemum symbolizes long life.

The Chinese have their own Bigfoot, Yeren, or "wild man," who is rumored to live in the mountainous forested regions of the Hubei Province.

There are currently 32 million more males than females in China.

Traditionally, Chinese babies wear kaidangku, or open-crotch pants, instead of diapers.

The first known Homo erectus, the Peking Man, who lived between 300,000 and 550,000 years ago, was found in China. It is thought that he knew how to control fire.

During the first half of the 20th century, Shanghai was the only city in the world to accept Jews that were escaping the Holocaust without an entry visa.

Chinese mathematics have made early contributions to the field, including a place value system.

Chinese lanterns are a symbol of long life.

In China, every year is represented by one of 12 animals.

The 12 animals are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and p

The mortar that was used to bind the stones of the Great Wall was made with sticky rice.

In the Tang dynasty, those with an education had to greet and say goodbye to each other in poetic verse.

China's Grand Canal is the world's longest and oldest canal.

The bat is a traditional symbol of good luck and is often depicted in designs for textiles, porcelain,and other artworks.

Pearl S. Buck was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for her books about China, most notably The Good Earth. A bestselling Chinese-American author is Amy Tan.

All of China's railways lines put together could loop around the earth twice.

The Chinese word for civilization (wen) is pronounced the same as the word for pattern, script, or calligraphy.

The carp is a symbol of perseverance and It resembles a dragon, the greatest symbol of power in China.

In some parts of China, pigtails were associated with a female's marital status. A young girl would wear two pigtails, and when she married, she would wear just one.

In ancient China, mirrors were thought to protect their owners from evil. A person who had been terrified by a ghost could be protected by looking in the mirror.

The Chinese developed a theory of three levels of heaven, which are Heaven, Earth, and man.

China is home to a cluster of ancient rock columns, known as the Stone Forest.

The horse originated in Central Asia and became very significant in China. A horse is thought to be associated with yang, the masculine symbol.

The cicada (katydid) has the longest life span of any insect (up to 17 years) and sheds its skin, so for the Chinese, it is a symbol of regeneration and rebirth.

Throughout Chinese history, concubinage has been practiced by wealthy men who could afford it. Chinese emperors had enormous harems with hundreds of concubines.

In Chinese legend, the phoenix is the most important bird, and it represents the empress's feminine power.

In Western culture, the the dragon is considered an evil creature, while in Chinese mythology, it is the first among the four greatest creatures, along with the phoenix, tiger, and It is commonly associated with the emperor.

It is thought that the gate to a house facing south brings good luck.

Green bean-flavoured ice pops can be bought in China.

The world's best pencil graphite, which was yellow, was from China. In China, the color yellow is connected with royalty, so American pencil producers began painting their pencils yellow to show they contained high-quality Chinese graphite.

The best-known traditional festivals in China are: Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, the Qingming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival, Double Seven Festival, and the Winter Solstice.

Red is considered to be a lucky color, and Chinese brides often wear red to their weddings.

China has the oldest calendar in the world. This lunar calendar has twelve zodiac signs and takes sixty years to complete.

In 1996, China produced 600,000 tons of mushrooms, becoming the world's leading producer. The country has 60% of the world's mushroom varieties.

Famous Chinese and Chinese-American actors include Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Bruce Lee, Chow Yun, Jet Li, and Zhang Ziyi.

The thirteenth floor is usually left out from hotels, buildings, and vehicle licence plates, and the number four is not used in phone numbers.

Interesting Facts about Chinese Inventions and Discoveries:

The four greatest inventions are paper-making, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

The Chinese invented toilet paper, and it was used for emperors only.

The Chinese invented kites around 3,000 years ago. They were used to frighten enemies in battle. It was thought that they would bring bad luck if they were purposely let go.

In 130 AD, Zhang Heng invented the first instrument for monitoring earthquakes, and it could detect and indicate the direction of the earthquake.

China invented icecream. This occurred when the Chinese packed a soft milk and rice mixture in the snow.

A civil servant, Su Song, built the first mechanical clock between 1088 and 1092 AD.

The bicycle was introduced to China by two American travelers, Allen and Sachtleben, and is now the primary mode of transportation for millions of Chinese. Also, China is the leading bicycle producer.

The Chinese were the first to invent the waterwheel to harness water.

China was the first country in the world to use an iron plow.

The Chinese were first to discover that blood circulates throughout the body and that the heart pumps the blood.

The Chinese were using the decimal system around two thousand years before the first known use in European mathematics. Also, the Chinese were the first to use a place for zero.

As the Chinese population grew, people had to preserve cooking fuel by chopping food into small pieces so it would cook faster. This eliminated the need for knives; then, chopsticks were invented.

Chinese invented and first used the crossbow.

The Chinese were the first in the world to use chemical and gas weapons, two thousand years before Europe.

Tea was discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong when a tea leaf fell into his boiling water.

Martial arts in China were developed from ancient farming and hunting methods.

According to a Chinese legend, silk was discovered circa 3000 BC by Lady Xi Ling Sui. When a silk worm cocoon dropped into her hot tea, fine threads from the cocoon untangled in the hot water and silk was born.

The Romans knew China as Serica, which means Land of Silk. The Chinese strongly kept the secrets of silk making.

The oldest piece of paper in the world was found in China. Chinese paper was so long lasting that it was sometimes used for clothing and even as body armor.

The Chinese were the first in the world to use stirrups.

In 1974, farmers digging in the Shaanxi Province discovered the tomb of Qin (259-210 BC), the first emperor who formed China.

Suspension bridges were invented in China before they were even known in the West.

Porcelain originated in China. It is a very specific kind of ceramic that is produced using the highest temperatures of a kiln.

During the Three Kingdoms era, the Chinese invented the hot air balloon.

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100 Fun Facts about China | AsiaOppo - Internships in China

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Interesting facts about China: China is commonly known as the People's Republic of China. The origin of the word "China" derives from the Qin dynasty. The first emperor of the Qin dynasty was Qin Shi Huang (260-210 BC). Throughout the century, the name of the capital of China has changed.

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Emma

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According to readings Buddha named the years after the twelve animals that came to visit him before he left the earth. The Chinese believe that you have some of the characteristics of the animal representing the year in which you were born.

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Some people enjoy eating specialties like a bird nest soup, frog, snake, scorpion and dog. But be careful! Not everyone in China likes these. Some Chinese people may find them as strange as you do. It depends on their hometown, their family and their personal taste.

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Chinese paper lantern, being used to as lamps and as decorations now, has long history in China and it has many different kinds of types.

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1. The 3 major tenents Buddha taught his followers were not to be ignorant, hate others, or get angry.

SEE ALSO: Om: Decoding the World's Oldest Symbol

Originally born a wealthy prince, he left it all behind to pursue the path of truth when he saw the poverty and sickness beyond his palace walls. 2. This also led him to drop his birth name, Siddartha Gautama.

3. Buddha was not as chubby as many depictions of him would make it appear - he was mainly portrayed this way because it was symbolic of happiness in the east. He practiced moderation in all things, fasted regularly, and spent most of his time walking hundreds of miles spreading the philosophy of enlightenment.

4. A few days after his birth, it was predicted by a wise old man that he would later become a great king or a saint that would change the world.

At the time of Buddha's quest for enlightenment, there were many religious practices that called for either intense overindulgence in the senses, or strict deprivation such as weeks of fasting. Realizing that neither were truly beneficial, 5. he devised what would later be known as "The Middle Way" to enlightenment...a balanced approach that emphasized inward rather than outward renunciation.

To achieve enlightenment, Young Siddhartha vowed to sit under a fig tree and meditate until he transcended suffering. 6. At the end of an extremely long meditation and mental battle with Mara (the god of desire), he became awakened and was then known as the Buddha.

7. Unlike most religions or spiritual beliefs, Buddha's teachings were spread by nonviolent methods such as word of mouth or carvings on prominent stone buildings.

