China has a long, storied history in which many oddities have developed. From its people to its geography, China is much more peculiar than you think. These quirky statistics and fascinating factoids are sure to fill you with curiosity as to why. So, did you know:
Sunrise in western China can happen as late as 10 AM
China has a very odd time situation as the whole nation has only one time zone: Beijing Time. China employs only one time zone which can be very awkward for cities in western China who don’t experience sunrise until 10 am during the winter. Some farming towns find this unacceptable and use their own time zones, but still officially recognize Beijing Time. Beijing Time is UTC +8:00 which means China is 8 hours ahead of UTC +0:00 at the Prime Meridian. China should have five time zones (pictured below), but decided to opt for a uniform time zone instead.
One in every three pairs of socks you own comes from one city in China
Do you know where Datang, China is and why it’s so special? I’m guessing you don’t. This once quaint farming village in eastern China’s Zhuji province has now manifested into an industrial powerhouse that is responsible for producing one-third of the world’s socks. Datang’s success has prompted similar towns specializing in sweaters, underwear, and neckties to sprout up in nearby cities. So, you may even be wearing Datang socks right now!
45 billion disposable chopsticks are used annually in China
Everyone has a few extra pairs of disposable chopsticks left from takeout in a drawer somewhere. While you may use chopsticks a couple times a year, people in China use them everyday. It’s safe to say China uses more disposable wooden chopsticks than the United States. In fact, on average each person in China uses about 35 pairs of disposable chopsticks per year. But just how many is 45 billion chopsticks? To put the sheer amount of wood needed to produce said chopsticks in perspective, to keep up production, 100 acres of trees are cut down each day just for chopsticks.
All pandas outside of China are on loan from China
If you’ve ever been to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., I’m sure you’ve visited the panda exhibit. I mean, who wouldn’t? One of the National Zoo’s most famous pandas was Bao Bao. This panda is a female giant panda who was born at the National Zoo in 2013. She was born in the United States, but was recently brought to China in 2017. The panda is China’s most iconic animal and that’s why China values them so much. In the appropriately named “Panda Diplomacy”, China loans out its pandas to zoos across the world and reserves the right to recall any and all pandas to China if it so pleases. No pandas belong to any country besides China.
These facts are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to China vast amount of history. China is like no place else and even more wild facts about China exist. But, now you can say you know some of the more obscure facts about China.
Check out these sources below!
https://www.factslides.com/s-China
https://www.thechairmansbao.com/why-does-china-have-only-one-time-zone-2/