1. It is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.38 billion people. It has the largest standing army. In fact according to statistics one in every five people is Chinese, and the numbers are on the rise. It is considered to be the oldest continuous civilization, dating back over 6000 years.
2. Among the most famous Chinese inventions (way before the Western world) are the paper – including the toilet paper, although at first it was just for the emperor – the gunpowder, the compass, the printing, the waterwheel, the crossbow, the kites. And also paper money.
3. The Forbidden City is nowadays a symbol of China, one of the most popular landmarks and a tourist attraction, but in the past it was just what the name says. No one could have entered it if he was a commoner, and you would have simply been put to death for this defiance.
4. Silk has been produced and used in China for more than 3000 years, and in the past was one of the most desired, expensive and well guarded merchandise. In fact the secrets of silk making were so fiercely guarded by the Chinese that you could be put to death for trying to steal silkworm cocoons.
5. If you thought that China is a heaven for counterfeit merchandise you are right. Cigarettes and electronics, clothes and art, shoes and collectibles, anything you could think of seems to have been copied in some sweatshop. But it goes way beyond all that. In China you can also buy counterfeit... eggs. Made with a complicated recipe which includes resin, starch, pigments and other elements the end result is deceptively realistic. The scandal goes on, the counterfeiters do the same.
6. About 10 years ago, according to an article in China Daily, every year the whole country disposed of about 45 billion pairs of wooden chopsticks, which meant that over 25 million trees had to be sacrificed just for that. Just how much have things changed it's hard to say, but the sheer numbers are huge and impressive, just like China.
7. When you see a cute Panda bear in a zoo, whatever the country might be, it is actually on loan from China. While they are a national symbol, associated with luck and long life, it is a gesture of goodwill to offer another country a Panda.
8. If the most popular hobby in China seems to be stamp collecting – at least according to statistics – unfortunatelly cigarette smoking is tremendously popular, about 2.2 trillion cigarettes being smoked everyday. And that is not the sole problem. A large part of this huge production is actually fake, counterfeit cigarettes which are even more hazardous to one's health.
9. The colour red is a symbol of happiness and prosperity, so you will encounter it on every happy occasion, such as a wedding. For mourning and to represent death Chinese use white, not black.
10. The country's national sport is table tennis. What else?
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