***Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you, I will receive a commission if you click through and make a purchase.***

Interesting Facts About China That Will Make Your Jaw Drop!

Ah, China. One of the largest countries in the world, it’s so diversified that the list of interesting facts about China could go and on and on! From the stunning nature to weird customs, and habits- we’ve covered it all.

Keep on reading to discover the most amazing China facts that will make you smarter than your friends!

Geographical Facts About China

China Is One Of The Biggest Countries In The World

In contrary to most people think, China is not the biggest country in the world.

It’s 4th after Russia, Canada, and the United States.

Russia is almost 2 times bigger than China!

China Has The Highest Number Of Neighbouring Countries In The World

Now, that is one of the fun facts about China that is worth knowing!

The number is the same for Russia- both lands are bordering with 14 countries.

Cultural Facts About China and Facts About Chinese People

China Is World’s Most Populated Country

Chinese culture facts: the population
Chinese culture facts: the population

China is the most populated country in the world (with almost 1.5 billion people in 2020).

Here’s what this fact about China means:

  • The population of China is more than 4 times bigger than the population of the US
  • One in every 5 humans is Chinese
  • Chinese is the most popular language in the world (based on the number of native speakers)
  • 14% of people in the world speak Chinese. The most commonly spoken dialect is Mandarin, which about 70% of Chinaโ€™s population speaks.

Many Chinese Consider Long Nails As A Symbol Of Wealth

If you imagined the long red nails of a beautiful Chinese businesswoman, you are wrong.

One of the weirdest facts about China is that men often don’t cut their nails to show that they are rich. Sounds ridiculous? It makes sense when you take a closer look.

If you work physically, your nails need to be short, so only white-collar workers can “afford” to have long nails.

It’s the same with skin color- the whiter it is, the wealthier you seem to be (because the sun makes your skin darker, you can only be pale when working indoors.

So if you’re thinking about changing jobs, you can explore opportunities in unique work cultures, such as discovering online jobs in China, and observe the interesting nuances that come with various professions and regions.

Some Chinese Restore Their Virginity

Another China fun fact is that restoring virginity is possible and quite popular in China. This plastic surgery even has a medical name- hymenorrhaphy.

Chinese women pay a lot of money for reconstructing their hymens before the wedding night. They just don’t want their future husbands to find out that they are not virgins anymore…

Some Chinese Kids Have A Weird Toilet Etiquette

open-crotch pants in China -Interesting China facts

This fact about China is really weird! Pampers are not popular in China. Many children wear special pants with a big hole bottom. When they feel they need to make a poo or pee, they just squat and do it wherever they want.

And this is what you call an eco life! More about open-crotch pants here.

50 Million Chinese Live Abroad

It’s more than the population of most countries in the European Union.

Just to compare, 50 million people are living in the following countries: Colombia, South Korea, or Kenya.

Some Chinese Have Weird Table Manners

Interesting China facts โ€“ 10 fun facts you didn't know about!

One of the interesting facts about China is that behaviors that are considered rude in most countries in the world are totally acceptable in the PRC.

That includes spitting, yawning, grunting, and burping. Not only when you eat.

I remember taking a cable car ride in Hong Kong. We were sitting in a small lift- me, my brother, and the Chinese family. It was quiet, we had been all enjoying the views when suddenly- the mom of the two lovely boys burped loudly.

We were so surprised that we didn’t know how to behave. Then she did it again.

After spending more time in China, I realized that her behavior was completely normal and acceptable.

Many People In China Still Live In Caves

It is unbelievable but 35 million Chinese people still live in caves!

They don’t have enough money to build a house, so they are using caves as their shelters.

Chinese Take New Year’s Celebration To The Whole New Level

Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday in China. It is celebrated in January or February and it’s a real holiday for everybody. Almost nobody is working, everyone is going back home to celebrate this happy time with their families.

Chinese New Year’s celebration lasts for 15 days!

Nothing can be compared to this. Unusually, the whole country is having a holiday for such a long time.

