We all know that China is a huge country. With a population of well over 1 billion people, the Chinese people make up approximately 20% of the world’s population. As the world’s largest economy, the Chinese offer us an abundance of interesting facts! With this in mind, our Day Translations blog wants you to come along with us as we explore some fun facts about China and the unique Chinese culture.
So without further ado, here are some facts about China and Chinese people that you probably didn’t know about
Fun Facts About China Everyone Needs to Know!
The Alphabet is called Pinyin
The Chinese language has over 20,000 Chinese characters. This is important for us to keep in mind especially when learning Chinese. At first, it may seem difficult to learn Chinese because of the characters, but as soon as you start practicing and understanding the tones, and the actual meaning of the character, it will be easier. Practice makes perfection.
Try to learn at least 2,500 characters and you’ll be able to get by to interact with and understand others when speaking standard Chinese.
As a side note, there are 7 major dialect groups within the language family, each of which has its own variation.
Gifting Etiquette
Traditional Chinese custom dictates that when someone is giving you a gift, it is customary to refuse at least one time before accepting it! Even if it’s something you really want. If you are the gift giver, it’s also customary for you to insist that the receiver takes the gift.
You’re always supposed to open your gift in private. This is one of the most fascinating China facts that is deeply ingrained in Chinese history! Although the world’s largest economy has different ways of celebrating compared to the Western world, gifting is always a good idea during the Christmas season, Chinese weddings, and the Chinese new year celebration!
China’s Time Zone
A very interesting fact about Chinese culture you probably didn’t know is that even though China is such a big country, it has only a one-time zone. In the past, China had all of 5 time zones, but since 1949 all of that changed.
Although the Chinese people have become accustomed to this schedule and operate on official Beijing time, it has caused the country’s operations to be conducted in a very unconventional manner. For example, in some parts of China, the Chinese people have very late sunrises, some as late as after 10:00 am. This means that schools and places of work operate at very odd times.
Religions of Chinese People
Maybe you do know. Maybe you don’t know. But the People’s Republic of China is a multi-religious country that has approximately 5 official religions. The communist party leaders of the Chinese government decided (even though they are atheists) that Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Taoism, and Protestantism are the religions that can be practiced. If any other religion is practiced it’s deemed illegal.
The People’s Republic is Bicycle Country
The culture of bicycle riding is very strong in China. In fact, it is a major form of transportation for many Chinese on a daily basis. It is believed that this culture of bicycle riding is a result of how difficult it is to obtain a driving license in China as well as how difficult a process it is to buy and own a vehicle.
Don’t worry, however, because many of the major cities in China are built to facilitate biking. There are official lanes dedicated to bicycles as well as many docking ports for safe parking. Naturally, it won’t come as a surprise that China is the leader in the world when it comes to bicycle manufacturing.
China’s Railway Lines Are Faster Than Freeways
Based on what we know about the Chinese, we can safely say that innovation plays a major role in their culture. That said, given the fact that China may very well be the most populated country, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many of the major cities have huge traffic jam problems.
Let’s say you’re stuck in traffic and you urgently need to be somewhere; well the ‘bottleneck rescuers’ can come to your aid. They’re in the business of traffic jams.
If you give them a call two guys will come to your rescue. One comes with the sole duty of taking you to your destination via motorbike while the other jumps into the driver’s seat of your car and waits out the traffic jam for you. Of course, your car is delivered safely to your destination when they finally get out of the traffic jam.
Not bad business if you ask us.
Chinese Food – The Real Food Culture of China
As westerners, we may not be aware of what true Chinese cuisine is. We’ve fallen victim to what we call ‘mainstream Chinese food’. Green tea. Dumplings. And sushi. That’s what most of us associate with the food culture here.
However, if you were to visit China, you’ll quickly discover that real Chinese food contains lots of fruits and vegetables as well as lots of herbs and spices.
With this in mind, it’s also important to note that, unlike many western countries, the Chinese eat just about anything to include dogs, rats, and even snakes. Of course, this didn’t happen out of thin air. The history of China has seen the country go through various famines for example and with such a large population, at one point or other, feeding everyone would become a task. So with such a reality, many families have had to do with what they have to survive.
Have you heard that the world-famous fortune cookie comes from China? In truth and in fact, it is not part of Chinese culture. Instead, the fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco, USA. This means that the tradition of having a fortune cookie at the end of your Chinese meal isn’t tradition. In fact, it’s a Western custom as opposed to a traditional Chinese custom.
Wrapping Up Fun Facts About China
We hope you enjoyed these interesting fun facts you probably didn’t know about China as much as we did. With such a long history and rich culture, we could go on and on with more fun facts. But we’ll stop here for now. Planning to visit China anytime soon? We hope these China facts help you to know more about your future destination.
And of course, Day Translations is here to help with all your translations and interpreting needs. Even on your next trip to China. Let our team of experts help you to translate or interpret from your native language to Chinese.