China Today

There are lots of interesting facts about China. Here are some you might find fascinating.

People and Population

China has a population over 1.3 billion. There is one Chinese person in every 5 people in the world. It's the most populous nation in the world.

There are 55 ethnic minorities in China's official records, while the Han people are the largest ethnic group with 91.9% of China's total population.

There are 37 million more males than females in China.

More than half a million millionares are listed as living in China today.

The main minority groups in China are Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan (Zang), Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi and Korean.

The five autonomous areas of China are characterized by the large population of the main minority groups.

Zhuang people are in Guangxi
Zang or Tibetan in Xizang or Tibet
Hui people in Ningxia
Uygur people in Xinjiang
Mongol in Neimongol

Chinese Language and Religion

Language:

There are about 300 languages in use in China today, 206 officially listed. The standard language is Mandarin.

The Chinese language has over 20,000 characters. Most people use only 5000 of them. For more information, click here.

Religion

The major religion observed in China is Buddhism with about 1 billion followers. The other beliefs are:

Taoism
Islam
Hinduism
Judaism
Heaven Worship
Christianity
Chinese folk religions
Others

For more information, see China reiligions.

Interesting Places

The largest public plaza in the world is the Tiananmen Square, which originally was the gate to the Forbidden City and Imperial Palace. It has 108.7 acre (44 hectare), measuring 2887 feet (880 meters) from south to north, and 1640 feet (500 meters) from east to west.

The new Three Gorges Dam is the biggest dam in the world, being 7660 feet (2335meters) in length and 607 feet (40 meters) in hight. Its base is 377 feet (115 meters) wide, and its top 131 feet (40 meters) wide.

There are a few vast statues in China, including:

the Big Buddha in Hong Kong. It's the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha.
the stone Leshan Buddha with a height of 233 ft. (71 meters) that makes it the tallest Buddha on planet Earth. His huge head is bigger than many houses.
the group of over 2400 Buddhas carved into the cliffs of Jianjiang Qianfuyan. Qianfuyan literally means "Thousand Buddha Cliff".
The world's longest reclining Buddha in Dongfang Fodu Gongyuan, measuring 558 feet (170 meters) in length. Dongfang means "oriental", Fodu means "Buddha captial city". Dongfang Fodu is seen as Oriental Buddha Park.

Which China visa do you need to see these places?

How much your money is worth in China Today?

Current News In China and About China

Other Facts about China Today

Half of China has registered to a Chinese social network called QQ.
There are 2.6 million websites registered in China. 162 million Chinese people in China use the internet according the data from 2008.
There are about 440 million people in China using cellphones for communication on the move.
China's flag is red with one large yellow star surrounded by 4 more small yellow stars in the top left-hand corner.