What’s interesting, Chinese New Year is celebrated in many other countries in the world. Considering the huge population of China, it is very likely that the Chinese New Year is even more popular than Christmas!

Here are a couple of fun facts about the Chinese New Year calendar:

  • In the Chinese New Year calendar, the Chinese New Year Date always changes.
  • The Chinese New Year calendar also has a zodiac animal each year.

China Is A Multireligious Country

Praying in China
Amazing facts about China: the religions

Due to the huge population of China, almost every religion in the world has adhered there. The most popular are Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism.

One of the most interesting facts about China is that there are more Christians in this country than in Italy!

White Is The Mourning Color in China

While black is considered the mourning color all over the world, it’s different in China. Chinese people wear white when they go to funerals, as for them, this color symbolizes death.

Political Facts About China

Chinese Government Is Judging All Citizens Based On Their Behavior

Have you been watching the Black Mirror? If so, you may remember the concept of a social credit system, where every person in a society is rated based on one’s behavior.

It’s not fiction anymore- in China, it came true in some way. All the citizens of China have a social credit score. They can either be punished (lose points) or rewarded (gain points).

Jailwalking? Being late with paying off the debt? You are losing your points. Donating money to charity? Some points are added.

What do the Chinese people need the points for? Basically, for everything- from being allowed to stay in the hotels to taking a train ride.

Recently, a case of Xu Xiaodong became famous when his credit score was lowered to “D” just because he proved that MMA is a more effective martial art than kung fu. He is now not allowed to buy real estate, or plane tickets, and his kids won’t be able to attend public schools. More about it here.

China Has the World’s Largest Army 

Another of interesting fact about China is that the Chinese army has the biggest number of soldiers in the world (more than 2 million people).

Just to compare- it’s the same as the population of Paris or Budapest.

There Is A Birth Restriction In China

One-child policy in China
Amazing facts about China: birth restriction

China is the only country in the world where reproduction is limited. Until 2015 Chinese couples could have only 1 child. Now they are allowed to have a maximum of 2 kids.

Some of the risks China can face in the future because of the birth restriction are:

  • more boys than girls 

Most Asian people, including China, believe that having a son is the most important goal to achieve in life.

It has a cultural background. Son is always the one who stays with his parents and takes care of them when they are old (there’s no age pension in China). And the girl ‘goes’ to his husband’s family, she is not responsible for her parents but for her parents-in-law.

Of course, nobody can choose the sex of the child, it’s up to nature. That’s why female foeticide is very popular in China. It is the selective abortion of girls in the womb. It’s officially forbidden by the law, the gynecologist can’t tell anyone the sex of the baby. But of course, one ‘little’ bribe can open their mouths.

This phenomenon will have a huge impact on the entire country. In the future, there won’t be enough women in China. Chinese men will be forced to marry foreigners or… the population of the country will fall dramatically.

  • 4-2-1 phenomenon will be very common

What is 4-2-1? It’s 4 old people (parents) that don’t can’t live without help from their 2 children (husband and wife). And they have only 1 child to support them when they get old.

Taking into consideration that life expectancy is increasing, it’s very likely that this one child will have to take care of his parents and grandparents!

So one man will have to earn for his family, for his and his wife’s parents. And maybe even his grandparents. Feeding 10 people on one salary may be difficult, right?

  • the birth restriction will be very difficult to reverse

More than 30 years of the one-child policy in China has its consequences. Most Chinese people right now don’t want a second child, even though they have been allowed to have it since 2015.

They believe that having more than one child is too expensive and time-consuming.

The Chinese government didn’t predict it back in 1980. Who knows, maybe in a few years young Chinese couples will be forced to have more children? And there will be penalties for having only one baby…

China Has The Highest Number Of UNESCO Sites In The World

The number is equal to Italy. Both countries have 55 (!) UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Spain is a runner-up with 48 sites.

