25 Fun & Educational Facts About China (& Free Colouring Sheet)!

China has a rich and ancient culture with so many unique traditions, landmarks, and inventions that continue to shape the world today.

We’ve put together 25 fun facts about China that will spark curiosity and might even inspire a future family trip!

Scroll down to grab your free printable coloring sheet - made especially for parents, caregivers, and educators. It’s a fun and engaging way for kids to:

• Explore cultural symbols

• Practice motor skills through coloring

• Learn shapes, colors, and a little bit of Asian culture too!

1. China has a long history and a rich culture. It is the world's most populous country with a population of more than 1.4 billion people.
2. China is home to approximately 18% of the world's population, according to World Population Review.
3. The country has an area of 9,560,000 square kilometres, making it the second largest country in the world by land area after Russia.
4. The Chinese language is spoken by more than one billion people worldwide and is one of the most popular languages on earth.
5. China’s landscape includes mountains, deserts, plains, grasslands and lakes as well as many rivers like Yangtze River which is the longest river in Asia.
6. China borders 14 other countries including North Korea to its north-east and Afghanistan to its west.
7. China is the birthplace of paper. The Chinese were the first to invent paper, which was made from mulberry bark that was stretched and dried.
8. Chinese people have one of the longest life expectancies in the world - 81 years on average, according to World Health Organization.
9. China is home to half of all pigs in the world.
10. The Great Wall of China is a popular tourist attraction that stretches across some 6,700 kilometres (4,160 miles).
11. The Forbidden City is a palace complex in Beijing where emperors lived and ruled from 1420 until 1912 when the country was occupied by the Empire of Japan.
12. Chinese have a very complex writing system and is more complex than any other language in the world.
13. The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 and became one of the most important archaeological findings in modern China.
14. Shanghai is the largest city in China with a population of 23 million people living there, according to World Bank statistics from 2010.
15. The ears of long-eared jerboas, which are found in northern China, are one-third longer than their heads.
16. The Great Wall of China is the world's longest man-made structure stretching 21,196 kilometers (13,170 miles).
17. China has a bullet train in Shanghai that moves at 430km/hr, the fastest train in the world.
18. Table tennis is the national sport of China. It’s also known as ping pong.
19. South China's coast is home to Chinese white dolphins, which are frequently pink.
20. Chinese celebrations in the spring feature boat races using dragon motifs.
21. The first chopsticks were created around 5,000 years ago by the Chinese. People used them as sticks to get food out of a fire or from a pot that had been cooked.
22. Some bricks of the Great Wall of China were held together using rice flour.
23. China is the second largest country in rail lines, and it is like we can take two rounds of the world.
24. In China's Turpan Depression, summertime highs can reach 49 °C, and wintertime lows can reach -29 °C.
25. In Ancient Chinese tradition, red was the colour of joy, happiness, and excitement.