* Culture

- Concubinage has been practiced throughout Chinese history, by wealthy men. Chinese emperors had large harems with hundreds of concubines.

- In the late empire, it was customary for wealthy men and women to grow the nails long as a sign of their rank.

- Red symbolizes happiness for the Chinese, and commonly used at Chinese festivals and weddings.

- The dragon holds the first place among the four greatest creatures in Chinese mythology.

- The phoenix is the most important bird in Chinese legend and represents the feminine power of the empress.

- White is the Chinese color for mourning and funerals.

* Divers

- China invented ice cream, along with the recipe for noodles.

- Cricket fighting is a popular amusement in China. 

- Famous Chinese actors include Bruce Lee, Chow Yun Fat, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Lucy Lui and Zhang Ziyi.

- Toilet paper was invented in China in the late 1300s. only for the use of emperors.

* Geography

- Beijing is the second largest city after Shanghai.

- China is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada, and the Unitde States).

- Chinese is spoken by 92% of China’s population. These are some of the major families of the Chinese language; Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, Hakka, Gan, Xiang, and Min.

- Despite its size, any place of China has one time zone.

- The name of China’s capital has changed over the centuries.

- The longest river in China is the Yangtze River.

* History

- China is often considered the longest continuous civilization. 

- The Chinese have made silk since at least 3,000 B.C. The Chinese guarded the secrets of silk making, but anyone caught smuggling silkworm outside of China was sentenced to death.

- The Chinese invented the paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

- The crossbow was invented by the Chinese. They were also the first in the world to use chemical and gas weapons.

* Sport

- Many historians believe soccer originated in China in 1000 B.C.

- Ping-pong is one of the most popular games in China, but it was not invented in China.

- The martial arts are practiced throughout China and were largely developed from ancient farming and hunting methods.