Many of us know little about our own country, so it's no surprise that these facts about China will seem, if not shocking, then at least surprising. Geopolitical experts call China the "sleeping dragon" due to its rapidly growing economy and ever-increasing global influence. But what don't we know about the Chinese? Here's what... 
1. To keep their heads up, the military has a pin sticking out of their collars. 
2. Military police train their men to raise their arms to a certain height while marching, using wires tied to poles. 
3. In China, approximately 100 million people live on $1 a day. 
4. Ketchup originated in China as a fish sauce called ke-tsiap. 
5. At McDonald's, Chinese people don't take the food they buy from the drive-thru with them; they bring it into the restaurant and eat it there. 
6. Although officially a secular country, China is home to over 54 million Christians. 
7. China executes four times more prisoners than any other country. 
8. Attention, foodies! In Dongyang (that's the city), eggs boiled in the urine of virgin boys are a true delicacy. 
9. Google and Facebook are unavailable in China. Residents can theoretically use these companies' services via VPN, but neither officially operates in the Chinese market. Google left China in 2010 after unsuccessfully fighting regulators for the right to operate without censorship. 
10. Chinese police are increasingly using geese instead of police dogs due to the birds' aggressiveness and excellent eyesight. 
11. Previously, nearly a million abortions were performed annually in China for girls, and tens of thousands of female infants were abandoned—all due to the one-child policy, which had been in effect since 1979. In 2021, this policy was repealed, and married couples are now allowed to have three children. 
12. 30 million people in China live in cave dwellings called yaodong. That's more people than Australia has. 
13. China pollutes the atmosphere so much with emissions that air pollution from China reaches San Francisco across the Pacific Ocean, increasing that American city's pollution levels by a third. 
14. Some Chinese food companies were caught making tofu from sewage and marinating meat in goat urine. 
15. Women in China can pay $700 for hymen restoration surgery to pass as virgins. 
16. Breathing the air in Beijing is like smoking 21 cigarettes a day. 
17. In 1973, China offered to bring 10 million Chinese women to the United States to help alleviate the population crisis. 
18. PlayStation game consoles are illegal in China. 
19. Four million cats are eaten in China every year. 
20. In Shanghai, a record was set for the longest traffic jam – it stretched 99 km and lasted 12 days. 
21. In Chongqing, people who can't tear themselves away from their phones walk on special paths to avoid injuring themselves and others.
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