8. Practicing Buddhists view Buddha as a teacher and not a god or avatar.

9. Buddha's of enlightenment underneath the bodhi tree is still preserved to this day.

Buddha taught and traveled his entire life until the age of 80 when he passed away. His final request of his followers was this: 10. "All component things in the world are changeable. They are not lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation."

Got any more facts about Buddha we may have missed? Let us know in the comments below!

And check out our other sister article, 7 Crazy Facts About Buddha You Didn't Know.

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1. The 3 major tenents Buddha taught his followers were not to be ignorant, hate others, or get angry. SEE ALSO: Om: Decoding the World's Oldest Symbol Originally born a wealthy prince, he left it all behind to pursue the path of truth when he saw the poverty and sickness beyond his palace walls.

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In ancient China, Chinese lanterns were used to provide light and as aspects of worship. Today, they are used only for decoration and as modern forms of celebration and worship. Lanterns have become a symbol of national pride in China and are used to decorate homes and public places.

The most common Chinese lanterns are red, oval/round, and decorated with red or golden tassels. They also come in many different shapes, including cubes, cuboids, and cylinders.

Content Preview

Chinese Red Lanterns

The History of Chinese Lanterns

Chinse paper lanterns originated during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), when they were used as lamp shades or covers in ancient China.

At first, paper lanterns were used to worship Buddha in temples. Mingdi (reign 57-75 AD), the Eastern Han emperor who is credited with Buddhism's early spread in China, ordered the people of the imperial palace to light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the first lunar month, which later became the Lantern Festival.

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people began to use paper lanterns more secularly to celebrate their peaceful life and the power of their country, which made lanterns more and more popular throughout China.

Different Shapes of Lanterns

Features of Chinese Lanterns

In ancient China, the art of making lanterns was a collection of crafts, including Chinese painting, paper-cutting, and needlework. The materials used for lantern frames include bamboo, wood, wheat straw, and metal. Paper and silk are traditionally the major materials. Popular illustrations on lanterns include landscapes, portraits of great people, dragon and phoenix designs, birds, and fish.

Types of Ancient Chinese Lanterns

There are three main ancient types of lanterns: the palace lantern, gauze lantern, and the shadow-picture lantern. The palace lantern was the most-used type.

Dragon-and-phoenix patterns were the main elements on palace lanterns, which represented royal status or upper class society. Dragons were seen as the symbol of emperors in ancient China. They carried the meaning of wisdom, prosperity, great power, and strength. Lanterns decorated with dragons could only be used in royal family premises in ancient China.

Types of Chinese Lanterns

Beautiful mountain or river illustrations on red lanterns expressed (wishes for) harmony and balance in nature, the elements, or families.

Riddle lanterns hanging on gates with riddles written on them were used to welcome guests, who liked to guess the answers to the riddles.

Meanings of Chinese Lantern Colors

In Chinese culture, the colors of lanterns express different meanings. They are used for different occasions.

Red Lanterns

Red paper lanterns are symbols of wealth, fame, and prosperity. Red lanterns are used to celebrate occasions of joy and harmony, such as weddings, opening a business, family reunions, as well as the celebration of some festivals.

Click to learn about Mid-Autumn Festival Lanterns.

Different Colors of Lanterns

Yellow Lanterns

Yellow lanterns were mostly used in palaces in imperial times in China. Yellow was the emperors' color in ancient China, so they were not permitted for use by the general public. It is now said that yellow lanterns can bring good luck to young students in school.

White Lanterns

In Chinese culture, white is related to death or funerals. So, white bamboo lanterns were often used at funerals in China.

Green Lanterns

Green lanterns are often seen during temple fairs or the Lantern Festival. Green has meanings of health, prosperity, and harmony. Green lanterns are becoming more and more popular nowadays.

When Do Chinese People Use Lanterns?

Although there is no longer a practical need for Chinese lanterns nowadays for lighting, they are still made, used, and enjoyed by the Chinese people during festivals or important events. Streets, both in big cities and small towns, are decorated with red lanterns during Chinese New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival, and the Lantern Festival.

The Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival is one of the best days to view Chinese lanterns. The custom of viewing lantern displays on the evening of the Lantern Festival has a history of almost 2,000 years, since the Han Dynasty. It was a great event traditionally.

Guessing lantern riddles is one of the most interesting activities of the Lantern Festival. People gather under the hanging lanterns to compete to be the one who figures out the most lantern riddle answers.

Chinese Lantern Festival

How to Make a Chinese Paper Lantern Step-by-Step

Want to make a Chinese paper lantern to decorate your house? Here are simple instructions for making a paper lantern with a sheets of red and yellow paper.

Materials needed: A4 sheets of red and yellow (or gold) paper (1 of each), a pencil and a ruler, scissors, and glue

Step 1:

Fold the red paper in half, then use the paper and the ruler to draw some lines perpendicular to the folded side about 20 mm (3/4") apart, leaving about 20 mm at the top. After that, use the scissors to cut along the lines.

Step 2:

Roll the yellow paper lengthwise to form a tube, which is the center of the lantern. Then use some glue to fix the tube.

Step 3:

Open the red paper and match the yellow tube with the red paper at one end. Use the glue to make them secure.

Step 4:

Glue the other end of the red paper to the yellow tube, making the red paper shorter than the tube, so that the strips cut with the scissors spread out.

Step 5:

Cut off the excess part of the yellow tube at the bottom or you can also leave it as a decorative part of the lantern.

Step 6:

Make the handle of the lantern using the excess part of the yellow paper. And fix it on both sides of the lantern at the top. Now you have made a simple and beautiful Chinese paper lantern.

Catch A Glimpse Of Chinese Lanterns

Dying to see Chinese lanterns up close? Let China Highlights plan your tour of China's greatest sights and come see the wonder for yourself with our festival tours.

We offer structured tours through the highlights of Chinese culture and history. Plan your own custom tour during the festival of your choice for beautiful photo-ops and breathtaking views of Chinese lanterns.

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Chinese Lanterns: Culture and How to Make in 5 Steps

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In ancient China, Chinese lanterns were used to provide light and as aspects of worship. Today, they are used only for decoration and as modern forms of celebration and worship. Lanterns have become a symbol of national pride in China and are used to decorate homes and public places.

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Hanwei

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Factslides is dedicated to provide well-sourced and verified information that will help young people access the information and critical thinking skills they need to make our world a better place.

Launched in July, 2013, it has shown its facts over 1000 million times, and was selected among the Top 100 websites of 2013 by the prestigious PC Magazine, and as one of the 99 Sites That Every Professional Should Know About by BusinessInsider. It was also featured in sites such as The Awesomer, Design Taxi, I-Am-Bored.com, Neatorama, and DONG, a YouTube show with over a million subscribers.

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Factslides a high traffic content website (over 1 million visits / month) that takes relevant and complex information from NGOs, think tanks, journals, specialized magazines and media and converts it into colorful and animated slideshows that are easy and fun to read, making the information accessible to students, teachers and curious minds for fun, research, lesson planning, and homework.

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China uses 45 billion chopsticks a year

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Top 10 Temples in China, Famous Temples in China

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Introducing to China's top 10 most famous temples, including The Temple of Heaven, Jokhang Temple, South Putuo Temple, Famen Temple, and Yonghe Lama Temple

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Facts about Chinese new year

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Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) is the most important festival in China and a major event in other Asian countries. Chinese Lunar New Year 2023 will fall on January 22nd. Here are 15 interesting facts about Chinese New Year.

1. Chinese New Year is also called "Spring Festival".

Though in winter, Chinese call their New Year holidays ' Spring Festival' (春节 chūnjié /chwnn-jyeah/), because 'Start of Spring' (4-18 February) is the first of the terms in the traditional solar calendar.

While wintry weather prevails, 'Start of Spring' marks the end of the coldest part of winter when the Chinese traditionally could look forward to the beginning of spring.

2. It is a festival for 1/4 of the world's population.

Over 2 billion people celebrate Chinese New Year in some way, even if it's just a national acknowledgment.

These countries have public holidays during Chinese New Year: China, Indonesia, The Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, North Korea, Singapore, and Brunei.

