Interesting Facts About China

China is the most populous country in the world, and one fifth of the world's population lives in China alone. Of the total population of China about 93% are Han Chinese and the rest of the population belongs to approximately 350 minority groups. From the 350 minority groups, there are 55 groups, who have their own culture, language and religion. One of the interesting facts about this Asian country, is that it is the third largest country in the world, only after Russia and Canada.

Facts about Chinese History
The history of China is much older than the Chinese civilization itself. Ancient China was ruled by a number of dynasties, hence, China has also experienced long periods of both, stability as well as instability and discord. The earliest known ruler of China was Huang Di, who is said to have ascended the throne in 2697 B.C. The People's Republic of China, as we see today, was established by the Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1949.

Facts about Government in China
China is a Communist party led state. There are three branches of government, namely, the executive branch, legislative branch and the judicial branch. The executive branch of the government consists of the President, the Vice President, the State Council and the Premier. China has a unicameral Parliament, called National People's Congress. The Supreme People's Court is where the judicial powers of China lie. The whole country is divided into 23 provinces (where Taiwan is considered as the 23rd province), along with it there are 5 autonomous regions, which includes Tibet, 5 municipalities, which are under the direct rule of the State Council.

Facts about China's Economy
According to the latest facts available about the Chinese economy, their GDP is at $4.814 trillion, which is based on the exchange rate. The per capita GDP is at $3678, again based on exchange rate. The real growth rate of GDP is at 8.7%. China is the world's largest producer of rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley, as well as the commercial crops like cotton, apples, oilseeds, etc. It is also well-known for its variety of livestock products. China had about $1.194 trillion worth exports in 2009. The major export items include data processing equipment, apparels, iron and steel, etc.

Facts about Chinese Culture
The Chinese language is an important part of the Chinese culture and heritage. The Chinese language is actually a closely related, yet mutually unintelligible group of languages. All the different Chinese languages belong to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages.

In Chinese culture, one looks towards the ground, when one is greeting someone. The greetings are normally formal, and there is a tradition of greeting the oldest person first. In China, gifts are exchanged at the Chinese New Year, weddings, births, etc. When the gifts are given, they should be presented with two hands. There is a tradition not to open gifts, when they are received. At the same time, the gifts may not be readily accepted. It is common to see people refuse the gifts thrice before they are accepted.

If a person is invited home for food, it is expected, that the guest remove his/her shoes before entering the house. Bringing a small gift for the hostess is a common tradition. If there are a number of guests invited, then the guest of honor will be seated in a seat facing the door. Unlike in other cultures, it is the host who starts eating first.

10 Interesting Facts about China
We will now see some interesting fun facts about China.

1. Most of us are fond of ice cream, but do you know, where was it invented? Well, you guessed it right. It was indeed invented in China, when soft milk and rice mixture were packed in snow.
2. Not only was ice cream invented in China, so was paper, printing technology, compass, gunpowder and not to forget fireworks. The toilet paper was also invented in China and could be used only by the Emperor.
3. One of the random facts about China is that the use of natural gas for fuel also started in China.
4. The musical instruments invented in China include pinyin, zheng, qin, sheng, xiao and the pipa.
5. Like is the case with India, the entire of China lies in one time zone.
6. You may not believe, China has in total 14 neighboring countries and 4 seas.
7. China may be the only country, where there are different driving rules. In entire China, cars are left hand driven, only in Hong Kong cars are still right hand drives.
8. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games were the most expensive games in history and the total cost of the games was way more than $40 billion.
9. The largest public gathering place is located in Beijing and is the famous Tienanmen Square.
10. The largest dam in the world is also located in China. The name of the dam is the Three Gorges Dam.

These were some of the interesting facts about China. The world should be grateful for the numerous Chinese inventions, also without each one of them, the world would not have been able to make the progress, which the world has made today.