Interesting facts about China have always attracted the attention of inquisitive people. After all, China has one of the oldest cities in the world, which is full of unusual events, discoveries, etc.
Today China occupies one of the leading places among the world, both politically and economically.
Happy reading!
The air in China is very polluted
Many Chinese cities are very dirty. This problem especially concerns such megacities as Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Research by ecologists suggests that a person spending one day in such a city causes harm to his body equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes.
In 2013, a case was recorded that occurred with an eight-year-old girl. She was diagnosed with lung cancer caused by air pollution, making her the youngest patient with the disease.
That same year, in one of the Chinese cities, the smog was so strong that it was difficult for residents to see the people they were walking on the street.
In the capital of China, in the period 2002-2011, cases of oncology increased from 63 to 10,000. Over the last 30 years alone, in this country it has increased almost 5 times.
Flavor enhancers
Monosodium glutamate, which is one of the most popular flavoring additives in the world, is used in all dishes in China without exception.
When purchasing products, you can check for its presence in the composition. It is designated as food additive E621.
Two liter plates
Chinese soup is different from ours in many ways. Essentially, it is a broth that the Chinese consume after their main meal. In Chinese restaurants, visitors are served soup in two-liter bowls.
Such a large portion is explained by the fact that residents of this country usually dine with friends. Therefore, a two-liter plate serves as food for the whole company at once.
"Capitalist" sites
An interesting fact is that in communist China access to well-known Western Internet resources is blocked.
The authorities raise citizens to be true patriots, “showing” them the correct views on life from childhood. Today, the PRC remains one of the most closed government systems.
More expensive than meat
An interesting fact is that animal by-products in China are more expensive than meat. A real delicacy for the Chinese, unlike Europeans, are kidneys, liver, paws and even heads of animals or birds. Therefore, their prices are much higher.
Chinese spontaneity
In everyday life, the Chinese often behave like children. They can safely lie down on a bench or take some unusual pose in a public place.
When yawning, the Chinese do not even try to cover their mouth with their palm, not to mention the fact that it is quite normal for them to spit and belch in public.
An interesting fact is that for this reason, even on trains and subways you can see signs with the inscription “don’t spit.”
Living keychains in China
The Chinese are quite cynical about animals. For example, they sell keychains with live turtles or fish. They are simply placed in small plastic containers, which are then attached to keys or other things.
Naturally, neither animals nor fish can survive for long in such conditions, and within a couple of days (and sometimes months) they die. But this does not matter, since the Chinese will again go to the market to buy a non-standard keychain for themselves.
Live foods in Chinese stores
In Chinese supermarkets, live turtles and frogs may be sold in display cases. The buyer can choose the product he likes, which is immediately packed and wrapped in appropriate packaging.
Drinks in a cafe
In China, visitors coming to a cafe can take drinks with them. An interesting fact is that food in the country is quite cheap. For a relatively small amount of money, a person will be able to place a good order. Drinks can either be purchased on site or brought with you.
There are 56 nationalities living in China
China is a multinational state. However, more than 90% of the total population is Chinese (Han). The overwhelming majority of the indigenous people of China are atheists.
Among the religions, the most popular are Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.
Today, about 7% of Chinese are Christians. An interesting fact is that, despite the active struggle of the current government against Christianity, the number of Christians is steadily growing.
Sworn Enemies
Surely you know that China and China are sworn enemies. Moreover, their confrontation is rooted deep in history. By the way, .
For many centuries, these countries have hated each other. Much of the hostility between them is due to disputed territories. In the 20th century, the conflict flared up with renewed vigor, leading to dire consequences:
- More than 35 million people were killed or injured;
- Losses from military conflicts reached $600 billion;
- About 8 million prisoners taken from both sides were used as labor;
- The Japanese tortured Chinese prisoners and tested various types of biological weapons on them. There was an incident where Japan began bombing China with fleas infected with bubonic plague.
Trousers with slits
Chinese children do not wear underwear. Moreover, at the age of 5, parents put on trousers with a slit between the legs.
Obviously, such clothes help the child's body to breathe.
Little Buddhas
A Chinese child is a little Buddha, so he can literally do anything. Interestingly, until the age of 5, children are allowed to do whatever they want because they are considered holy creatures.
A child can make noise and play around without fear of being punished for it. Moreover, he is even allowed to relieve himself on the street or in a restaurant.
Chinese online stores
Chinese online stores are extremely popular. You can buy almost any item there, even a fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite. Also, if you wish, you can use different types of services or even rent a person.
Chinese food is very fatty
In China, the most popular dishes are pork, fish with side dishes, pasta and, of course, rice. All these foods are cooked with large amounts of oil, which makes the food excessively greasy.
In the morning, Chinese people do tai chi on the streets.
Taiji is one of the types of Chinese martial arts that is also practiced as. Many people in China take to the streets in the morning to practice Tai Chi.
Dating in transitions
An interesting fact is that, despite the large size of the nation, it is quite difficult for the Chinese to find a life partner. Due to long studies and long hours of work, they do not have time to meet new people.
As a result, an original solution was invented. Underground passages began to designate special places where people can get to know each other.
You can also leave some letters or postcards there with your contacts or wishes.
Taste quirks of the Chinese
In Chinese stores you can see unusual products that, in our understanding, seem very strange. Here are a few of these “oddities”:
- sweet gingerbread with onions;
- chestnut cookies;
- meat candy;
- colored bread;
- sweet smoked sausage, etc.
The Chinese do not consume milk or cottage cheese.