More and more Western cities celebrate this festival in recent years, like New York, London, Vancouver, and Sydney.

3. The Chinese New Year date changes each year.

The date for Chinese New Year changes each year. It always falls between January 21 and February 20 and is determined by the Chinese lunar calendar. In 2023, Chinese New Year will fall on January 22nd. See more about Chinese New Year Dates.

4. Every Chinese New Year starts a new animal's zodiac year.

There are 12 Chinese zodiac animals. In order, the 12 animals are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. 2023 is a year of the Rabbit.

Your zodiac animal is decided by your birth year. Find out your Chinese Zodiac sign.

5. The festival is celebrated for 16 days till the Lantern Festival.

Traditionally, the 16 days from Chinese New Year's Eve until the Lantern Festival each had a special celebration activity.

On the evening of the 15th day of the first lunar month, on the night of the full moon, families gather for dinner and go out and see fireworks and light lanterns. Lanterns are put up for decoration, let loose to fly, and floated in rivers.

Lanterns for the Lantern Festival

6. This period is a time to offer sacrifices to Gods and ancestors.

Praying is one of the more important activities during Chinese New Year. People pray to gods and ancestors. Many Chinese people visit ancestors' graves on the day before the Chinese New Year's day, and offer sacrifices to ancestors before the reunion dinner

Read more about how the origins and history of Chinese New Year have changed with time.

7. On Chinese New Year's Eve, people eat auspicious foods.

Certain foods are eaten during the Chinese New Year period purely for their symbolic meaning.

This includes dumplings, eaten because they represent wealth. The more dumplings you can eat, the more money you will make in the new year. Fish is eaten because the word for fish in Chinese, (鱼 Yú /yoo/) sounds like 'surplus'.

Oranges and tangerines are displayed because they are believe to bring good luck and fortune due to their pronunciation and characters.

You can read more about the traditional Chinese New Year foods and Top Lucky Chinese New Year Flowers and Fruits.

8. Billions of red envelopes are exchanged.

Chinese people love the color red. Giving red envelopes is a way to send good wishes and luck (as well as money).

Red envelopes are given out from older to younger, from bosses to employees, and from leaders to underlings. It is a special New Year's bonus.

And today many of these red envelopes are given electronically, something that can be done through WeChat, China's most popular communications app.

See more information about how much money goes inside and how to give.

Chinese New Year red envelopes ("hong bao")

9. Red decorations are everywhere during the Chinese New Year.

You might know that red is a lucky color in China, representing many positive things such as happiness, beauty, vitality, good luck, success, and good fortune, but did you know that almost everything is red during Chinese New Year?

Apart from the red envelopes, decorations, and spring couplets hung up outside people's homes are red. You'll also see lanterns everywhere, as well as red paper cuttings. See the Top 7 Decorations during Chinese New Year.

10. The festival causes the world's largest annual migration.

For Chinese people, the most important part of the Chinese Spring Festival is to enjoy a reunion dinner with their families on New Year's Eve, even if they have to travel long distances.

200 million people from Chinese mainland travel long distances for these holidays, and it is estimated that there are 3.5 billion journeys in China. Tens of millions of people travel in other countries too. This makes CNY the largest annual human migration in the world, known as the Spring Festival Travel Rush.

For comparison, less than 100 million people travel more than 50 miles during the Christmas holidays in the US according to the American Automobile Association.

A crowded Chinese train station at New Year

11. And the New Year's Eve Gala is the world's most-watched TV show.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, most of China tunes in to watch the New Year's Eve Gala on the national television.

This TV show involves many Chinese celebrities performing songs and dances and is watched as a family together, in a similar way that families might watch the ball dropping on New York's Times Square in the USA.

Watching it is a great way to get an introduction to many types of Chinese performance arts.

12. Washing, sweeping, or taking out the garbage are not allowed.

During the Chinese New Year period, there are many superstitions.

Washing hair or clothes is not allowed on the first day of the lunar year because it is seen as "washing one's fortune away" at the beginning of the year. Sweeping up and taking out the garbage symbolize removing the good luck from the house, so people don't do that either.

Giving people pears or mirrors as gifts is also taboo. See more Chinese New Year taboos.

chines new year taboos

13. There is the world's biggest annual fireworks usage during Chinese New Year.

Another for our facts about Chinese New Year, no single hour in any other country sees as many tons of fireworks lighted as in China around the midnight beginning Chinese New Year.

Fireworks are used to scare evil spirits: Most people from Chinese mainland believe that the flash and bang of firecrackers and fireworks scare away demons and evil ghosts.

As a result of pollution and safety issues, many of China's big cities have banned people from setting off their own fireworks within the city or within certain parameters of the city. Local governments set up their own beautiful displays. Read more on why Chinese New Year Must Have Firecrackers.

14. Kids love the holiday.

Kids love the holiday, because they get a month off of school, new clothes to wear, and receive red envelopes.

It is believed that wearing new clothes can bring fortune and health, so parents will buy new clothes for their kids, which they wear for the reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve.

Red envelopes within lucky money are traditional gifts for children during the Chinese New Year period. Children receive red envelopes from parents, older relatives, and visitors. Every kid has a chance to "get rich". Some kids receive over 10,000 yuan (almost 1,500 USD!).

Read more about Chinese New Year for Kids.

Every kid is busy receiving red envelopes.

Chinese New Year is hard going for "old" singles!!

15. But it can be tough for some: "old" singles hire fake boy/girlfriends to take home.

This is a fresh-new fact about Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is a joyful time for most, but for singles above the normal matrimonial age, it's not. In China, females are said to be marriageable up to 30, and males before 32.

For "old" singles, parents are extremely anxious. So New Year's Eve stress is heightened by embarrassing interrogations of the singles. Desperate parents even arrange dating (prospective marriages) for their single children.

To solve this problem an interesting, and often ridiculous, solution has appeared - renting a boyfriend or girlfriend for the New Year. There are websites and agents specialized in this business. The price is about 100 yuan (16 USD) a day.

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15 Fun Facts about Chinese New Year (#15 Will Impress You)

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15 interesting facts about Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival: dates, public holidays, customs.

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Every once in awhile backpackers stumble onto something that unexpectedly becomes a memory or experience all by itself. The International Ice Festival in Harbin, China is one of those times.

Tucked away in far northeastern China, Harbin holds a significant mix between Russian and Chinese influence. With temperatures reaching -40°F sometimes you will wonder whether you are in China or have slipped into Siberia.

11 Things you should know about the Harbin Ice Festival:

1. It is cold in Harbin ... really cold!
If you aren't willing to toughen up and deal with sub-zero temperatures then it might not be the festival for you. Between the sculptures, festivals, pedestrian streets, and cathedrals you will be outside a good amount of time, and the cold isn't going anywhere! Everything worth seeing in Harbin is outside; so dress warm.

2. Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival ... and everything else.
The Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival is on Sun Island and it's the main attraction in Harbin. It cost 330 RMB to get in as a tourist (with no Chinese Student ID) in 2014 and prices seem to go up every year. I would recommend doing this one first and then if your frozen fingers, toes, and courage are still up for it visit the smaller attractions.

Other attractions include: The Ice Lantern Show in Zhaolin Park, the Snow Sculpture Art Exhibition on Sun Island, and snow activities on the Songhua River. If you want a detailed account of everything there is to do in Harbin, check out Chrissy and Jav's post at C.J's Team Travel Blog.

3. Traveling to Harbin is expensive.
Prices continue to climb every year for the Ice Festival. It continues to attract brave travelers willing to endure the cold; when you get there they will expect you to pay for it though. The sculptures are amazing and they are all over town... so don't panic if you don't think you can afford everything. It is impossible to visit Harbin between December through February and not see ice sculptures and trancing lights. So do your wallet a favor, pick 1 or 2 major attractions, and enjoy the overall winter-land feeling of Harbin.

