facts on china

[zzxxee]

can anyone help me help my 10 yr old daughter with her homework we need 10 interesting facts about china and its culture or history?

[Clanad]

1. The Mandarin word for China in Zhongguo, with the general meaning implying the center of the world.
2. Although usually stated as fact, The Great Wall of China is NOT visible from outer space.
3. Paper was first invented in China in 105 AD.
4. A terracotta army of six thousand men and horses was buried with Shi Huang-Ti, China's first emperor, at Xianyang. Each one was has individual characteristics and many are on display in museums around the world.
5. The Chinese physician Hua T'o, born sometime between 140 and 150 A.D., was the first doctor known to perform surgery under general anaesthetic.
6. Fingerprinting was used in China as early as 700 A.D.
7. Liu Ch'ing, who became the governor of China's Shansi province in 955 A.D., was born with two pupils in each eye.
8. Among the important devices in naval technology developed by the Chinese are: the stern-post rudder, which appears on a pottery model of a boat dating from the first century A.D.; watertight compartments; and the paddle wheel, descriptions of which date from the fifth century A.D.
9. The Chinese language has over 20,000 characters. The average Chinese only learns about 5,000 of these in his lifetime.
10. The Chinese, not the Italians, invented noodles...

(With thanks to Politics e-Zine, Asia)

[zzxxee]

thanx

[Postdog]

They are also the largest exporter of pirate DVD sellers.


(sorry, couldn't resist - mind you, it's probably true)

[jno]

biggest population in the world. Possibly even more significant than Liu Ch'ing's pupil count. Over a billion people - about one person in six on the planet is Chinese (and another one is Indian).