{"id":358,"date":"2026-01-01T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T08:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/natgeokids.com?p=358"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:39:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T12:39:27","slug":"30-cool-facts-about-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/nz\/discover\/geography\/countries\/30-cool-facts-about-china\/","title":{"rendered":"30 cool facts about China!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2026 is the Chinese Year of the Horse! Join in the celebrations here at National Geographic Kids with these cool facts about China, from its ancient empire to the modern day…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Facts about China<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1)<\/strong> The Chinese New Year<\/strong> celebration lasts for 15 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2)<\/strong> In China, every year is represented by one of 12 animals<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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3)<\/strong> China’s Bailong Elevator<\/strong> carries visitors more than 300m up a cliff’s edge.<\/p>\n

4)<\/strong> You can buy green-bean-flavoured ice pops<\/strong> in China!<\/p>\n

5)<\/strong> In Ancient China, soldiers sometimes wore armour made from paper.<\/p>\n

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6)<\/strong> In 2010 a 2,400-year-old pot of soup<\/strong> was unearthed in Xi’an, China.<\/p>\n

7)<\/strong> The Forbidden City<\/strong>, a palace complex in Beijing, contains about 9,000 rooms<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

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Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable\u00a0Imperial China\u00a0primary resource<\/a>? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

8)<\/strong> Found in northern China, long-eared jerboas<\/strong> have ears that are one-third longer than their heads<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

9)<\/strong> People race boats with dragon designs<\/strong> at a Chinese festival in the spring.<\/p>\n

10)<\/strong> Chinese monal birds<\/strong> sometimes build nests in caves.<\/p>\n

\"Facts-about-China\"<\/a><\/p>\n

11)<\/strong> Put together, all of China\u2019s railways lines could loop around earth twice<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

12)<\/strong> The mortar used to bind the Great Wall\u2019<\/strong>s stones was made with sticky rice<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

13)<\/strong> 7th-century Emperor Tang of Shang<\/strong> had 94 ‘ice men’ who made him ice-cream.<\/p>\n

14)<\/strong> Temperatures in China”s Turpan Depression<\/strong> can range from 49\u00b0C in summer to -29\u00b0C in winter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

15)<\/strong> Asiatic golden cats<\/strong> in the country’s south sometimes communicate by spitting.<\/p>\n

\"Facts-about-China\"<\/a><\/p>\n

16)<\/strong> Developed about 5,000 years ago<\/strong>, the earliest chopsticks were used for cooking, not eating.<\/p>\n

17)<\/strong> Hong Kong has more skyscrapers than any other city<\/strong> in the world.<\/p>\n

18)<\/strong> Chinese white dolphins, which live off southern China, are often pink.<\/p>\n

19)<\/strong> China is about the same size as the continental USA<\/strong> but it only has one official time zone<\/strong>. Continental USA has four.<\/p>\n

20)<\/strong> China’s Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys<\/strong> live at a higher altitude than any other primate except humans.<\/p>\n

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21)<\/strong> More people speak Mandarin<\/strong>, a Chinese Dialect, as their first language than any other language in the world.<\/p>\n

22)\u00a0<\/strong>China is home to a cluster of ancient rock pillars called the Stone Forest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

23)<\/strong> China’s Leshan Giant Buddha<\/strong>, a gigantic stone statue, has 5.5-m-long eyebrows!<\/p>\n

24)<\/strong> China’s giant pandas<\/strong> are good swimmers.<\/p>\n

25)<\/strong> Many Chinese emperors considered themselves to be descendants of dragons<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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26)<\/strong> The word “ketchup<\/strong>” may come from a Chinese word for pickled-fish sauce<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

27)<\/strong> Half of all pigs<\/strong> on earth live in China.<\/p>\n

28)<\/strong> It took around 37 years to make the Terracotta Army<\/strong>, a set of around 8,000 clay soldiers built in Xi\u2019an to guard an Emperor’s tomb. Take a look at these super-impressive statues in the video, below!<\/p>\n

29)<\/strong> Dogs get special treats on one day of the Chinese New Year<\/strong> celebration.<\/p>\n

30)<\/strong> Chinese brides often wear red<\/strong>, a colour considered to be lucky.<\/p>\n