4. Your phone will die!
I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my phone when we went to Ice and Snow World. There I was, amazing sculptures, ice, and lights everywhere and I had dug my phone out of my pocket with frozen fingers... only to find that is was dead! Well... that's because batteries don't like the cold and cell phones are no exception. I'm not sure how different phones hold up in cold whether, but my iPhone 5 lasted 1-2 minutes in open air before turning off. At the festivals there are food tents that you can pop into in order to warm up and defrost your phone. It is well worth it to stop by every 20 minutes or so to warm up, get a drink, let your phone turn back on, and then head out again.

** Note on taking pictures: At night it is really tough to get a good picture with you and the ice sculptures. The ice is either too dark behind you, or you are too dark in front. If you want good pictures of you and the sculptures you'll have to go during the day or around sunset.

5. The Pedestrian Street is Worth a trip.
Called Zhongyang Dajie, this street is definitely one of the highlights in Harbin. It is packed with tourists, malls, shopping centers, food, ice cream, and of course ... Ice Sculptures! Walk the entire street and it will feed you directly into the snow activities on the south bank of the Songhua River.

6. Russian Food and Culture is huge.
Swing by one of the many Russian restaurants in Harbin. It has a significant cultural influence in the city and it's a good change of pace from the usual Chinese food. I recommend trying Borsht and Stroganoff at Katusha Restaurant, and there's also no shortage of Russian Vodka if you're up for it!

7. Eat Ice Cream!
It's a tradition in Harbin ... It will be -30° but people will be lined up across the street in order to buy ice cream at popular shops! Give it a try, despite the fact that it's freezing, it is actually pretty good.

8. The Ice Festival is from Jan 5th through late February.
Because of the timing, there is a very high likelihood that you will be traveling to Harbin during the Chinese Spring Festival. That makes trains and busses difficult to book and people are everywhere. Schedule everything early and consider flying to Harbin for comfort, convenience, and cost.

9. Learn the busses and Metro before leaving your hotel/hostel.
When it's cold it sucks waiting for busses and metros and not knowing where you are. Do yourself a favor and know the transportation you are going to use. Harbin only has 1 metro line (as of Feb 2014) and it doesn't go to any of the festivals, train station, or the pedestrian street.

10. Saint Sophia Cathedral.
This is an old Russian Orthodox Church. Churches can start to feel the same after seeing a bunch of them, but the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin is definitely unique. It has a timeless ethereal feel to it that makes it worth visiting. The lights and the cold add to the experience and you won't walk away thinking that you saw "just another cathedral."

website says there are more than 600 Tigers at the park that are "trained to get used to the environment."... the cages are too small, the Siberian Park is packed with warm-climate animals forced to live in -30º temperatures, the conditions are poor, and there is a desire to make money rather than ensuring proper living conditions. 11. Don't go to the Siberian Tiger Park.
There seems to be mixed opinions about the Siberian Tiger Park. I've read that they are doing research and vastly improving the survivability of Siberian Tigers in the world. Lonely Planet credits the Siberian Park with increasing the number of Siberian Tigers worldwide. The Harbin Ice Festival
Personally though, I have been to one other zoo in China and I'm inclined to agree more with the comments on TripAdvisor
** I didn't go because I didn't want to support what I suspect is a typical chinese zoo... but that said, I didn't see it for my self ... so you will have to decide for yourself on this one.

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Every once in awhile backpackers stumble onto something that unexpectedly becomes a memory or experience all by itself. The International Ice Festival in Harbin, China is one of those times. Tucked away in far northeastern China, Harbin holds a significant mix between Russian and Chinese influence.

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Chinese Zodiac Sign

Years

Rat

...1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020...

Ox

...1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021...

Tiger

...1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022...

Rabbit

... 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023 ...

Dragon

... 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024 ...

Snake

... 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025 ...

Horse

... 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026 ...

Goat

... 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027 ...

Monkey

... 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028 ...

Rooster

... 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029 ...

Dog

... 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030 ...

Pig

... 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031 ...

Chinese New Year, day 1 of the Chinese lunar year, falls somewhere in the period January 21st to February 20th.

The Start of Spring is the 1st of the 24 Solar Terms, beginning on February 3rd or 4th.

What is the Chinese zodiac, and how many animal signs does it have?

The Chinese zodiac is a system that assigns an animal to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. Each animal sign is believed to represent different personality traits, fortunes, and prospects for the people born in that year. The 12 animals in the zodiac cycle are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each animal has its unique characteristics, symbolism, and cultural significance, which have been passed down through generations.

The Chinese zodiac is based on a combination of astronomy, astrology, and mythology. It dates back to the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) and has been used in China for thousands of years as a tool for fortune-telling, matchmaking, and personal and social guidance. The zodiac signs are also associated with the five elements - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water, which further add to the complexity of the system.

Today, the Chinese zodiac is widely recognized and celebrated worldwide, and many people follow its predictions and customs. It is an essential part of Chinese culture and serves as a bridge between the past and the present, connecting generations and promoting cultural exchange and understanding.

Which animal is associated with the current year according to the Chinese zodiac?

The current year (2023) is the year of the Water Rabbit according to the Chinese zodiac. The Rabbit is the fourth animal sign in the zodiac cycle and is associated with good fortune, happiness, and peacefulness. People born in the year of the Rabbit are believed to be gentle, compassionate, and creative, with a strong sense of family and community.

The Rabbit is also associated with the Wood element, which is believed to symbolize growth, prosperity, and optimism. In Chinese astrology, the combination of the animal sign and the element can provide more specific predictions and insights into a person's personality and destiny.

The year of the Rabbit is considered an auspicious year for many things, such as starting a new business, getting married, or having a child. It is also a time to focus on building and strengthening relationships, pursuing personal growth and development, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

What are the characteristics and personality traits associated with people born in the year of the Dragon?

People born in the year of the Dragon are often seen as confident, ambitious, and adventurous. They are also known to be passionate, strong-willed, and have excellent leadership qualities. Dragons are the fifth animal sign in the Chinese zodiac and are associated with the Fire element, which is believed to symbolize energy, creativity, and transformation.

Dragons are highly respected and revered in Chinese culture and are often associated with the emperor, power, and authority. People born in the year of the Dragon are believed to possess some of these characteristics and are often successful in their careers and personal lives. They are also said to be charismatic, imaginative, and have a strong sense of justice and fairness.

Despite their many positive traits, Dragons can also be impulsive, stubborn, and prone to anger. They can sometimes struggle with their emotions and may find it challenging to work with others who do not share their vision or passion. However, with their determination and perseverance, Dragons can overcome most obstacles and achieve their goals.

How do people in China use the Chinese zodiac in their daily lives?

The Chinese zodiac is deeply embedded in Chinese culture and is often used in daily life to predict fortune and compatibility. Many people in China consult their zodiac sign when making important decisions, such as choosing a career, getting married, or starting a business. They may also use their zodiac sign to gain insight into their personality traits and tendencies.

In addition to personal use, the Chinese zodiac is also incorporated into various public events and festivals throughout the year. For example, during Chinese New Year celebrations, people often exchange gifts and greetings based on their zodiac sign. They may also attend special events and performances that feature the animals of the zodiac.

Overall, the Chinese zodiac serves as a cultural symbol of unity and connection in China. It is an integral part of daily life and remains a powerful tool for self-discovery and social interaction.

How has the Chinese zodiac influenced other cultures around the world?

The Chinese zodiac has a significant influence on many cultures around the world, particularly those in East Asia. Countries such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam have adapted the Chinese zodiac into their own culture and often incorporate it into their daily lives.

In addition, the Chinese zodiac has also gained popularity in Western cultures, particularly in the United States and Europe. Many people in these regions are fascinated by the mystique and symbolism of the zodiac and use it as a tool for self-discovery and personal growth.

Overall, the Chinese zodiac has served as a powerful cultural bridge, connecting people across continents and promoting cross-cultural understanding and appreciation. Its influence continues to grow and evolve as people around the world embrace its timeless wisdom and enduring appeal.

Choose your date of birth and find out about your Chinese zodiac sign. Find Your Zodiac Sign

Snake: enigmatic, intelligent, wise.

Horse: animated, active, energetic.

Goat: calm, gentle, sympathetic.

Monkey: sharp, smart, curious.