This trend has been observed for a long time. If it’s still sold in the supermarket, then you definitely won’t find fermented baked milk there. is on sale, but only foreigners buy it.
Where to give birth
Before giving birth, many Chinese women who have this opportunity move to China to give birth to their child there.
The fact is that Hong Kong has a special status, even though it is part of the PRC. Its citizens have the right to visa-free entry into European countries and some other privileges.
Trees for Chinese chopsticks
Every year, about 20 million trees are cut down in China to make 80 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks.
To produce such a quantity of sticks, the Chinese have to cut down not only their own trees, but also purchase additional wood from other countries.
Well, a very interesting fact about the Chinese
Did you know that wealthy Chinese sentenced to prison hire doubles to serve their sentences in their place?
This practice is indeed common in China. The people even have a term - “ding zui”, which translates as “replace the criminal.”
Chinese weddings with a ghost
In such weddings, one or both spouses are deceased. It’s quite difficult to say how long ago this ritual appeared.
It is carried out with the following purpose: if a widow wants to prove her love to her deceased husband, she can marry him again so that her lover will be happy in the other world.
Cave people
Some Chinese still prefer to live in caves, like. Previously we wrote about unique.
An interesting fact is that the number of Chinese living inside the caves is greater than the population? More than 30 million Chinese today successfully live in stone dwellings, where it is cool in summer and, on the contrary, warm in winter.
Chinese fake eggs
Did you know that the Chinese have learned to make artificial eggs? One resident of this country can produce more than 1000 pieces per day.
It is worth noting that such eggs are similar to real eggs only in appearance. They differ significantly in taste and composition.
Material measures of success in China
According to surveys, more than 70% of Chinese residents evaluate a person’s success by the things that he was able to acquire.
There is a known case when one Chinese bought himself 99 iPhones simply to show his worth.
On vacation with your boss
Chinese billionaire Li Jinyuan took 6,400 of his employees with him on vacation. To do this, he had to book about 140 hotels.
He also organized various excursions for his employees, after which he invited them to relax on the Cote d'Azur. An interesting fact is that such “antics” on the part of bosses in China are not a rare occurrence.
Villages selling things on Taobao
Not so long ago, residents of Chinese villages in Jiangsu province worked in the fields and were engaged in cattle breeding. However, their lives soon changed dramatically.
Today, part of this population survives by selling goods on Taobao and Alibaba. They make furniture, clothing and various equipment. The number of such villages is gradually increasing.
Chinese mosquito factory
In the Guangzhou region, a huge factory producing . Every day, factory workers release more than 100,000 sterilized mosquitoes into the wild.
This is being done to combat dengue fever, for which no vaccine has yet been developed. About 22,000 Chinese die every year from this terrible disease.
Half of Chinese people don't take vacations
This unusual decision by Chinese civil servants is explained by the reluctance of workers to make a bad impression on management.
They try to do everything possible to gain the trust of their superiors and have good prospects for career growth.
90% robotic factories
In China, construction has begun on a factory where robots will perform all the main work. The factory plans to produce various parts for mobile devices.
This practice is becoming increasingly widespread, and there are 2 key reasons for this:
- Lack of a sufficient number of people willing to work in the factory;
- Low cost of remuneration for specialists.
An interesting fact is that the second reason explains the first.
Public shaming of smokers
In 2015, the Chinese authorities tightened the smoking ban. It concerns those people who, contrary to the law, smoke cigarettes in unauthorized places.
Now, if a smoker is caught three times, information about him will be entered on the official government website.
This will cause the offender to “lose face.” For the Chinese, this could be a real disaster.
China is building a car-free city
The government of the People's Republic of China plans to build a city where more than half of its area will be occupied by gardens.
Chinese ghost town
In 2007, the Chinese built an exact mini-copy of the capital, Paris. Initially, the architects planned that about 10,000 people would live in this city.
However, currently no more than 2,000 citizens live there. The creators of the Chinese “Paris” also planned to build educational and medical institutions there, but the project was frozen.
Prisons without trial
An interesting fact is that it is in Beijing that many illegal prisons are located. As a rule, they imprison those Chinese who, upon arrival in the capital, decided to complain about the local authorities.
People can be kept in custody from a couple of days to several months. Prisoners often have to pay bribes in order to be released.
In the end, it is worth noting that such unusual and even strange facts occur in China not by chance. After all, the country's population exceeds 1 billion people. Considering the fact that the majority live extremely poorly, it is no wonder that unusual things are common there.
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Hello, lovers of everything interesting and educational. Today we will take a look at the most interesting facts about China and the Chinese, which will be useful both for children who study the world around them, and for adults for their overall development. China is a special, unknown civilization that has created immortal treasures in science, culture, philosophy, and medicine. Few countries contain so many funny, educational and interesting things in their history.
1. China's army is the largest in the world. Well, this is no wonder. With such a huge population, the size of the armed forces simply cannot be small.
2. The area of the People's Republic of China is about 10,000,000 square kilometers. The country's population is 1.38 billion people, a record value for our planet. And taking into account the Chinese settled in other countries, this figure is approaching 2 billion.
3. One of the most important spices in Chinese cooking is monosodium glutamate, which enhances the taste of a particular product. We also have enough of this goodness in our products, especially in various chips, crackers, seasonings, etc. But in our country it is not sold separately in stores and is only an additive for production. In the Middle Kingdom, this additive is easily sold in bags along with salt, pepper and other spices.
4. The most famous landmark of the PRC is, which is the longest architectural structure in the world (8800 km). However, the length of its preserved part is 2400 km.
