Random Facts About China

People's Republic of China, or simply China, is one of the oldest civilizations in the world since the last 4000 years. China is also the largest country in East Asia and reportedly one fifth of the world's population lives in this country! This country is rich in culture and traditions, landscape beauty, wildlife and is known for inventions that shaped world history. On the east, the country is lined with ports and mega cities. The southeastern regions consist of tropical lowlands and jungles. There are many such random facts about China, that you can learn about if you continue reading this article.

Random Facts About China History
The Chinese history is as old as the Chinese civilization itself. China was divided into different regions ruled by warlords. Ancient Chin was united into a single empire after 221 BC with the rise of Qin dynasty. Imperial China remained in existence till 1912 and after the defeat of Japan in 1945, China became the People's Republic. The Republic was established by Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1949.

Random Facts About China's Flag
The meaning of Chinese flag is very interesting to note. According to the Chinese flag history, the current flag design was adopted in 1949. There are specific meanings attached to the Chinese flag colors. According to Chinese flag information, the red color background stands for the blood shed associated with the Chinese revolution. The large gold star stands for the leadership of China and the four stars surrounding it represent the four classes of Chinese society, the peasants, workers, bourgeoisie and the capitalists.

Random Facts About China's Food
Chinese food is popular around the world and many times we find we're helping ourselves to Chinese take away. The Chinese food and drinks is as old and varied, filled with the essence of Chinese culture. Chinese use chopsticks instead of spoons to eat their foods. The chopsticks are two slender sticks held between the fingers and used to pick up food like rice and noodles. A chopstick is made up of wood, bamboo and plastic. The most famous beverage in China is tea, that is a part of the Chinese lifestyle. Tea is considered to be a medicinal concoction according to ancient Chinese medicine. Other interesting foods include noodles, dumplings and dim sum.

Random Facts About China's Cultural Heritage
China is known for some of its man- made structures that has become a part of cultural heritage and pride of the nation. One such man-made wonder is the Great Wall of China. It was built from the point on the Gulf of Liantung that is westerly to the Yellow River, it runs about 100 miles south and then northwest for several hundred miles to the Desert of Gobi. It is said to be about 1,250 to 1,500 miles in length. There are many interesting facts about the Great Wall of China. It was made by the Qin emperors in the 3rd century to prevent smuggling. Later on, the following dynasties continued the construction of the wall to keep the invading Mongolian tribes away.

Next, comes Beijing or the Forbidden city of China. This is a palace complex that serves as a window to Chinese palatial architecture, culture and traditions. It the largest palace complex and covers over 74 hectors. It is rectangular in shape and present to the north of Tienanmen Square. In 1987, it was declared a World Heritage Site. It is even listed by the UNESCO as the largest preservation of ancient wooden structures in the world.

When one talks about random facts about China, one cannot afford to miss mentioning the Terracotta Army. This is one of the most rare and intriguing escalation sites that was discovered by accident. A peasant who was digging for water discovered the man-made Terracotta Army in 1974. It was a few miles away from First Emperor of Qin's tomb. This army has thousands of clay soldiers, horses and chariots that are built life-size. Each and every soldier of the army has different faces, hairstyles, expressions. It is said, this army was built to protect the emperor in his after life.

Interesting Facts About China
There are many interesting random facts about China that are really fun to read about.

• Around 2000 BC, something that everyone loves - ice cream was made in China for the first time. This was accomplished by packing soft milk and rice mixture in snow.
• The word China may have been derived from the name of Qin dynasty of China (pronounced Chin).
• The first emperor of China Emperor Qin Shi Huang (260 - 210 BC) was the first person to unite China in 221 BC.
• China is the fourth largest country in the world with an area of about 3,719,275 square miles.
• You will be surprised to know, 1 in 5 people in the world is Chinese.
• The population of China is four times the population of United States.
• Toilet paper was invented in China in late 1300s and could be used only by Emperors.
• Chinese are known to have invented paper, printing, compass, gunpowder and fireworks.
• Even though China is a very large country, it falls under just one time zone.
• There are about 14 countries and 4 seas that border China.
• The climate of China is extremely varied due to its large size, there is the sub-arctic climate in North and tropical climate in South
• There are over 3240 television broadcasts stations and 259 FM channels in China.
• People in China follow the right hand drive, whereas cars in Hong Kong follow the left hand drive, like the British.
• The most traditional Chinese greeting is 'Chi Le Mei You', that means, 'Have you eaten?'.
• The largest public gathering place in the world is Tienanmen Square and the largest dam in the world is the Three Georges Dam in China.
• It is a myth that the Great Wall of China is visible from space. It cannot be seen as it is too thin.
• The fossils of 'Homo gigantus' or 'Big Foot' also called the 'Yeti' are found in China.
• In 955 AD, Liu Ch'ing became the governor of what was then China's Shansi province. It is interesting to note that he was born with two pupils in both his eyes.
• The Giant Pandas are China's national treasure and only 1,600 of them are living in the wild today.
• In some parts of China, young, unmarried girls wore two pigtails and one pigtail indicated a married woman.
• The most expensive games in history are the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. They are estimated to have cost over USD 40 billion.

These were a few of the interesting facts about china. China is a great country that is rich in culture. China has given to the world many great Chinese inventions, without which we would still be running a few centuries back. This is all about some of the random facts about china. Hope you too have enjoyed reading these random facts about China and learned something new about this magnificent country.