Dog: lovely, honest, prudent.

Chinese Zodiac Sign

Lucky Numbers

Lucky Colors

Lucky Flowers

Lucky Directions

Chinese Zodiac Sign

Unlucky Numbers

Unlucky Colors

Unlucky Directions

Chinese Zodiac Compatibility - Is He/She Right for You?

Best Matches for the 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs

An important use of the Chinese zodiac is to determine if two people are compatible in a romantic relationship... or any kind of relationship. Zodiac compatibility is usually checked before getting married in China.

People born in a certain zodiac animal year are believed to have attributes of that animal, which determines their personality traits and could either help or hinder a relationship.

Chinese Zodiac Compatibility Calculator

Enter date of birth and test now

Best Matches for the 12 Zodiac Signs

Rat: Rat, Ox, Dragon, or Monkey

Ox: Rat, Snake, or Rooster

Tiger: Horse, Dog, or Pig

Rabbit: Goat, Dog, or Pig

Dragon: Rat, Monkey, or Rooster

Snake: Ox or Rooster

Horse: Tiger, Goat, or Dog

Goat: Rabbit, Horse, Goat, or Pig

Monkey: Rat, Dragon, or Dog

Rooster: Ox, Dragon, or Snake

Dog: Tiger, Rabbit, Horse, or Monkey

Pig: Tiger, Rabbit, or Goat

Rat

OX

Tiger

Rabbit

Dragon

Snake

Horse

Goat

Monkey

Rooster

Dog

Pig

Rats' Horoscope in 2023:

Entering 2023, the fortune of you Rat people is generally good, but due to being in tangential opposition to Tai Sui (the age star), you will encounter some obstacles and your overall horoscope will be one of ups and downs. Be cautious and not impulsive in your actions during this year.

Read more on Monthly Horoscope for Rats in 2023.

Rat and Ox got up very early. On the way to the Gate, Rat jumped onto the back of the Ox to cross the river. He won first place by suddenly jumping down from Ox's back and dashed to the feet of the Emperor when they're near to the Heavenly Gate. Ox was second.

Tiger and Rabbit came third and fourth because both are fast and competitive, butTiger was faster.

Good-looking Dragon was fifth and was immediately noticed by the Jade Emperor, who said Dragon's son could be sixth. Just then, Snake came forward and said Dragon was his adoptive father; so Snake ranked sixth.

Horse and Goat arrived. They were very kind and modest and each let the other go first. They were ranked seventh and eighth.

Monkey had fallen well behind. But he jumped between trees and stones, and caught up to be ninth. Last were Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

What is the luckiest/unluckiest Chinese zodiac sign?

In Chinese culture, the top 5 luckiest/most popular zodiac signs are Dragon, Snake, Pig, Rat, and Tiger conventionally.

There is a popular Chinese folk saying that 9/10 Goats are inadequate (十羊九不全 '10 Goats 9 incomplete'), which implies that most people born in a year of the Goat are destined for bad luck. Most Chinese people also believe that people born in a Goat year will grow up to be followers rather than leaders. Although this is an outdated superstition, it has a real effect on Chinese society.

Conversely, the Dragon is the most coveted zodiac sign, with Chinese births peaking in Dragon years.

Rationally, it's hard to identify the luckiest or unluckiest zodiac signs, as each sign has its own advantages and disadvantages. Socially, different combinations of zodiac signs cause different relational dynamics, which may affect someone's life more, as we don't live in isolation.

What are the differences between Chinese zodiac and western astrology?

The main similarity between the two systems is that both systems are based on time periods of birth, and they both have 12 symbols or signs with associated personalities and fortunes.

However, there are big differences in their origins and astrological theory.

With the Chinese zodiac, the 12 signs are derived from the ancients' musings about archetypal animals, people's personalities and fortunes, and their relationships with one another and years of birth. A myth about a celestial race was later developed to explain the Chinese zodiac sequence.

This differs from Western astrology, where the 12 zodiac signs are based on constellations' positions relative to the earth. The constellations were named according to Greek mythology and astrological theory was developed based on the stars supposed influence on human personalities and lives.

In addition, the Chinese zodiac is calculated on a year-by-year base while the Western zodiac corresponds with " months".

Read more on Differences between the Chinese Zodiac and Western Astrology.

The 12 Japanese zodiac animals in order are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar.

The 12 Vietnamese zodiac animals in order are: Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

The 12 Thai zodiac animals in order are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Naga (a mythical half-human-half-snake spirit), Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

The 8 Burmese zodiac animals are: Garuda (a mythical bird), Tiger, Lion, Elephant (with tusks), Rat, Guinea Pig, and Dragon.

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The 12 Chinese Zodiac signs in order are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. Check what your zodiac sign is.

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Top 10 insane emperors in ancient China - China.org.cn

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Like many other emperors, Yang was also indulged in the raunchy lifestyles with his concubines in the West Garden built in Luoyang all day and night. During his reign, the emperor, fed up with the northern landscapes, made several large-scale and opulent voyages to Jiangdu (today's Yangzhou city in Jiangsu province), each time escorted by 200,000 cavalry on shore with more than 10,000 mobile towers to drag the ships.

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China Map / Geography of China / Map of China - Worldatlas.com

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Printable map of China and info and links to China facts, famous natives, landforms, latitude, longitude, maps, symbols, timeline and weather - by worldatlas.com

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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.[10]

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.[9]

One in every five people in the world is Chinese. China's population is estimated to reach a whopping 1,338,612,968 by July 2009. China's population is four times that of the United States.[9]

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.[7]

Toilet paper was invented in China in the late 1300s. It was for emperors only.[11]

Fortune cookies are not a traditional Chinese custom. They were invented in 1920 by a worker in the Key Heong Noodle Factory in San Francisco.[7]

The Chinese invented paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.[2]

The Chinese invented kites ("paper birds" or "Aeolian harps") about 3,000 years ago. They were used to frighten the enemies in battle, and Marco Polo (1254-1324) noted that kites were also used to predict the success of a voyage. It was considered bad luck to purposely let a kite go.[7]

Despite its size, all of China is in one time zone.[6]

Many historians believe soccer originated in China around 1000 B.C.[5]

Ping-pong is one of the most popular games in China, but it was not invented in China. It originated in Britain, where it is called table tennis.[11]

The number one hobby in China is stamp collecting.[11]

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.[7]

White, rather than black, is the Chinese color for mourning and funerals.[7]

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.[2]

The Chinese writing system was most likely emerged sometime towards the end of the 2nd millennium BC

Though Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) is credited with designing the first parachute, Chinese alchemists successfully used man-carrying tethered kites by the fourth century A.D. Parachutes were not used safely and effectively in Europe until the late 1700s.[11]

The custom of binding feet (euphemistically called "golden lilies") began among female entertainers and members of the Chinese court during the Song dynasty (A.D. 960-1279). Tightly wrapped bandages gradually broke the arch of the foot and caused the woman's toes and heel to grow inward toward one another. Her leg muscles would also atrophy and become very thin. Bound feet were seen as highly sexual.[11]

In A.D. 130, Zhang Heng, an astronomer and literary scholar, invented the first instrument for monitoring earthquakes. The machine could detect and indicate the direction of an earthquake.[2]

China invented ice cream, and Marco Polo is rumored to have taken the recipe (along with the recipe for noodles) back with him to Europe.[7]

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.[2]

Cricket fighting is a popular amusement in China. Many Chinese children keep crickets as pets.[11]

On September 27, 2008, Zhai Zhigang made the first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut.[1]

The Chinese were the first to invent the waterwheel to harness water in A.D. 31-1,200 years before the Europeans. China was also the first country in the world to use an iron plow. Europe didn't begin using the iron plow until the seventeenth century.[11]

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.[6]

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.[2]

By the fourth century B.C., the Chinese were drilling for natural gas and using it as a heat source, preceding Western natural gas drilling by about 2,300 years.[11]

By the second century B.C., the Chinese discovered that blood circulated throughout the body and that the heart pumped the blood. In Europe, circulation wasn't discovered until the early seventeenth century by William Harvey (1578-1657).[11]