5. Another important attraction is the burial complex of Emperor Qin, discovered relatively recently, in 1974, which includes a tomb and a Terracotta Army of 1,000 warriors, horses and chariots.
6. The great recognized inventions of the Chinese are paper, the compass, gunpowder and the printing press.
7. More than 3000 BC The Chinese began to produce silk. The export of cocoons and silkworms was punishable by death. Many secrets of Chinese silk are kept secret even now.
8. The Chinese have an ancient and complex writing system, which currently contains about 100,000 characters. A decent level is to master 5000 hieroglyphs. It is believed that calligraphy and writing hieroglyphs contributes to moral and spiritual self-improvement. This is why the Chinese keyboard simply does not exist. Imagine a bandura with so many buttons.
9. The first mechanical watches were created in China a thousand years ago, which, in addition to determining the time of day, also set the phases of the constellations.
10. Although the inventor of parachutes is Leonardo da Vinci, to be fair, the Chinese were flying kites as early as the fourth century, which they invented 3,000 years ago.
11. The Chinese long before Harvey in the 3rd century AD. found that blood flows in the body through the vessels as a result of heart contractions.
12. The Chinese are the founders of acupuncture treatment, which was practiced more than 500 years ago.
13. The main holiday in China is considered to be the Chinese New Year, the addition of years is counted from it, and it is considered as a universal birthday.
14. The color of mourning in China is white, unusual for Europeans, and the color of joy and happiness is red. It is widely used in festive decorations for weddings, festivals, etc.
15. The Chinese symbol of good luck is the bat, so it is often used to decorate dishes and fabrics.
16. Chinese tea drinking dates back 1800 years, with white tea considered the most refined. Therefore, one of the iconic features of this State is the well-known tea ceremony, which is held all over the world. Well, what can we even talk about if the word “tea” itself is Chinese.
17. The most common greeting in China means “Have you eaten?”
18. Taking and giving with both hands is considered a sign of respect.
19. If in most countries black is the color of grief and mourning, then in this civilization everything is exactly the opposite. Here the mourning color is white. But the Chinese associate the color red with the holiday.
20. Despite their way of life and traditions, many people notice that they treat animals without any compassion. The percentage of cruelty to animals in this country is much higher than ours. In addition, some people manage to raise a lot of money on animals.
21. Many people are accustomed to calling chopsticks Japanese. Most likely, this stereotype has developed due to the fact that in Russia they most often eat Japanese sushi with it. But in fact, chopsticks were invented in China 3,000 years ago. This is evidenced by archaeological research.
22. The Chinese language is generally very difficult to master. Many words need to be pronounced with a certain tone, otherwise you may simply be misunderstood or not even understand what you wanted to say. It is not for nothing that this language is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the most difficult in the world.
23. Despite the complexity of the Chinese language, there are some aspects that make it easier to learn. For example, gagols have no tense, but nouns have gender. In addition, there is simply no punctuation here. Surely this fun fact about China will be of interest to those children and schoolchildren.
24. It sounds strange, but among the people of China there are no such words as “Yes” and “No”. But there are many other particles with which they confirm or deny something. Examples of such particles are words that can be translated as exactly, correctly, good, bad, disgusting, etc.
25. The basis of the diet of this people is rice. However, you probably already knew this. But the Chinese people do not particularly favor liver, such as kidneys and liver, in their diet.
26. China is such an ancient civilization that things that are more than 8,000 years old are still being found in archaeological excavations.
27. Another important interesting fact about China and the Chinese is their attitude towards technology. One Chinese young man wanted an iPad so badly that he decided to sell his kidney. With the proceeds, he bought not only an iPad, but also an iPhone. Naturally, the student’s joy knew no bounds. But the happiness did not last long, because after a while the second kidney could not stand it and failed. As a result, the guy needed a transplant. And all because of the love for the gadget.
28. In most cases, students who go to study abroad never return to their native land. They get so used to life in the states that after this they are no longer drawn to home.
29. Brad Pitt is banned from China because he starred in a film "7 years in Tibet". Residents of the celestial state considered this film propaganda and banned entry into the country of everyone involved in this film.
30. In 2010, the largest traffic jam was recorded in China, stretching for 100 kilometers. It took 11 days for it to resolve. Drivers' worst nightmare.
31. There is a body catcher in this country. The idea is to catch drowned people from bodies of water. The fact is that China has a very high rate of suicide among the population.
32. In China, access to global Western resources such as Google, Twitter or Facebook is prohibited. The authorities believe that children should grow up to be true patriots and love their country. But don’t think that their situation is like the DPRK. Here the Internet is publicly accessible and they have their own analogues of search engines and social networks, which are attended by hundreds of millions of people. The Chinese search engine baidu is one of the top 5 most frequently visited sites in the world. Naturally, this happens due to the population, because only the Chinese live there.
But even these restrictions do not prevent people from finding workarounds and calmly surfing bourgeois sites. More than 100 million people from China are registered on Facebook alone.
33. Now a little about the children of China. Here you can often see children under the age of five walking around in strange pants with holes between their legs. This is done so that the baby’s skin breathes, does not rot, and at any time you can relieve yourself without taking off your pants.
34. Tens of millions of trees are cut down every year to make disposable chopsticks. But the worst thing is that there are not many trees in China, so now they are cutting down our forests for this business.
35. If a rich man is convicted of any crime, he can easily hire a double who will serve time for him. Moreover, this movement has become so popular that it even has its own name, ding zui.
