Twelve Facts You May Not Know About China
The size and variety of the regions of the Asian country of China means that there is always something new to discover about it. Here are twelve examples of facts you may not already know:
- China is known to have the largest population in the world, with currently over 1.3 billion people living in its roughly 3.7 million square miles of terrain.
- The People’s Republic of China was established at the beginning of October, 1949, and continues to be led by the Communist Party to the present day.
- While the north of China sees temperatures well below freezing in winter, the south enjoys sub-tropical sunshine.
- The island of Hainan, at the southernmost tip of China, is a tourist paradise with miles of beautiful sandy beaches edged with palm trees.
- Harbin in the far north of China holds an annual Ice Festival, starting each January 5th, with an amazing carved Ice and Snow World, and an Ice Lantern Exhibition.
- The ancient city of Pingayo in China’s Shanxi Province has well preserved Ming Dynasty walls, the shape of which, including their towers and gates, looks like a the body of a turtle, so the city is nicknamed Turtle City.
- At over 3,900 miles long, China’s Yangtze is the third longest river in the world, beaten in length only by the Nile and the Amazon.
- The River Yangtse marks the division between north and south China, rising in the west and flowing through eleven provinces to the East China Sea at Shanghai.
- The habitat of one of the world’s endangered species, the giant panda, is only found in China’s mountain range forests in the Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan Provinces.
- In the north west of China lies the Taklimakan Desert, covering an area of 100,000 square miles and believed to be the second largest desert area in the world.
- Ancient Silk Road travelers followed either the northern or southern perimeters of the Taklimakan Desert in north west China, since it was thought to be too dangerous to try to cross it.