Prepare to be Shocked: 100 Mind-Blowing Facts About China You Won’t Believe! 😲

100 Fun Facts about China You Have To See To Believe

China is a country that never ceases to amaze and surprise.

In this blog post, we’ve compiled a list of 100 fun and surprising facts about China that you might not have known before.

Whether you’re a history buff, a foodie, or just someone who loves learning new things, there’s something for everyone on this list. From the world’s largest population to the invention of paper money, you’ll discover a wide range of fascinating tidbits about China that will broaden your understanding of this incredible country.

So come along on a journey through the fascinating and surprising world of China and discover 100 fun facts!

Land And Population Facts about China

Construction Facts About China

Time Facts About China

Holiday Facts About China

Consumption Facts About China

Invention Facts About China

History Facts About China

The People and Cultural Facts About China

Law Facts about China

Interesting Facts About China

Language Facts About China

Land And Population Facts about China

1. China has the 4th largest land mass after Russia, Canada and America.

2. China is the largest Asian country by land mass.

3. China has the longest combined land border in the world. This border is shared with 14 other countries.

4. China is around 9,596,960 sq km. Making it roughly 39 times bigger than the UK.

5. More than 100 Chinese cities have a population greater than 1 million people

6. Tianjin is the 4th largest city in China and is the birthplace of the first university in China.

7. China has 5 representatives in the top 20 most populated cities in the world.

8. 18.41% of the people in the world are Chinese.

Beijing Metro Map: Discover all 459 Stations and 25 Lines

Beijing Metro 2022 – The Insiders Guide to the Beijing Subway System Taking a brief look at the Beijing metro map may cause confusion… So many lines, so many colours. Beijing is a big city.And guess what, it’s getting bigger….

9. On average 34 children are born every minute in China.

10. Between 1980 and 2015 the population of Shenzhen went from 58,000 to 10.7 million.

11. Hong Kong on the other hand only went from 4.6 million to 7.3 million in that same time period.

12. 94% of the entire Chinese population live in the same 43% of the of China.

13. Hong Kong was ruled by the British in 1841 and given back to China in 1997.

14. Macau was ruled by the Portuguese from 1887 and similarly given back in 1999.

15. Today Macau is the most densely populated region in the entire world.

16. China has the highest and third lowest point in the world. Mount Everest stands at 8,848m (29,029 ft) and the Turpan depression is -154m (-505 ft) below sea level.

Construction Facts About China

17. China used more cement between 2011 and 2013 than the U.S. used in the entire 20th Century.

18. There is a new skyscraper built in China every five days.

19. In the top 10 tallest buildings in the world, China holds positions 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th.

20. Chinese Railway lines could loop around the earth twice.

21. China has 26,869 km (16,696 mi) of the worlds 41,222 km (25,614 mi) high speed rail meaning it has 65%.

22. China has 10 times more high-speed rail than Japan.

23. In 2015 China’s high-speed rail had 800 million commuters!

24. The Forbidden City was literally forbidden to commoners.

25. There are 9,999 rooms in the Forbidden City.

26. Not surprisingly given fact 25 the number nine is a lucky number in China.

27. The average new home price in Beijing is about 34,000 Yuan ($5050 USD) per square meter.

28. The most expensive home ever sold in mainland China went for 1,000,000,000 Yuan (£113 million/$149 million). It’s a 1,663-acre estate is named Taohuayuan, which translates to “Utopia” or “Peace Blossom Land,” located on a private island on the city of Suzhou’s Dushu Lake.

Time Facts About China

29. China doesn’t have daylight savings.

30. Despite China spanning five geographical time zones the official national standard time is on ‘Beijing Time’.

31. China has its own calendar. The traditional Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar which reckons years, months and days according to astronomical phenomena.

32. Although modern-day China uses the Gregorian calendar, the traditional Chinese calendar governs holidays (such as the Chinese New Year). Its dates often guide people in selecting auspicious days for weddings, funerals, moving, or starting a business.

Holiday Facts About China

33. Spring Festival is the biggest human migration on the planet with approximately 3 billion people taking trips between January 21st and March 1st.

34. Travel and tourism revenue over Golden Week reached $87 Billion USD during the 2018 holiday.

Consumption Facts About China

35. Half the world’s pigs are in China.

36. Chinese people consume around 74 million tonnes of pork, beef and poultry each year.

37. China uses 45 billion disposable chopsticks every year.

38. There are around 4,600 shopping malls in China. That might sound low but to put it in perspective that’s four times the amount to the US and around half the mall’s worldwide.