The most frequently visited UNESCO sites in China include:

  • Forbidden City in Beijing
  • The Great Wall of China
  • Summer Palace in Beijing
  • Temple of Heaven in Beijing
  • Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (with the famous Terracotta Army)
  • and more

There Is Only One Time Zone In China

Sunrise in China
Amazing facts about China: the sunrises

The next China fun fact is that it’s a huge country with only one time zone! That’s why in some places the sun rises even at 10 AM.

In the past, China has 5 different time zones. But in 1949 the Communist Party leaders decided to set one time for the whole country. Since then, everybody is using an official Beijing time.

Many Websites Are Blocked In China

Best China VPN - How To Break Through the China Firewall
Great Firewall of China will block your Facebook

If you think you can scroll down your Facebook feed in the evening, while you are in China you are wrong.

Facebook, Google, YouTube, and many other world’s biggest websites are blocked in China.

What’s the reason? The Chinese government wants to control the information that is uploaded and downloaded in the country. That’s why the websites used by the Chinese should also be own by Chinese.

It’s easy to bypass the Great Firewall though. All you need is a good VPN for China.

There Are Many Unofficial Names For China

One of the interesting facts about China is that the country has an extraordinarily high number of alternative names. Here are some of the most popular ones:

  • Middle Country/ Middle Kingdom (Zhonghua)in the past, Chinese believed to be in the center of the world)
  • Flowery Kingdom (Hua) because of the high number of flowers and fruits that were (and still are!) growing in the country
  • Under the Heavens (Tianxia) came from the wide concept of Chinese empire (more here)
  • Sacred Earth and Divine Land (Chixian Shenzhou)
  • Huaxia as one name for all the Chinese tribes
  • Within The Seas (Hainei) – in the past Chinese people believed that their country is surrounded by the seas

Random Fun Facts About China

China Is An Owner Of All Pandas In The World

Giant panda
Amazing facts about China: the pandas

The next fun China fact is that the country is the owner of all pandas. Literally, all of them!

Every single panda that lives in this world belongs to China. All China pandas live in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan.

If you see a panda in other countries, it means it is lent from PRC (People’s Republic of China). What’s interesting, when a baby panda is born, it is sent to China to help expand the gene pool.

Chinese Are Dealing With A Traffic Jam In A Very Creative Way

Traffic jam in Beijing
Amazing facts about China: the traffic jams

China is the most populated country in the world. No wonder they have huge traffic jam problems.

What to do when you are late for your meeting and you are stuck in a traffic jam? You are calling the bottleneck rescuers! Two guys will come to you on a motorbike. One will drive you whenever you want and the other will take your place in a car.

Clever, huh?

China Is The Empire Of Pigs

Here’s another interesting fact about China: half of the pigs in the world belong to this country! On an average day, Chinese people consume 1.7 million pigs.

 China Has The Longest Continuous Civilization In The World

Fun fact for China is that Chinese Grammar is actually not that complicated

Want more China facts? It’s worth knowing that the country has the worldโ€™s longest continuous civilization. It began about 6,000 BC and last until today.

Here are a few Ancient China facts:

  • Ancient China had the longest-lasting empire in history.
  • The Last Emperor of China became a ruler when he was still a toddler – he was only 3 years old.
  • The four greatest inventions of Ancient China are Gunpowder, paper, printing, and the compass.

Chinese People Spend The Most On Travel In The World

If you are traveling the world, you must have noticed that tourists from China are virtually everywhere from the streets of Bangkok to Paris and Vatican city.

It will probably not surprise you that they are also the biggest travel spenders in the world. On average, they spend $260 billion (!) dollars annually which is almost twice as the runner up in this rank– United States.

Silk Road Is World’s Oldest And Longest Trade Route

Did you know that the Silk Road is the oldest, longest, and most popular trade route in the world?

The majority of the Silk Road belongs to China’s territory of 9,597 million km2, and Silk Road is 2,485 miles (4,000 kilometers) long and extends across the entire area of China. The road starts from Beijing and is a connection to East and Southeast Asia with East Africa, West Asia, and Southern Europe.