36. It sounds strange, but more than 30 million Chinese live in caves. Moreover, they like it because it is warm in winter and cool in summer.
37. A fun fact is that there is a mosquito factory in China. Residents of Guangzhou province breed mosquitoes, sterilize them and release them into the wild. In this way they are trying to fight dengue fever, which has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of residents.
38. Also in this country there is a mini-town, which is a copy of Paris. There are major attractions and even several thousand people live here. True, they are all essentially employees of this park. But locals usually don’t come here. Mini-Paris is a popular destination for tourists who come here for budget photography.
39. The dragon is the most revered symbol among animals, despite the fact that it is a mythical creature. Therefore, the dragon can always be seen at various holidays and parades.
40. Everyone's favorite cold dessert was also invented in ancient China. Residents learned how to make a delicacy by mixing berries and fruits with snow crumbs. This recipe came to Europe thanks to the famous traveler Marco Polo.
41. The famous table tennis was also invented in this Asian country. Naturally, you already realized that there it is called Ping Pong. However, it is also called in other countries, and even here.
42. We all know that China had a “One Family, One Child” law to avoid overpopulation of the country. But in 2015, they decided that this law was inappropriate and decided that there could be two children in a family. But the most interesting thing is that in China there is no VAT on contraceptives.
43. Due to the huge overpopulation in the country, there are a very large number of poor people who receive only a couple of dollars a month. In addition, in China it is considered normal to live in a room measuring 5 square meters.
44. When the Chinese greet each other, they say “Ni chifan la ma?”, which literally translates to “Have you eaten rice yet?” You should always answer this question in the affirmative, even if you haven’t eaten anything and are hungry as a wolf. It's really just a greeting and they don't care if you actually ate. Just like in Russia and the USA, it is customary to ask “How are you?”, expecting in response only “Okay, how are you?”
45. The most popular surnames in the world are Chinese - Li, Wang, Zhang. Well, actually there is nothing surprising in this. After all, China is the largest country in the world by population, but they don’t have many surnames. The state can’t even afford 500 pieces. So it turns out that almost 8% of Chinese bear the surname Li.
46. Also, Russian tourists may be surprised by the products that are sold in regular stores. For example, you can try sweet sausage, mint seeds, smoked chicken feet and even meat candy. But in the restaurant there is such a dish as sweet turtle soup. Would you dare to eat this?
47. Chinese prisoners sentenced to death are officially allowed to harvest their organs after death and transplant them to people in need. On the one hand, this is barbarism, on the other hand, during his lifetime this man was a murderer and now he can save the lives of several people. The situation is twofold.
In addition, in the PRC there are so-called death buses that travel to various prisons and carry out quick executions on sentenced prisoners. After this, organs are distributed, if they are suitable for transplantation. By the way, China carries out death penalties more often than other countries, even North Korea and Vietnam combined.
48. When we read something difficult to understand, we can call it “Chinese literacy.” But in fact, this word has nothing to do with China. Other countries have their own equivalent. For example, the British consider Greek a difficult language, and the Germans hint that anything they don’t understand is written in Spanish.
Of course, these are not all the interesting facts about China and the Chinese, and such an ancient State still has a lot of stunning things hidden. But we tried to select for you the most delicious things about China. Understanding it through books, articles, and travel will help you discover many new interesting aspects and facts of this unique civilization.
The Chinese laugh at the idea of a half-kilogram hamburger lunch when that amount of meat could feed a whole family. They laugh at the European and American education systems, and do not understand how children in the first grade do not know how to multiply. But it can also surprise, amaze and stun, and not always in a pleasant way.
In the province, 30 million Chinese live in caves. Many cave houses have been passed down for generations, while others rent for $30 a month. When they are put up for sale, the price can reach $45,000. All cave houses are not alike - some are better, others are worse. Not all houses have electricity and running water. Thanks to natural energy, they are cool in summer and warm in winter. Even Chinese leader Xi Jinping once lived in a cave house.
In China, criminals are often executed, and there are also mobile vans for carrying out executions in prisons. The exact number of those sentenced to death is unknown, since this is classified statistics, but it is believed that their number in 2015 was several thousand - this is several times more than in all countries of the world together. Most likely, this number is explained by the number of people living in the entire country. Drug dealers, corrupt officials and those accused of adultery are sentenced to death. Most sentences are carried out by lethal injection.
In many Chinese cities, walking the streets without a mask is uncomfortable. Many Chinese do not go out without masks. Many people wear a mask as a preventive measure against infectious diseases, but mainly because breathing polluted air is very harmful. The harm from smoking a pack of cigarettes a day is equivalent to the harm from walking the streets of Beijing without a mask. Smog, like the Great Wall of China, can be seen from space. In China, not only the air is polluted, but also the water - 90% of all drinking water in China is polluted!
A huge number of people live in China, which means that a huge number of cars use Chinese roads. In August 2010, the world's largest traffic jam occurred on the highway towards Tibet in Beijing. Its length was 100 km and it lasted for 10 days. In China, you can get there faster on a motorcycle, which has a separate lane. It even has a separate part of the sidewalk for smartphone users so that they do not create traffic jams among pedestrians.
China spends $200 billion a year on its military, while the United States spends $600 billion. When training the military, they use old methods, including old uniforms. Until now, the military sews white collars onto tunics. In addition, in the neck of the tunic there are special pins that stab into the neck and prevent the soldier from falling asleep on duty. In addition to dogs, geese also serve in the army and patrol the territory. The Chinese army also has a pigeon force with more than 10,000 homing pigeons. All this will come to the rescue if high technologies fail.