39. There are 5000 KFC restaurants in China making it the most dominant fast-food chain. Macdonald has half the stores in China with only 2500.

40. 1 in 3 of all the worlds socks are made in a Datang in Zhuji China. Not surprisingly this place is often referred to as sock city.

41. In 2017, 38.97 billion instant noodles were sold in China that’s According to the World Instant Noodles Association.

42. In 2018, 142.7 million metric tons of rice was consumed in China.

43. The Asian Arowana fish or better know as dragonfish (lóng yú) is seen as a symbol of good luck and prosperity. Due to overfishing, their value has gone up tenfold across Asia. The record for the highest selling one goes to an anonymous Chinese buyer for $300,000 USD.

44. Every five weeks, 9,500 brand new electric buses take to the roads in China.

45. China is the largest beer market in the world with an annual consumption of 45.7 billion litres, twice as much as the US, and more than five times what Germany.

46. Out of the 60 million coin and stamp collectors in the world, 20 million are Chinese.

Brand New Beijing Airport – Welcome to Beijing Daxing Airport

The new Beijing Daxing Airport is impressive and one day it’ll be the world’s busiest, but what does it look like? Come and find out with Max and Cam

Invention Facts About China

47. Toilet paper was invented in China but initially, it was for the emperor’s use only.

48. China invented ice-cream! It dates back to 200BCE.

49. Starting in the Zhou dynasty, royals and high-status individuals would grow their fingernails long as a symbol that they don’t work a manual labour job. It’s a tradition that is still around today.

50. Not surprisingly due to their love of long nails. China invented nail polish around 3000 BC. The ingredients included beeswax, egg whites, gelatine, and vegetable dyes.

DID YOU KNOW – We also have 100 more facts about Singapore!

History Facts About China

51. The famous Silk Road got its name from Silk being the primary export from China. It was invented around 2696BC. It was so valuable that anyone caught telling the secret of how it’s made or stealing silkworms was put to death.

52. The world’s most devastating earthquake hit China in 1556 killing 830’000 people.

53. China was sometimes known as the Flowery Land in the 19th century. However, this was only due to a translation error.

54. Chinese history is broken up into dynasties starting with the Xia dynasty in 2070 BCE.

55. The Great Wall of China was built over a period of 22 centuries.

Great Wall of China Map (2022 Update) | 10 Best Sections to Visit

Great Wall of China Map | 10 Best Sections to Visit The Great Wall of China is steeped in vast amounts of history, and is one of the most interesting and diverse places to visit. It stretches across miles and…

56. The 2008 Olympics in Beijing was the most expensive in history. Estimated cost 19.34 billion yuan.

57. The history of tea dates back to ancient China, almost 5,000 years ago.

58. In 2016 Rio Olympics China took out gold in every single ping pong event.

59. The only female to rule China officially was the Tang Dynasty Empress Wu Zetian.

Click below to read more about Empress Wu Zetian and some other badass women from Chinese history.

60. Chinese records from the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) include details about using handprints as evidence during burglary investigations.

61. Baijiu is China’s national liquor. This potent spirit has been around since at least the 2nd century BCE. It’s alcohol volume‎ ranges from ‎28-65%.

62. An 80-year-old Baijie called Moutai, made by Kweichow Moutai in 1940 was sold in China for a record RMB 1.97 million (US$294,345).

63. The famous Chinese Terracotta Army was found by accident by farmers digging a well in 1974.

64. In 2010 archaeologists found a 2400-year-old bowl of soup in Xi’an.

The People and Cultural Facts About China

65. There are 56 different ethnic groups in China.

66. 52% of the population do not consider themselves to be religious.

67. Chinese civilisation can be traced back 40 centuries.

68. More than 30 million people live in caves in China, in Shaanxi province.

69. White is the colour of mourning and thus is always worn at funerals as a symbol of death.

70. Red is always worn at weddings a symbol of happiness.

71. The pronunciation of four (四 sì) is similar to the pronunciation of death (死 sǐ). For this reason, building skip level 4 all together when numbering floors.

72. 85% of the population share the same 100 last names.

Law Facts about China

73. A law passed in 2013 says children must ‘visit their parents‘ if they’re over the age of 60. No one has been fined yet by this law.