Historians speculate that as the Chinese population grew, people had to conserve cooking fuel by chopping food into small pieces so that it could cook faster. These bite-sized foods eliminated the need for knives and, hence, chopsticks were invented.[2]

The Chinese were using the decimal system as early as the fourteenth century B.C., nearly 2,300 years before the first known use of the system in European mathematics. The Chinese were also the first to use a place for zero.[11]

The crossbow was invented and first used by the Chinese. They were also the first in the world to use chemical and gas weapons, 2,000 years before gas was used in Europe during WWI.[11]

The Three Gorges Hydroelectric Dam spans the Yangtze River and is the largest dam in the world. It is also the most controversial dam in the world because it has been plagued by corruption, human rights violations, technological difficulties, and has caused dramatic environmental changes.[4]

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.[7]

Martial arts are practiced throughout China and were largely developed from ancient farming and hunting methods.[7]

The most important holiday in China is the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. Chinese traditionally believe that every person turns one year older on the New Year and, thus, that day is considered to be everyone's birthday.[7]

Chinese is spoken by 92% of China's population. There are at least seven major families of the Chinese language, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Hakka, Gan, Xiang, and Min.[7]

Red symbolizes happiness for the Chinese and is commonly used at Chinese festivals and other happy occasions such as birthdays and weddings.[7]

In ancient China, the lotus was seen as a symbol of purity and was sacred to both the Buddhists and Daoists. The peony ("King of Flowers") symbolized spring, the chrysanthemum symbolized long life, and the narcissus was thought to bring good luck.[7]

The Forbidden City was so named because commoners were forbidden to enter the city. Any commoner who saw the emperor was killed.[2]

According to a Chinese legend, silk was discovered in 3000 B.C. by Lady Xi Ling Sui, wife of the Emperor Huang Di. When a silk worm cocoon accidentally dropped into her hot tea, fine threads from the cocoon unraveled in the hot water and silk was born.[7]

The oldest piece of paper in the world was found in China and dates back to the second or first century B.C. Paper was so durable, it was sometimes used for clothing and even light body armor.[11]

The Chinese were the first in the world to use stirrups in the third century A.D.[11]

The first known species of Homo erectus, the Peking Man, was found in China and lived between 300,000-550,000 years ago. It is thought that he knew how to manipulate fire.[2]

During the first half the twentieth century, Shanghai was the only port in the world to accept Jews fleeing the Holocaust without an entry visa.[7]

Chinese mathematics evolved independently of Greek mathematics and is consequently of great interest to historians of mathematics.[11]

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.[7]

In the Tang dynasty, anyone with an education was expected to greet as well as say goodbye to another person in poetic verse composed on the spot.[7]

The Boxer Rebellion between 1898 and 1901 in northern China was against Christian missionaries, foreign diplomats, and technology by a secret group called the "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" (Yihequan or I-ho-ch'uan) so named because its members practiced weaponless martial arts as well as secret rituals. Westerns called it "shadow boxing" and the members "Boxers."[11]

Let China sleep, for when she awakes, she will shake the world.

- Napolean

In 1974, a group of farmers digging for a well in the Shaanxi province uncovered some bits of very old pottery. They discovered the tomb of Qin (259-210 B.C.) the first emperor who united China. The tomb contained thousands of amazing life-sized soldiers, horses, and chariots.[2]

China's Grand Canal is the world's oldest and longest canal at 1,114 miles (1,795 km) long with 24 locks and around 60 bridges.[4]

The bat is a traditional good luck symbol that is frequently depicted in designs for porcelain, textiles, and other crafts.[7]

The bicycle was introduced into China around 1891 by two American travelers named Allen and Sachtleben. The bicycle is now the primary transportation for millions of Chinese. The last Qing emperor (Puyi) rode a bicycle around the Forbidden City in Beijing. China is currently the leading bicycle manufacturer.[7]

Suspension bridges were invented in China in 25 B.C, 1,800 years before such bridges were known in the West.[11]

The first American woman to win the Nobel Prize was Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) for her novels about China, most notably The Good Earth (1931). Amy Tan (1952-) is a best-selling Chinese-American author of The Joy Luck Club.[7]

The Chinese word for civilization (wen) is pronounced the same as the word for script, pattern, or calligraphy. In fact, calligraphy was thought to reveal the calligrapher's moral and spiritual self-cultivation as a type of "heart print."[7]

The carp is a symbol of strength and perseverance. The scales and whiskers of the fish make it resemble a dragon, the greatest symbol of power in China. Fish in general play a large role in Chinese culture and the words for "fish" and "abundance" are pronounced the same in Chinese (yu).[7]

The Chinese have made silk since at least 3,000 B.C. The Romans knew China as "Serica," which means "Land of Silk." The Chinese fiercely guarded the secrets of silk making, and anyone caught smuggling silkworm eggs or cocoons outside of China was put to death.[7]

Silk was the most zealously guarded secret in history

In some parts of China, "pigtails" were associated with a girl's marital status. A young girl would wear two pigtails, and when she married, she would wear just one. This may have contributed to the Western view that pigtails are associated with children and young girls.[7]

In ancient China, mirrors were believed to protect their owners from evil, making hidden spirits visible and revealing the secrets of the future. A person who had been scared by a ghost could be healed by looking in the mirror. Mirrors were often hung on the ceilings of burial chambers.[7]

The longest river in China is the 3,494-mile Yangtze (Changjian) River and the 2,903-mile-long Yellow (Huanghe) River.[4]

The Chinese developed a theory of three levels of heaven-Heaven, Earth, and man-which has been influential in landscape painting and flower arrangements.[4]

The horse most likely originated in Central Asia and became very important in China. A horse is considered to be associated with the masculine symbol, yang, and with the element of fire. A person born in the Year of the Horse is considered cheerful, independent, clever, talkative, quick to anger, and able to handle money.[7]

Because the cicada (katydid) has the longest life span of any insect (up to 17 years) and sheds its skin, it has long been a symbol of regeneration and rebirth for the Chinese. In ancient China, the Chinese would place jade cicadas in the mouths of the dead because they were thought to slow down the decay process and speed up the rebirth in another world.[7]

While the dragon is typically seen as an evil creature in Western culture, it holds first place among the four greatest creatures in Chinese mythology, including the phoenix, tiger, and tortoise. It is typically associated with the emperor.[7]

Concubinage has been practiced throughout Chinese history, primarily by wealthy men who could afford it. Chinese emperors had large harems with hundreds of concubines.[8]

The phoenix is the most important bird in Chinese legend and represents the feminine power of the empress. The graceful crane, which is a symbol of long life, is the second most important bird in Chinese legend. Ducks are also important symbols and represent happiness and marital faithfulness.[7]

The Cultural Revolution (the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution) from1966-1976 resulted in severe famine, thousands of deaths, and the erosion of thousands of acres of farmland.[11]

The highest mountain in the world (29,028 feet) is named in the honor the Welshman Sir George Everest who was the first surveyor of India. The Chinese call Mount Everest Qomolangma, which means "Mother Goddess of the Earth."[4]

China's national flag was adopted in September 1949 and first flown in Tiananmen Square (the world's largest public gathering place) on October 1, 1949, the day the People's Republic of China was formed. The red in the flag symbolizes revolution. The large star symbolizes communism and the little stars represent the Chinese people. The position of the stars represents the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party.[7]

China has the world's oldest calendar. This lunar calendar originated in 2600 B.C. and has 12 zodiac signs. It takes 60 years to complete.[7]

China's "one child" policy has contributed to female infanticide and has created a significant gender imbalance. There are currently 32 million more boys than girls in China. In the future, tens of millions of men will be unable to find wives, prompting some scholars to suggest that this imbalance could lead to a threat to world security.[11]

The number of birth defects in China continues to rise. Environmentalist and officials blame China's severe pollution.[3]

The consumption of mushrooms was recorded in Chinese historical documents more than 3,000 years ago. In 1996, China produced 600,000 tons of mushrooms, making it the world's leading producer, and it has 60% of the world's mushroom varieties.[7]

In 2007, dog food and toothpaste products made in China were recalled because they contained poisonous ingredients. In July, China's head of the State Food and Drug Administration was found to have accepted bribes from pharmaceutical companies. He was executed.[12]

Famous Chinese and Chinese-American actors include Jackie Chan (Hong Kong), Chow Yun Fat (Hong Kong), Bruce Lee (San Francisco), Jet Li (Beijing), Zhang Ziyi (Beijing), and Lucy Lui (New York).[4]

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were the most expensive games in history. While the 2004 Athens Games were estimated to cost around $15 billion, the Beijing Games were estimated to cost a whopping $40 billion.[8]

¹" China Space Program Advances with First Spacewalk." USA Today.com. September 27, 2008. Accessed: April 20, 2009.