China occupied Tibet in 1950 and continues to eradicate Tibetan culture and expelled the Tibetan Lama to India. Communist leaders banned Tibetan monks from speaking and believing in reincarnation. After filming the film 7 Years in Tibet in Tibet, Brad Pitt was banned from entering China for 15 years. In addition to the ban on reincarnation, China has introduced a law that forces people to visit their family members who are over 60 years old.
You can rent cheap Chinese wedding attire from online stores. The original dress can be purchased here for $150. You can also add bridesmaids to it for $30 a week.
There are more Christians in the country than in Europe and the USA. 10% of Chinese consider themselves to be a state religion, and 6% consider themselves atheists. Other Chinese practice religions such as Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam.
No one would think that it is possible to get a PhD in bra science. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University offers a degree in textile exports, as China is the world's largest exporter. There are entire cities in China that specialize in the production of socks or bras.
From 1980 to 2015, there was a law that allowed one child per family. Given the aging of the nation and due to economic prospects, it was later allowed to have two children. Many Chinese families try to have boys more often than girls. More than 9 million abortions are performed in China every year; over 35 years, 400 million abortions have been performed here. Until now, Chinese people must obtain official permission to have a child.
China's territory is similar to that of the United States. The difference is that China is in 5 time zones, but has officially adopted one. This is very convenient for travelers. It is inconvenient for the residents themselves, since the sun rises and sets differently in different zones, but the time on the clock is the same. There are provinces where the sun has not yet risen, and it is already 10 am.
Every year, 20 million trees are destroyed in the country to make the 45 billion chopsticks that the Chinese eat. First of all, it should be noted that normal food is also eaten in China. More than half of the world's pig population is used for cooking here. You can try not only pork, but also eggs boiled in the urine of innocent boys and men. It is considered a delicacy. The Chinese also eat large cockroaches, baby mice, and duck embryos.
Dogs are not only eaten in China. Hundreds of dogs in China are dyed tiger, zebra, panda and rainbow. Some have fur colored with abstract patterns, while others have large eyebrows and mustaches on their muzzles. In 2013, a mastiff decorated to look like a lion was shown at the zoo and deceived visitors for several days. The cats escaped this fate.
Due to birth control and the passion of the Chinese for the birth of boys, successors of the family, the attitude towards girls and women in China leaves much to be desired. For every 100 women in China, there are 143 men. Women became objects of control and ownership, and their professional identity was contested and ridiculed in a male society. Despite globalization and global feminism, attitudes towards women have not improved in China. Before marriage, a girl must maintain her virginity, even if she is already well over 25. If virginity is lost, then it is necessary to undergo an operation, the cost of which is more than 700 dollars.
If a country has a huge number of people, then a lot of housing is needed, but in China they overdid it. In three years, from 2011 to 2013, the country built more residential buildings than in the United States in the entire 20th century. New skyscrapers appear every five years - and this has been the case for 70 years. There are 15 megacities in China. Each is home to more than 10 million people. There are 64 million homes empty in China, including entire cities.
In China, every 30 seconds, one child is born with a defect. Every year, the number of newborns with pathologies amounts to 900,000 children, which is 20% of the population. This is very sad, but not surprising due to the catastrophic pollution of air and water by chemicals. In addition, you need to pay attention to your diet.
Communist China has banned the population from using Facebook and Twitter. Game consoles have been banned in China as the country's population becomes dependent on cyberspace. Camps have been built throughout the country where gamers undergo physical rehabilitation. Project participants undergo intensive physical training, wear uniforms and sleep behind bars. Despite the ban and blocking of many sites, 95 million Chinese still use social networks.
China produces almost everything that is produced in different countries of the world. The Chinese government is fighting counterfeits, but their number is not decreasing. In 2011, the government closed 13,000 factories and arrested 3,000 people. 67% of all the world's counterfeits are made here and this will never stop, since such a business brings in 250 billion dollars annually.
Every year in China, 600,000 people die from backbreaking work. The suicide rate is also high. If some rich guy doesn't want to go to jail, he can pay and someone will do the time for him. It all starts from the moment of the court hearing, when another person appears instead of the real criminal, and the authorities turn a blind eye to this. If the rich man went to prison, then there is another way. If the prisoner creates a high-tech invention, the sentence may be reduced. This is also a corruption scheme, since the invention could have been made outside, purchased for money by the prisoner’s relatives and passed off as his invention.
In the summer, on the solstice day in China, a dog meat festival is held, where dishes from 10-15 thousand dogs are sold and eaten. In addition, 4 million cats are eaten here every year.
And here you can find some very strange offers. But everyone can find a job.
We live in an age of technology, when everyone has the Internet at their fingertips, and it seems that nothing can pass us by. However, there are places on earth that will surprise even an avid traveler, and having gone there, you will definitely look at the world with different eyes.
1. In China, the level of air pollution exceeds the permissible level many times over.
The level of air pollution in most Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou, is so much higher that the harm caused to health from a day in these cities is about the same as smoking a pack of cigarettes in a day.
In 2013, an 8-year-old Chinese girl living in Jiangsu province in eastern China became the youngest patient to be diagnosed with lung cancer caused by air pollution.
In Beijing and other northern Chinese cities, instrument readings often exceed the World Health Organization chart and classify high levels of harmful particles in the air (300 to 500 micrograms per cubic meter).
The northeastern city of Harbin was virtually shut down for two days in October 2013 as readings neared 1,000. The city's smog was so thick that residents claimed they couldn't see their dogs at the end of their leashes.
