Facts about China

2018 is the Chinese Year of the Dog! Join in the celebrations here at National Geographic Kids with these cool facts about China, from its ancient empire to the modern day…

1. In 2010 a 2,400-year-old pot of soup was unearthed in Xi’an, China.

2. The Forbidden City, a palace complex in Beijing, contains about 9,000 rooms!

3. Found in northern China, long-eared jerboas have ears that are one-third longer than their heads!

4. Put together, all of China’s railways lines could loop around earth twice!

5. The mortar used to bind the Great Wall’s stones was made with sticky rice!

6. 7th-century Emperor Tang of Shang had 94 ‘ice men’ who made him ice-cream.

7. Hong Kong has more skyscrapers than any other city in the world.

8. Chinese white dolphins, which live off southern China, are often pink.

9. China is about the same size as the continental USA but it only has one official time zone. Continental USA has four.