Did you know China was once home to the world's smallest dinosaur? How about the fact that the word "China" isn't actually from Chinese, but from Sanskrit?

China, vast in all senses of the word (geography, history, demographic), naturally has lots of fun facts. Here are a few that are guaranteed to amaze friends and colleagues at your next get-together, or to help you clean up at the next pub quiz night.

Microraptor Zhaoianus.

The land, the cities

We all know China is a developing nation. As such, it imports the largest amounts of steel and concrete in the world. It also produces an estimated 95 percent of the world's rare earths, 50 percent of which comes as a by-product of an iron ore mine in Inner Mongolia. Chinese miners dig for 148 different types of solid minerals. Up to now, The Ministry of Land and Resources recently calculated that only 36 percent of the country's mineral deposits have been discovered.

Even though China has the world's largest population, its cities aren't necessarily the largest in the world. In terms of population, Tokyo is the largest city, followed by Guangzhou. By area, China's largest cities are its centrally administered municipalities of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin. According to 2002 data, China had 171 cities with more than one million people. In 1950, the whole world only had 83 such cities.

The records

Showcasing those cities can cost a bundle. Hosting the Beijing Olympic Games cost around $40 billion. In contrast the 2004 Athens Olympics only cost about $15 million. In the 2008 Olympics, Chinese medallists got 51 gold medals. But Chinese citizens are out getting recognition for more than just sports. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Chinese people currently hold the world records for the woman with the longest documented hair, the most needles inserted into the head at one time, and the most bowls broken with one finger in one minute.

At the Olympics, there was plenty of flag-waving. But did you know what the Chinese flag design represents? The red in the Chinese flag symbolises revolution, while the big yellow star denotes communism and the little yellow stars represent the Chinese people. It was adopted in 1949.

The highest and lowest points you could possibly wave a Chinese flag are both in far western China—The lowest point near Turpan, Xinjiang is at 154 metres below sea level, meanwhile China's highest point is Mount Everest at 8,850 meters above sea level. China's northernmost and easternmost hub city is Harbin, Heilongjiang. Its southernmost, Sanya, Hainan; westernmost, Kashgar, Xinjiang.

History and inventions

China also has plenty of interesting historical factoids. For example, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world's smallest dinosaur, Microraptor zhaoianus, was discovered in Liaoning Province. It was just under 39 centimetres long (24 cm of which was its tail) and lived about 110 million years ago. China also had some giant dinosaurs—the world's largest duck-billed dinosaur bones were found here. The Shantungosaurus probably weighed about 13,600 kilos!

Chinese people are very proud of their country's Four Great Inventions—paper, the compass, moveable face type printing and gunpowder. Four additional less famous, Chinese inventions are wheelbarrows, ketchup, ice cream and kites. Also, oddly, the game of ping pong was not invented in China, but in England, while the game of football, which Australians and Americans call soccer, happens to be a Chinese invention.

Arts and culture

Everyone knows Chinese art is full of symbolism, but did you know how to distinguish Chinese dragons from Japanese ones? In art, Chinese dragons have five toes on each foot, while Japanese dragons only have three. Dragons also symbolise the spring. Starting with the Han dynasty, emperors claimed that they were the descendants of dragons incarnate, and ordinary people were forbidden to, and punished for, using the dragon image. Nowadays, anyone can wear a dragon decoration. China's Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It has been celebrated for over a thousand years, but has only been an official public holiday in China since 2008.

As anyone who has spent much time in China knows, there are seven official public holidays, but many more local festivals, including ones celebrated primarily by minority groups. China is home to 56 recognised ethnic groups. The largest, of course, is Han, making up more than 90 percent of the population. From the minorities, Zhuang people are 16 million strong, Manchus have about 10 million people and the Miao have about 9 million people. The smallest recognised group are the Lhoba people, with just under 3,000. Some of the strangest—and most interesting—minority  festivals include Nadam, a Mongolian festival celebrated by wrestling, horseback races and archery; the Dai water-splashing festival, also celebrated in Thailand; the Yi Flower-Arranging Festival where people pick a certain kind of tree flower and adorn houses and work objects with them; and the Sister's Meal Festival, a matchmaking festival where young Miao girls dye glutinous rice and dress in traditional costumes.

And finally, two more trivia items about China's favourite animal, the panda. Despite their modern reputation as cute and cuddly pacifists, long ago, pandas were trained by warlords to fight in battles.
Nowadays, pandas are hot items for zoos around the world. And, they're expensive. Pandas can cost five times more than elephants to keep at zoos outside of China, due to the leasing fees paid to the Chinese government and that specialty bamboo diet.
 

Related links
Ten Influential Chinese Words "Borrowed" by the English Language
6 Things Foreigners Often Get Wrong about Chinese
Fascinating, Pulsating, Illogical: Returning to the China I Once Knew

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