History records that the beginning of the Silk Road started in the Han Dynasty period and the road was closed for trade during the Ottoman Empire.

The road has an interesting name “Silk,” and for many, it is an association that traded only with silk, but it does not. The name for the first time was spanned by the German geographer and historian Ferdinand Von Richthofen when he wanted to describe his journey along the Silk Road.

It’s believed that not only silk from the East to the West was traded, but various goods were traded as well: from animals, porcelain, precious stones, gold, silver, teas, carpets, even slaves.

Silk Road exists today but is not used for trading, it is one of the top-rated tourist attractions in China because of the long Silk Road tours that allow you to experience ancient China.

China has invested vast amounts of money in training the way to be acceptable for tourist purposes. And it really has great success.

Brilliant Chinese Inventions and Discoveries

Chinese Are Medical Geniuses

Nowadays, we all know that blood is circulating in our veins. But it wasn’t so obvious in the past.

European scientist William Harvey was proud to announce this in 1628. He didn’t know that Chinese people discovered it… more than 2,000 years before him!

Chinese Invented Ice Creams

Ice creams in China
Chinese food facts: the ice cream

Who doesn’t love ice creams? We can eat this delicious dessert thanks to China.

It is believed that they first made it more than 4000 years ago by mixing milk, rice mixture with the snow.

Chinese Are Mathematical Geniuses

It isn’t a big secret that Chinese people are one of the best mathematics in the world.

History of mathematics in China dates back to 11th century BC! Thanks to China we know today the decimal and binary systems, geometry and algebra.

Chinese Are Architectural Geniuses

The Great Wall of China Beijing
Amazing facts about China: the architecture

It is a commonly known fact that the world’s biggest man-made structure is situated in China. The Great Wall is not visible from the space but it’s still impressively long- 8,850 km (5,500 miles).

The most famous imperial palace in China called The Forbidden City has more than 9,000 rooms! This is definitely one of the traditional Chinese places you should visit while in China.

Chinese Are Gods Of War

Chinese people were the first to use gas and chemical weapons during the war.

European did the same… 2,000 years after them! These kinds of weapons were used during World War II.

When it comes to WWII, it’s worth to mention that Shanghai in China was the world’s only port that was accepting Jews running away from the Holocaust without an entry visa.

Another interesting fact about Chinese war skills is that they invented kites to frighten their enemies more than 3,000 years ago.

Interesting Quotes About China

Napoleon:

China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move the world

Pearl S. Buck:

Nothing and no one can destroy the Chinese people. They are relentless survivors.

Hu Jintao:

The Chinese culture belongs not only to the Chinese but also to the whole world. 

Ray Dalio:

A bad year in China is going to be a great year in any other country.

John F Kennedy:

When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters — one represents danger and the other represents opportunity. 

Vladimir Putin:

China is a great country with a great culture, populated by fascinating, industrious and talented people.

Bonus Fun Facts About China

Last but not least- here are some extra interesting facts about China that are worth knowing:

  • China has the second-largest economy in the world (after USA)
  • Chinese cookies were not invented in China
  • There are over 300 skyscrapers in Hong Kong which is the highest number in the world
  • it’s still popular to eat dogs in some parts of China
  • Chinese people avoid number 4– they believe it’s a “deadly” number; more about it here
  • At least 2 of the world’s pandemics originated in China: one is the famous Black Plague and the other is the most recent COVID-19

Pin For Later:

Did you know these fun facts about China? Let us know in the comments below!

37 Responses

        1. OMG haha, we literally have no clue how to even check this! But we think they must have came out with this idea in the same year when they invented the normal pants, so it’s like… 2-3 thousand years ago? :D

  1. When it comes to one-child policy, while that practice is obviously horrible I dare say that countries who suffer from overpopulation and families with too many children to feed them is as well. Are there statistics that government implemented activities to minimize family size voluntarily actually worked in Asian countries? I kind of doubt it looking at some of them.
    Also, one correction โ€“ the rule was changed to 2 children in 2007 with the addition that both parents had to be only children. It was changed to one parent had to be an only child in March 2015 and since October both parents can come from families with more than one child in order to have 2 children.