In Beijing, cancer cases increased from 63 to 10,000 from 2002 to 2011. Nationwide, lung cancer mortality increased by 465% over the past 3 decades, during the period of economic and industrial breakthrough.
2. In China, they add a flavor enhancer to all food products.
The flavor enhancer, or monosodium glutamate, is as popular a food additive as pepper in China. Not a single dish can be prepared without it, and it is available in all stores and sold in display cases next to sugar and salt.
3. In restaurants, soup is served in two-liter bowls.
Soup in China is not a full dish, but a broth. And consume it after the main meal. In general, the Chinese traditionally have a tradition of dining not one at a time, but with the whole group, and this 1 bowl of soup is always ordered for everyone. Therefore, when ordering a small portion of soup at a restaurant, expect about 2 liters of broth. By the way, the analogue of the Russian phrase “eat soup” is literally translated from Chinese as “drink soup.”
4. Access to popular Western Internet resources is blocked in China
Despite the recent trend in China to attract foreigners to joint cooperation, as well as to allocate various grants for free internships for foreign students, China today remains a rather closed country. Chinese children are being raised as true patriots, many of whom will never travel outside their homeland and learn about the world around them only from geography textbooks and from the limited Internet. Chinese censorship.
Facebook and Twitter have been blocked in China since 2009, but despite this, Chinese users manage to hack the system. There are currently 95 million Facebook users in China.
5. Burning ritual money on the roads of China
Chinese ritual money is ordinary paper issued for the purpose of performing the ritual of transferring it to the dead. To enable the spirits of deceased relatives to live a better life, they are given paper gifts and money, and then it is all burned. This mostly happens at funerals or on All Souls' Day.
6. Animal by-products are more expensive than meat in China.
It so happens among the Chinese that they love to eat liver and kidneys, stomachs and paws, even heads. For us this food is specific, but for them it is a delicacy. Therefore, when ordering any expensive soup in China, do not be surprised if you accidentally catch a chicken head or foot.
7. Chinese spontaneity
The Chinese resemble children in many ways. They do not burden themselves with anything and do not hold back. Going to bed in the waiting room, sprawled across a bench, is a common occurrence. When they yawn, they won’t even cover their mouth, and in a public place they may spit and burp. That’s why on Chinese trains everywhere, except for the “no smoking” sign, you can see the “don’t spit” sign everywhere.
8. Chinese living amulets and keychains
The Chinese people have never been particularly compassionate towards animals. In China there is even a saying: “We eat everything that has four legs, except the table; everything that flies except an airplane; everything that has two legs, except parents; and everything with hair, except the comb.” Therefore, their animals are used in all areas where they can make money. Namely, in widespread practice, they take small turtles and Cockerel fish, which are placed in plastic bags measuring approximately 5x5 centimeters. These bags are then attached to the keys using a carabiner. Such an accessory will not last long; in a day or two, when the animal dies, you will have to buy a new one.
Although tens of thousands of people around the world are signing petitions towards the Chinese government, this has not yet brought any results. Many caring Chinese buy up these keychains and release the animals into the wild. But this is also a controversial move, because demand creates supply.
9. Live amphibians in Chinese supermarkets
It is already difficult to surprise a modern person with anything, especially with live fish in an aquarium, when you buy it they kill and gut it especially for you. But often in China you can also see live turtles and frogs for sale.
10. In China, you are allowed to bring your own drinks to cafes.
In China, you can find economy-class eateries at every turn. The food there is cheap, filling and tasty, which is why few foreigners living in China cook their own food. Indeed, for just 10-20 yuan you can order a huge plate of pasta and meat there. Drinks are also sold there, but if you bring water with you, no one will object.
11. There are 56 nationalities living in China
China is a multinational and multireligious country. Those Chinese we are used to - the Hans - make up 92% of the total population, and the remaining 5% are small peoples: Zhuang, Hui, Uighurs, Miao, Manchus, Tibetans, Mongols, etc. The vast majority of Chinese are atheists - this has been the case since the days of Chinese socialism. But a small population of China professes Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and other religions.
Currently, it is believed that approximately 7% of the Chinese population are Christians, including Catholics and Orthodox Christians. Despite the fact that the Chinese Communist Party is constantly fighting against them, the number of Christians is constantly growing. In addition, dissatisfied believers often stage protests.
12. China and Japan are sworn enemies
Many Russians, who are not particularly interested in Eastern culture, often even confuse China and Japan with each other. In fact, China and Japan have been sworn enemies for centuries. The reason for this disagreement is that Japan claims some Chinese islands over which wars have been fought.
Japan occupied northeast China in 1931. Japanese aggression lasted 14 years, until September 1945.
What consequences did this lead to China:
- 35.879 million people were injured and killed.
- 300,000 civilians and captured soldiers were brutally killed in Nanjing in December 1937.
- Financial losses amounting to 600 billion dollars.
- More than 930 Chinese cities and half of China's territories fell victim to Japanese invaders during the war.
- 8 million of the captured population were taken into slavery.
- About 40,000 Chinese were taken to Japan, and 6,830 people died there from torture and physical violence.
- More than 20,000 samples of biological weapons were tested on the Chinese population in 18 Chinese provinces - for example, during the war, Japan bombed China with fleas infected with bubonic plague.
13. Chinese pants with slits
Chinese children under the age of 5 wear pants with a slit between their legs. Most likely, this was invented so that the child’s skin breathes and does not rot. Chinese babies are also not given underwear or diapers.
