5 Things You Didn’t Know About China
By Katie Arango
Everyone knows lots about China. That is has a billion people, that it has a questionable human rights record, that it’s going to be the number one world power any day now… You might even know that the world’s most typical person is a 28 year-old Han Chinese man. But did you know:
1. The list of Chinese inventions is extremely long and quite varied. And, as you might already know, it does not include fortune cookies (which were invented in the 1920s in San Francisco). Don’t feel bad for the Chinese, though. They can brag about having invented such gems as toilet paper, the compass, ice cream, paper, pasta, suspension bridges, kites, stirrups, gunpowder, etc. Bonus fact: Toilet paper came into being in the 1300s, and was a commodity meant for emperors only. And if you had to choose, wouldn’t you pick toilet paper over fortune cookies?
2. Move over Argentina! China is the world’s 5th largest producer of wine, behind Italy, France, Spain and the US, and ahead of the notoriously wine-loving nations of Argentina, Chile and Australia. It’s unclear if this data includes the infamous Chinese baby mouse wine. Gān bēi!
3. The majority of Chinese people have one of only twenty family names (surnames). There are about 700 Chinese family names out there, but simply put, the most common surnames are really, really common! So that fact is mildly interesting, but when you take into consideration the population of China…well, it’s a really lot of people with the same name. It’s also worth noting that the Chinese use the family name first, and then the given name (what we would call a first name) second.
4. Not New York, Miami or Buenos Aires – Shanghai was the only port in the world that didn’t require Jews fleeing the holocaust to have an entry visa. In fact, nearly 20,000 European Jews found refuge there by 1941. The total number of Jews entering Shanghai during this period equaled the number of Jews fleeing to Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa combined.
5. You can run a marathon on the Great Wall! The annual marathon is only 5164 steps long – and who knows, perhaps the breathtaking scenery would distract you enough to stave off exhaustion. Interested? Learn more here.
Any more China fun facts to add? Leave them in the comments section below!
Katie Arango
Program Director, Argentina:Katie, a US native, had traveled to Buenos Aires on several extended trips before the citys lure became too strong and she decided to call it home. Long fascinated by the global scene, Katie earned a degree in International Studies from Miami University and spent time studying and living in Madrid, Spain. She then worked in marketing for an international board game company followed by a brief foray as an online community editor for several websites before joining the Connect-123 team. Still a tourist at heart herself, Katie loves watching newcomers discover the charm of Buenos Aires and takes great pleasure in helping them make the most out of their work and volunteer opportunities while experiencing everything this dynamic city has to offer.