    1. Yes, you are right. The rule changed faster but not for all Chinese people. There were also some areas of China where having 2 children were possible to everyone before 2015.
      Thank you for mentioning this information, it is very important.
      Yes, there are some statistics that prove that the size of family in Asian countries had changed. Take for example Thailand. In 1971 the government created Family Planning social campaign which main purpose was to slow down the growth of the population. They succeeded and reduced the population growth from 3.2% to 1.6% in just 15 years.

  2. Very good knowledge ..but itโ€™s believed that number zero was invented by Indian merchants and trigonometry was given by India too

  3. India was the first country to accept zero in their number system.

    Some scholars assert that the Babylonian concept wove its way down to India, but others give the Indians credit for developing zero independently.

    The concept of zero first appeared in India around A.D. 458. Mathematical equations were spelled out or spoken in poetry or chants rather than symbols. Different words symbolized zero, or nothing, such as “void,” “sky” or “space.” In 628, a Hindu astronomer and mathematician named Brahmagupta developed a symbol for zero โ€” a dot underneath numbers. He also developed mathematical operations using zero, wrote rules for reaching zero through addition and subtraction, and the results of using zero in equations. This was the first time in the world that zero was recognized as a number of its own, as both an idea and a symbol.

  4. Clever Chinese people learnt all those about mathematics, science, martial art, architecture, astrology, sports and many more advanced technology to live an improved life as human beings from wise Indians thousand years ago.

  5. China is not the Longest continuous civilisation on the world, the area of Syria and Iraq is.
    With damascus being the oldest continuously inhabitant city in the world

  6. Just scouring the internet for everything related to china travel. I must get out there. Always intrigued by their foot but I also want to experience the great wall and other places first hand too.

  7. China is always a place in my traveling list and i really want to know more about that place from a long time. Your blog is really helpful for me to provides such knowledge.

  8. ok,I ‘m a chinese ,It’s interesting here, all that is true .
    by the way i come here by ivacy vpn,
    Do you like your country ?yes
    do i ? it’s a difficult question ,I love this land deeply .
    But I don’t like the bloody story and right struct.
    We can’t drop our old culture, it make our country what it looks like today ,we are looking for some way out .
    Bad events occur here year by year,lots of good man die ,I hope it won’t happen again, Many decide looks like the decider has no brainใ€‚
    Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism are weird in my sight.
    WE wear potty pans when we were little ,animal aren’t you๏ผŸ

  9. There are a lot of mistakes. Chinese has much more opening opinions on virginity. Few people go to the hospitals to reconstruct their hymens… For those children who poo or pee on the street, this phenomenon is hard to be seen now.

    1. Thanks for your comment, Michelle. Of course, when talking about almost 1.4 billion people it’s impossible to assume 100% of them have the same opinions and views. So yeah, some of them may not care about virginity. It’s the same with open-crotch pants. The photo is ours, we have seen it with our own eyes during our trip to Beijing. You may have a different experience but again, the Chinese nation is too big to assume all people are the same in this country.

  10. Great post with lots of useful information, thanks for writing this article, please write some thing on un-explored destinations, thanks from shirdi.

  11. I’m a Chinese. I see this through VPN. Most of them are true, and some of them are exaggerated. For example, cave is a kind of building, a traditional house on the Loess Plateau of China. It’s not that I can’t build a house to find a hole to live in. In the Loess Plateau of China, it’s not a particularly poor area

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

We are Karolina, Patryk, and Mia, the lazy traveling family. After spending 5 years as digital nomads, and living in many countries in the world, we decided to make Poland our base.

Our mission is to show you safe and interesting destinations where you can travel with your family.

Join our Facebook Group

Join the Poland Travel Support Group, a group to help you plan your trip to Poland!

Subscribe and Get Updates