14. Chinese children are little Buddhas, they can do anything.
In China, children under 5 years old are allowed absolutely everything - they are never scolded, considering them holy creatures. Therefore, if a child is naughty, he is not scolded, and he can go to the toilet in the middle of the street or cafe. On the street they don’t pay attention to this, but in the cafe, in this case, a cleaning lady is provided, who will immediately come and clean up. Another reason for such loyalty is the legal limit of one child per family.
Due to the excessive love for children associated with the one-child law, more and more Chinese children have become overweight in recent years. This happens especially often in those families where grandparents still live with their parents. China has now become the second country in terms of the number of obese children.
15. You can buy everything in Chinese online stores
Chinese online stores are visited by millions of customers every day. There is absolutely everything there. The quality sometimes leaves much to be desired, but the most unusual things constantly appear on sale. For example, a fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite appeared on Taobao 2-3 days after its fall in Chelyabinsk. In addition to various products, you can also order services in the online store. For example, rent a person to introduce you to your parents under the guise of your significant other.
16. Chinese food is very fatty.
The main dishes of China are pork and fish with a side dish of rice or pasta. These products are already quite filling, so they are prepared with enough oil for deep frying.
17. 7 dialects of Chinese
Do you know that a resident of northern China in a conversation with a southerner will not understand each other? The Chinese language is one of the most complex languages in the world, it contains about 50,000 characters and more than 7 dialects that are completely different in sound. In the 90s of the 20th century, the Chinese nevertheless adopted a national language, Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect. It is used for media broadcasting and is used to teach children at school. But the remaining dialects have not remained just history - they continue to be actively used. In most cases, Chinese who speak the local dialect also speak Mandarin, and all TV programs and films additionally use subtitles. The written language in China is the same - simplified Chinese, with the exception of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau - the traditional version of writing is officially adopted there.
The higher the social status, the more hieroglyphs a person knows. Many rural residents are not literate. The average city dweller knows approximately 2,500 hieroglyphs.
18. They do tai chi on the streets in the morning.
Taiji is a Chinese martial art, one of the types of wushu, as well as breathing exercises. There are several types of tai chi, depending on what tools are used during training. For example, taijiquan (quan – fist), taijijian (jian – “sword”) and taijishan (shan – “fan”).
19. Dating in transitions
Despite the large size of the nation, the Chinese suffer from the fact that they cannot find their soul mate. The life of Chinese youth is such that first they study hard at school, then at university, and then get a job. And no other way in conditions of intense competition. Therefore, they simply do not have time for entertainment and personal life. And they came up with a way out - in the underground passages of several Chinese cities you can find places specially designated for dating advertisements. These advertisements are small notes and stickers on which young people leave their contacts and wishes and stick them on the wall, in the hope of finding their soul mate.
In the modern age of advanced technology, when each of us is constantly busy at work and spends our leisure time in front of a computer monitor, it has become increasingly difficult to meet people. And breaking up is even more difficult. And each of us experiences this differently.
For example, a 26-year-old Chinese girl, Tang Shen from Chengdu, spent a week at KFC eating chicken wings after breaking up with her boyfriend. She ate chicken wings for a week until the taste made her feel nauseous and she was brought to the attention of local media.
20. Taste oddities of the Chinese
In Chinese supermarkets, in addition to the usual range of products, you can find goods that would be a wonder for the average Russian buyer.
For example:
- sweet smoked sausage;
- round sweet gingerbread with yolk and onion;
- buns with beans or peas;
- chestnut cookies;
- roasted chestnuts;
- seeds with different flavors: butter, mint, and so on;
- meat candy;
- sweets made from flour;
- corn-flavored candies;
- colored bread;
- smoked chicken feet and much more.
Sweet tomatoes are also a distinctive feature of Chinese cuisine. They are sprinkled with sugar not only when raw, cut into slices, but also when preparing scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
21. The Chinese don’t eat cottage cheese or drink milk.
From time immemorial, it has happened that the Chinese almost never consume dairy products. There are many theories about this, for example:
- In ancient times, the cow was very expensive and was practically not found in China.
- The Chinese are milk intolerant (this theory has no scientific basis).
Now in China there is beef, but it is about 2 times more expensive than pork. Milk can be found in supermarkets, but only pasteurized. There is no cottage cheese or kefir in stores at all, and the cheese is only imported and intended exclusively for foreign consumers. The Chinese don't eat it.
Chicken eggs in China are not sold individually, as we are used to, but by weight.
22. Chinese women prefer to move to Hong Kong before having a baby.
Hong Kong has officially become part of China, but still has special status and privileges. Did you know that a citizen of Hong Kong has the right to visa-free entry into the European Union. Therefore, many Chinese women try to move to Hong Kong before the birth of a child and thereby provide him with more opportunities than ordinary Chinese have.
Hong Kong, unlike other cities in China, has retained its own currency - the Hong Kong dollar.
23. Every year in China, 20 million trees are cut down to make 80 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks.
If all these sticks were laid out lengthwise, they could cover the world's largest square, Tiananmen Square, 360 times. Because China has very poor forest cover - only 20.36% - for making chopsticks.
24. Chinese rich people sentenced to prison hire their doubles to serve their sentences in their place.
If you are rich, you can afford to buy anything. However, in China, this privilege extends beyond just paying a bribe and avoiding jail time. Rich and powerful Chinese hire doubles to serve their prison sentences in their stead. This is so common that the expression “ding zui” has been coined. Literally it means “replace the criminal.”