²Cotterell, Arthur. Ancient China. New York: NY: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2005.

³Demick, Barbara. " China Blames Pollution for Surge in Birth Defects." Los AngelesTimes.com. February 2, 2009. Accessed: April 21, 2009.

⁴Fenby, Jonathan, ed. The Seventy Wonders of China. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2007.

⁵Goldblatt, David. The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2008.

⁶National Geographic Traveler. China. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2001.

⁷Perkins, Dorothy. Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to China, Its History and Culture. New York, NY: Checkmark Books, 2000.

⁸Rabinovitch, Simon. " Beijing Games to be Costliest, but No Debt Legacy." Reuters.com. August 2008. Accessed: May 2, 2009.

⁹" The World Fact Book-China." CIA.gov. April 9, 2009. Accessed: April 20, 2009.

¹⁰Tucker, Anne Wilkes. The Great Wall of China: Photographs by Chen Changfen. New Haven, CT: Yale University in cooperation with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2007.

¹¹Wright, David C. The History of China. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.

¹²" Zheng Convicted of Accepting Bribes, Dereliction of Duty: China's Top Drug Regulator Gets Death Sentence." MSNBC.com. May 29, 2007. Accessed: April 21, 2009.

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75 Interesting Facts about China | FactRetriever.com

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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.[10] China is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, and the U.S.).

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half of the pigs in the world live in China.

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Great Wall Facts: The Top 20 Amazing Things You Should Know

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Interesting and easy-to-read Great Wall facts and figures: 10 Great Wall numbers you should know followed by 10 more facts.

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Dhruvi

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China | Culture, History, Maps, & People

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China, country of East Asia that is the largest of all Asian countries and has the largest population of any country in the world. Occupying nearly the entire East Asian landmass, it covers approximately one-fourteenth of the land area of Earth. Learn more about China, including its history and cult…

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Interesting facts about China:

China is commonly known as the People's Republic of China.

The origin of the word "China" derives from the Qin dynasty. The first emperor of the Qin dynasty was Qin Shi Huang (260-210 BC).

Throughout the century, the name of the capital of China has changed. It has been known as Dadu, Yanjing, and Beiping. Peking or Beijing means "Northern Capital".

China is considered to be the oldest civilization with some historians marking 6000 BC as the beginning of the Chinese civilization. Also, it has the world's longest used written language.

As of July 2012, China has the largest population in the world with over 1.3 billion people.

China is the third largest country by area at 9,706,961 sq km (3,747,879 sq miles).

China belongs to the continent of Asia. Bordering countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam.

China is also called the Flowery Kingdom, and many of the country's flowers and fruits, such as the orchid and orange, are now being grown all over the world.

One in every five people in the world is Chinese. China's population is four times larger than that of the US.

The highest mountain in the world, which is 29,028 feet tall, is named after the first surveyor of India, Sir George Everest. The Chinese people call Mount Everest Qomolangma, which means "Mother Goddess of the Earth."

China's national banner was adopted in 1949 and was first flown in Tiananmen Square, which is the world's biggest public gathering place, on October 1, 1949, the day when the People's Republic of China was established. The color red in the banner symbolizes revolution, the big star symbolizes communism, and all the little stars represent the Chinese population.

The summit of Mt. Everest, the highest mountain in the world, marks the border between China and Nepal.

There are many different languages that are spoken in China, including Mandarin, Wu, Yue, Minbei, Xiang, Minnan, Xiang, Hakka, and Gan.

The capital city of China is Beijing, while Shanghai is the most populated city. Other major cities are Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

Forty-seven percent of the population live in urban areas.

Every year, China experiences typhoons and also suffers from floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, and droughts.

The Yangtze River in China is the fourth longest river in the world and reaches 5,797 km (3,602 miles) in length. Also, the Yellow River is the sixth longest, stretching 4,667 km (2,900 miles).

China has the second largest economy in the world, right after the USA.

In 2003, China became the third country in the world to successfully send a person to space.

The Great Wall of China is the largest man-made structure in the world, extending 8,850 km (5,500 miles).

The popular giant panda is found near the Yangtze River in China.

The 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing were hosted by China. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were the most expensive in the history. They were estimated to cost $40 billion.

October 1 is celebrated by the Chinese as a national day in honor of establishing the People's Republic of China.

The national anthem of China is called "Yiyonggjun Jinxingqu," which means March of the Volunteers, and was written in 1935 by the poet Tian Han and composed by the artist Nie Er, honoring those who went to the front in battle with the Japanese invaders in northeast China in the 1930s.

Fun Facts about China:

Fortune cookies are not actually a traditional Chinese custom. They were invented by an employee in the Key Heong noodle factory in San Francisco.

Cricket battling is a popular form of entertainment in China, and many Chinese people keep crickets as pets.

China has only one time zone.

Many historians think that soccer began in China around 1000 BC.

Ping-pong was not invented in China, even though it is one of China's most popular games. It started in Britain, where it's called table tennis.

Stamp collecting is the number one hobby in China.

China has a dwarf theme park known as Kingdom of the Little People.

In ancient China, tickling was a form of torture performed on nobility because the recovery was quick and no marks were left.

Giant pandas (or bear cats) date back a few million years. They were considered as symbols of might and bravery.

Instead of black, white is the Chinese color for grieving and funerals.

The custom of tying feet, also called golden lilies, which were seen as a very sexual thing, started among the female performers and members of the Chinese court during the Song dynasty.

The celebration of the Chinese New Year lasts 15 days.

Zhai Zhigang made the first walk in space by a Chinese astronaut on September 27, 2008.

The wealthy used to grow the nails of their little fingers very long, which was a sign of their rank. In order to protect their nails, they often wore gold and silver nail guards.

The Three Gorges Hydroelectric Dam is the world's largest dam.

The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, is the most important celebration in China. The Chinese believe that every person on turns one year older on New Year, so that day is thought to be everybody's birthday.

For the Chinese, red symbolizes happiness and is used at Chinese festivals and many other celebrations, such as birthdays and weddings.

In ancient China, the lotus was considered a symbol of purity. The peony, or king of flowers, symbolized the spring; the narcissus was believed to bring good fortune; and the chrysanthemum symbolizes long life.

The Chinese have their own Bigfoot, Yeren, or "wild man," who is rumored to live in the mountainous forested regions of the Hubei Province.

There are currently 32 million more males than females in China.

Traditionally, Chinese babies wear kaidangku, or open-crotch pants, instead of diapers.

The first known Homo erectus, the Peking Man, who lived between 300,000 and 550,000 years ago, was found in China. It is thought that he knew how to control fire.

During the first half of the 20th century, Shanghai was the only city in the world to accept Jews that were escaping the Holocaust without an entry visa.

Chinese mathematics have made early contributions to the field, including a place value system.

Chinese lanterns are a symbol of long life.

In China, every year is represented by one of 12 animals.

The 12 animals are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and p

The mortar that was used to bind the stones of the Great Wall was made with sticky rice.

In the Tang dynasty, those with an education had to greet and say goodbye to each other in poetic verse.

China's Grand Canal is the world's longest and oldest canal.

The bat is a traditional symbol of good luck and is often depicted in designs for textiles, porcelain,and other artworks.

Pearl S. Buck was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for her books about China, most notably The Good Earth. A bestselling Chinese-American author is Amy Tan.