74. All pandas are the property of China. Any panda in another country is on loan from China.

75. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Google and lots of other websites are blocked in China.

Interesting Facts About China

76. The nominal Gross domestic product (GDP) of China is $12.405 trillion making it the second largest economy in the world.

77. You can study to become a tea master at Eh Shanghai Tea Institute. At the highest-level students are required to play the traditional Guzheng stringed instrument, perform a flawless tea-serving ceremony, speak a foreign language to entertain overseas guests and distinguish between about 1,000 different types of Chinese tea.

78. China has its own bigfoot called Yeran he supposedly lives in the remote mountainous forested regions of western Hubei.

79. ‘Peking Man’, a species of Homo erectus similar to modern humans, was discovered in the caves of Zhoukoudian near to Beijing.

80. Although it sounds like the name of one person “Peking Man” actually refers to a collection of skulls, teeth and bones believed to be the remains of around 40 individuals of both sexes.

81. The People’s Republic of China doesn’t have an official national flower. However, during the Republic of China period of modern Chinese history, Plum blossom was officially named the national flower as a symbol for resilience and perseverance. Plum blossoms often bloom vibrantly even in the harshest winter snows.

82. China has 3 national animals, Chinese dragon (mythical), Giant panda and red-crowned crane (bird).

83. The limestone karst mountains near Guilin in Guangxi Province were used to portray the Wookie planet of Kashyyyk in Star Wars’ Revenge of The Sith.

84. The towering peaks and rock pillars of Hunan Province’s Zhangjiajie National Park are said to be the inspiration for the Hallelujah Mountains in Avatar (2009). Although director James Cameron has never given his support to this theory, these beautiful mountains are really worth a visit.

85. The dingo is a native Australian dog that actually originated from southern China anywhere between 4600 and 18,300 years ago.

86. Having rhesus negative blood is very rare in China. Only 0.3% of the population have it. An old phrase describing RH negative blood as being ‘as rare as a panda’, has led to it being known as “panda blood”.

87. Chinese people often add an element of superstition to belief about blood types – they believe that knowing whether you have A, B, AB, or O type blood will be able to tell us something about a person’s personality.

88. Only 120 million Chinese nationals have a passport for international travel. That’s about 8.7% of the population.

89. The highest and lowest temperatures recorded in Turpan China range from 49°C (120F) in summer to -29°C (-20F) in winter.

90. The Chinese military has the most active soldiers in the world compared to any other army. The number sits around 2 million.

Language Facts About China

91. Chinese is the oldest written language still in use today. The earliest evidence of Chinese writings dates back to the Shang Dynasty king Wu Ding (1250–1192 BC).

92. According to Ethnologue China has 292 spoken living languages.

女书 Nüshu – Unraveling The Secret Script of Chinese Women

女书 Nüshu – A Fascinating Tale of Chinese Language and Culture Nüshu – the Secret Script, but what is the use? No one knows exactly when or how Nüshu was created. Was the reason for its emergence a society deeply…

93. Women of Jiangyong county in Hunan province invented a secret script that only women could read and write: Nüshu (literally meaning “women’s writing”).

94. The most famous of Chinese loanwords in English is ketchup, which is said to come for the Cantonese 茄汁 ke zap meaning ‘tomato juice’.

95. ‘Beijing’ means northern capital (北京).

96. There is also a city called ‘southern capital’ – this is ‘Nanjing (南京).

97. The Chinese word for Tokyo “东京” means Eastern Capital in Chinese.

98. Beijing has been known by many different names throughout Chinese history, including “Nanjing” Southern Capital in the Liao Dynasty and “Zhongdu” “Central capital” in the Later Jin Dynasty. This is probably due to the location of Beijing in relation to the borders of “China” at the time of these dynasties.

99. The word for “Kangaroo” in Chinese is literally “ Pouch Mouse” 袋鼠.

100. 1.1 billion people speak Mandarin as their first language making it the most commonly spoken language on the planet.

If you would like to be one of them. Why not come to China and study at LTL Mandarin School?

Facts About China – FAQ’s

Want more from LTL?

If you wish to hear more from LTL Mandarin School why not join our mailing list.

Sign up below and become part of our ever growing community.

WANT TO STUDY CHINESE FREE FOR A WEEK? Check out Flexi Classes and get 7 days for free.

We’ve got the best teachers, from the comfort of your own home!

BONUS | Want to learn Chinese in China? Check out our lessons in Beijing.

Subscribe

Loading...