25. Chinese weddings with a ghost
A ghost wedding is a real event in China in which one or both participants are dead. It is unknown when this tradition appeared, but a possible reason is to meet the expectations of society. For example, when a widow wants to show her love for her deceased husband, she can marry him so that he will be happy in the afterlife.
26. Some Chinese still live in caves
In China, the number of people living in caves is greater than the population of Australia. At least 30 million Chinese still live in caves because they are warm in winter and cool in summer.
27. Chinese fake eggs
The production of fake eggs is widespread in China. One person can produce approximately 1,500 pieces per day. In fact, such eggs are only identical in appearance, but differ significantly in taste and composition. In fake ones, the yolk is a little viscous, unlike the natural crumbly yolk.
External similarity between natural and fake eggs. Left - artificial, right - real
28. Material measures of success in China
According to statistics, approximately 71% of Chinese evaluate a person's success by his things.
For example, in 2014, a resident of Guangzhou purchased 99 iPhones to show his wealth. He carefully folded them into a heart shape and then asked his girlfriend for her hand in marriage. But unfortunately, the girl rejected the proposal in front of his friends and colleagues. And to make matters worse, photos of his proposal instantly went viral on the Chinese social network Weibo. Soon these photos ended up on foreign social networks Twitter and Facebook, where some users even praised the girl for her selflessness.
29. Chinese billionaire Li Jinyuan took 6,400 employees of his company on vacation to the Cote d'Azur in Paris.
Li Jinyuan first booked 140 hotels in Paris, where he and his subordinates visited the Louvre and other attractions in one of the most famous and revered cities in the world. The huge group of tourists then headed to the Cote d'Azur, where 4,760 rooms were booked in 79 four and five-star hotels in Cannes and Monaco.
30. Villages that survive by selling things on Taobao
Until recently, villagers in the Chinese province of Jiangsu were engaged in pig farming and making sesame buns in clay ovens. But now these villages are known as “Taobao Villages”, where at least 10% of the population survive by selling things on Taobao and Alibaba. There is a well-established production of furniture, denim and various equipment for outdoor installation. And the number of such villages continues to grow. Currently, there are already 211 of them, and there are 70,000 traders living in these villages.
31. Chinese mosquito factory
China has set up the world's largest mosquito production plant in Guangzhou province. In total, they release about 1 million sterilized mosquitoes per week. Introducing sterilized mosquitoes into the wild is an innovative attempt to combat dengue fever. At the moment, no vaccine or treatment has yet been invented for this disease, which annually claims 22,000 lives, mostly among children.
32. About 50% of Chinese people prefer not to take vacations
According to a social survey, specialists working in government agencies, institutions and enterprises are not ready to take paid leave for fear of leaving a bad impression and appearing lazy, which could affect career growth.
33. At a Chinese factory, 90% of workers will be replaced by robots
The Chinese company has begun construction of its first plant in the southern city of Dongguan, which will be 80% staffed by robots. Initially, about 1,000 robots will be used at the Shenzhen Evenwin Precision Technology Co. plant, which produces parts for mobile phones. Once all the robots are operational, they will need to recruit about 200 specialists in the coming months.
More and more factories in southern China are starting to use robots in an attempt to replace human labor. Today this is due to two problems:
- Labor shortage caused by large number of people rejecting factory jobs.
- Chinese labor is becoming less and less cheap. China has long been the most attractive country for foreign companies due to its cheap labor, but now it is beginning to lose its advantage.
34. China decided to publicly shame smokers
Beijing introduced a new strict smoking ban on June 1, 2015. The law applies to public places, offices, restaurants and public transport, and offenders are subject to a fine of 200 yuan. Compared to the previous law passed in 2011, the fine was only 10 yuan. Moreover, information about a smoker who was caught three times will be published on the government website. For the violator this will mean “ loss of face“, and nothing can be worse.
35. China is building a city without cars
Outside the agricultural area of Chengdu, it is planned to build a city where 60% of the total area will be occupied by gardens. In their project, the developers want to show that a city, even with a large population, does not have to be polluted and distant from nature.
36. Chinese ghost towns
In 2007, an exact mini-copy of Paris was created in China. It was planned that this town would be populated by 10,000 residents. But today the population of this city is approximately 2000 people and all these people are employees of this theme park city. At one time it was planned to build a hospital and a school there, but all this remained in the plans. Currently, this mini-town is of interest only to newlyweds planning to take inexpensive photos with Paris in the background.
37. The Chinese government has created a blacklist of rude tourists.
The Chinese government has named 4 tourists who are prohibited from leaving China or traveling anywhere for many years. For example, the couple Wang Sheng and Zhang Yan, during a flight on a Bangkok-China plane, threw hot noodles at a flight attendant and threatened to blow up the plane because they could not immediately take the seats they wanted. The pilot had to turn the plane around and return to Bangkok, where the couple was detained by police. Another traveler was blacklisted for opening the plane's doors during takeoff. Another trespasser was photographed climbing statues of Civil War-era soldiers.
38. “Black prisons” in China, where they are imprisoned without a trace or investigation
Beijing has a number of illegal prisons where people who come to the capital to complain about the work of local authorities are thrown. Detention in “black prisons” can last from several days to several months. Often you have to pay a bribe to get free.
Amazing China
China is a huge country, so different and unusual not only for foreigners, but also for the Chinese themselves, because the north and south are very different. The north is more Europeanized, while the south preserves traditions. It is impossible to get to know all of China in a lifetime. This is an amazing country, a country of contrasts and great opportunities. We have selected only a few interesting facts, but what else unusual do you know about China? Share interesting observations in the comments.