All of China's railways lines put together could loop around the earth twice.

The Chinese word for civilization (wen) is pronounced the same as the word for pattern, script, or calligraphy.

The carp is a symbol of perseverance and It resembles a dragon, the greatest symbol of power in China.

In some parts of China, pigtails were associated with a female's marital status. A young girl would wear two pigtails, and when she married, she would wear just one.

In ancient China, mirrors were thought to protect their owners from evil. A person who had been terrified by a ghost could be protected by looking in the mirror.

The Chinese developed a theory of three levels of heaven, which are Heaven, Earth, and man.

China is home to a cluster of ancient rock columns, known as the Stone Forest.

The horse originated in Central Asia and became very significant in China. A horse is thought to be associated with yang, the masculine symbol.

The cicada (katydid) has the longest life span of any insect (up to 17 years) and sheds its skin, so for the Chinese, it is a symbol of regeneration and rebirth.

Throughout Chinese history, concubinage has been practiced by wealthy men who could afford it. Chinese emperors had enormous harems with hundreds of concubines.

In Chinese legend, the phoenix is the most important bird, and it represents the empress's feminine power.

In Western culture, the the dragon is considered an evil creature, while in Chinese mythology, it is the first among the four greatest creatures, along with the phoenix, tiger, and It is commonly associated with the emperor.

It is thought that the gate to a house facing south brings good luck.

Green bean-flavoured ice pops can be bought in China.

The world's best pencil graphite, which was yellow, was from China. In China, the color yellow is connected with royalty, so American pencil producers began painting their pencils yellow to show they contained high-quality Chinese graphite.

The best-known traditional festivals in China are: Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, the Qingming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival, Double Seven Festival, and the Winter Solstice.

Red is considered to be a lucky color, and Chinese brides often wear red to their weddings.

China has the oldest calendar in the world. This lunar calendar has twelve zodiac signs and takes sixty years to complete.

In 1996, China produced 600,000 tons of mushrooms, becoming the world's leading producer. The country has 60% of the world's mushroom varieties.

Famous Chinese and Chinese-American actors include Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Bruce Lee, Chow Yun, Jet Li, and Zhang Ziyi.

The thirteenth floor is usually left out from hotels, buildings, and vehicle licence plates, and the number four is not used in phone numbers.

Interesting Facts about Chinese Inventions and Discoveries:

The four greatest inventions are paper-making, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

The Chinese invented toilet paper, and it was used for emperors only.

The Chinese invented kites around 3,000 years ago. They were used to frighten enemies in battle. It was thought that they would bring bad luck if they were purposely let go.

In 130 AD, Zhang Heng invented the first instrument for monitoring earthquakes, and it could detect and indicate the direction of the earthquake.

China invented icecream. This occurred when the Chinese packed a soft milk and rice mixture in the snow.

A civil servant, Su Song, built the first mechanical clock between 1088 and 1092 AD.

The bicycle was introduced to China by two American travelers, Allen and Sachtleben, and is now the primary mode of transportation for millions of Chinese. Also, China is the leading bicycle producer.

The Chinese were the first to invent the waterwheel to harness water.

China was the first country in the world to use an iron plow.

The Chinese were first to discover that blood circulates throughout the body and that the heart pumps the blood.

The Chinese were using the decimal system around two thousand years before the first known use in European mathematics. Also, the Chinese were the first to use a place for zero.

As the Chinese population grew, people had to preserve cooking fuel by chopping food into small pieces so it would cook faster. This eliminated the need for knives; then, chopsticks were invented.

Chinese invented and first used the crossbow.

The Chinese were the first in the world to use chemical and gas weapons, two thousand years before Europe.

Tea was discovered by the Chinese emperor Shennong when a tea leaf fell into his boiling water.

Martial arts in China were developed from ancient farming and hunting methods.

According to a Chinese legend, silk was discovered circa 3000 BC by Lady Xi Ling Sui. When a silk worm cocoon dropped into her hot tea, fine threads from the cocoon untangled in the hot water and silk was born.

The Romans knew China as Serica, which means Land of Silk. The Chinese strongly kept the secrets of silk making.

The oldest piece of paper in the world was found in China. Chinese paper was so long lasting that it was sometimes used for clothing and even as body armor.

The Chinese were the first in the world to use stirrups.

In 1974, farmers digging in the Shaanxi Province discovered the tomb of Qin (259-210 BC), the first emperor who formed China.

Suspension bridges were invented in China before they were even known in the West.

Porcelain originated in China. It is a very specific kind of ceramic that is produced using the highest temperatures of a kiln.

During the Three Kingdoms era, the Chinese invented the hot air balloon.

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100 Fun Facts about China | AsiaOppo - Internships in China

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Interesting facts about China: China is commonly known as the People's Republic of China. The origin of the word "China" derives from the Qin dynasty. The first emperor of the Qin dynasty was Qin Shi Huang (260-210 BC). Throughout the century, the name of the capital of China has changed.

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Sathmini

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It took  2,000 years to build the great wall of china.

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jiankou great wall to mutianyu great wall hiking and camping

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jinshanling great wall hiking and camping

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huanghuacheng great wall hiking and camping

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chenjiapu great wall hiking and camping.

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Top 10 Interesting Facts about the Great Wall of China

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China Travellers offers a variety of tours of hiking, camping and walking on the Chinese Great Wall in Beijing. Participants step off the beaten path to witness the remote, historic and real wild unspoiled Chinese Great Wall.

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Fun China Facts for Kids - Interesting Information about China

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Learn some interesting information about China while enjoying a range of fun facts and trivia that's perfect for kids! Read about the Great Wall of China, its major cities, population, languages, rivers, animals, economy and much more.

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Which country invented paper, gunpowder, silk, porcelain, printing and the magnetic compass? The answer is China. China is one of the oldest civilizations and for centuries it was ahead of the rest of the world in technology, math and science. For thousands of years, emperors ruled China. Its history is divided into dynasties, or periods of time ruled by lines of emperors.

China is the fourth largest country in the world, after Russia, Canada and the United States, but it has the most people of any country. China is growing and changing more quickly than any other place on Earth. Because of this, it is becoming crowded and polluted.

The Chinese landscape includes mountains, forests, deserts, high plateaus and coastal areas. Here you will find thousands of animals and plants, including the giant panda, which lives only in the mountains of southwest China. Many rivers run through China. The Yangtze River is the third largest river in the world.

After thousands of years, the last emperor lost power in 1912. China was invaded by Japan and later became a communist state. The communist government forces strict control over the people.

Fun Facts about China for Kids

1,303,701,000 people live in China.

China has 3,705,405 square miles of land.

People in China speak Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese and other dialects.

Most people are Taoist, Buddhist or Muslim.

People in China can expect to live 71 years.

86 percent of adults can read.

China Vocabulary

1. Porcelain: a type of hard, thin pottery

2. Civilization: community or group of people

3. Dynasty: a family of rulers who rule a country for many years

4. Communism: a system of government in which the government owns all land and property.

All About China Video for Kids

Check out this cool video about China for kids:

This is a video documentary about the history of China, its early dynasties and what the ancient Chinese did that created their empire.

China Q&A

Question: What is the Great Wall of China?

Answer: The Great Wall of China was built more than 2,000 years ago to protect China from invaders. It stretches over 5,000 miles across China. Made from stone, bricks, wood and pressed mud, the wall is 30 feet across at its widest.

Map of China

Here's a map of the country of China and all its cities and villages. Zoom in to get into street level or zoom out to see other countries around China! You can see the terrain, but also see the roads, images of the buildings and even take a 3D tour through the streets of the cities of China, as though you are actually there!

Enjoyed the Easy Earth Science for Kids Website all about China info? Take the FREE & fun all about China quiz and download FREE China worksheet for kids. For lengthy info click here.

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Which country invented paper, gunpowder, silk, porcelain, printing and the magnetic compass? The answer is China. China is one of the oldest civilizations and for centuries it was ahead of the rest of the world in technology, math and science. For thousands of years, emperors ruled China.