Imagine yourself in China in the middle of July.
The weather is boiling, and the only thing you can think about is a big glass of ice
water.
You ask for a drink at the nearest cafe and take a gulp.
But the water’s so hot that it's burned your tongue!
Yep, in China, drinking water is served piping hot.
What's more, locals have it with all their dishes, be it winter or stifling summer heat.
The answer to this mystery lies in Chinese culture and history.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the human body consists of yin and yang elements.
And you stay healthy only if your yin and yang are in balance.
So, let's say your yang gets too strong.
In this case, your internal temperature will rise, and you’re likely to get ill.
That's why it's crucial to get rid of the extra yang (or, in other words, excess heat)
in your body.
And however counterintuitive it may sound, the best way to do this is by drinking hot
water, or other hot beverages.
These drinks are from the yin category and, therefore, can balance the overpowering yang.
As a result, you bring down your body's internal temperature, restoring your health along the
way.
Chinese people have been using this method since the 4th century BCE.
But at that time, not everyone could afford to buy fuel for a stove and boil water.
That's why being able to drink hot water was kind of a privilege and was reserved for the
elderly, the sick, and pregnant women.
Another reason for drinking hot water during meals is that it's supposed to improve digestion
and soothe the digestive tract.
In this case, warm or reasonably hot water serves as a lubricant which hydrates your
stomach and intestines, and helps you get rid of waste.
How much water do you drink a day, and do you prefer it cold or hot?
Tell me about your habits in the comment section below!
But of course, OF COURSE, China is so much more than people drinking hot water in any
weather!
How about I tell you some more amazing facts about this ancient country?
- Soccer appeared nowhere else but in China about 2,200 years ago!
Or at least it was the game that later transformed into the soccer we know today.
But in the very beginning, the ball was made of leather and filled with hair and feathers.
And the game itself had the name "Tsu' Chu," which means "kicking a ball."
- With an area of more than 3.7 million square miles, China is a huge country.
But despite stretching for thousands of miles from east to west, it has just one time zone
- Standard Chinese time.
As a result, in the west of the country, people can see the sunrise as late as at 10 AM!
- China is the country with the largest population on the planet.
More than 1.4 billion people live there!
- Chinese people don't celebrate New Year on the same date as those who live in the
US or Europe.
The first day of the year in China falls on the new moon, which usually happens between
January 21 and February 20.
That means that every year, the New Year comes on a different day.
But that's not all!
The New Year celebration itself usually lasts for a whole 15 days!
- And now, get ready for your world to be turned upside down!
Fortune cookies weren’t invented in China!
They began in San Francisco, and nowadays, more than 3 billion fortune cookies are produced
every year.
But even though westerners think otherwise, getting predictions from fortune cookies isn't
a Chinese tradition.
- China is the country of railroads.
Imagine this: if you combined all the Chinese railroad tracks, you’d be able to wrap them
around the Earth two times!
On top of that, the fastest train in the world is also from China!
The Shanghai Maglev (which stands for magnetic levitation) train can reach a maximum speed
of 268 miles per hour!
- China is one of the fastest-growing countries in the world, and by saying "growing," I mean
the appearance of high-rise buildings!
On average, every five days, another skyscraper appears somewhere in the country.
And during one year, China usually builds at least 73 of them!
- And another fact that may blow your mind is that ice cream was invented in China!
They started eating an ice-cream-like food there about 200 years BCE when rice and sweet
milk were frozen together by being stored in the snow.
- Table tennis, or Ping-pong, is China's national sport, and the Chinese are really good at
it!
For example, during the 2012 London Olympics, Chinese sportsmen won 4 gold and two silver
medals in this sport.
- Number 8 is a lucky number in China.
The reason for this may lie in the fact that in Chinese, the word "prosperity" sounds like
the word "eight."
- It probably won't surprise you that chopsticks appeared in China about 3,000 to 5,000 years
ago.
But what if I told you that the Chinese use up to 45 billion chopsticks every year!
Oh, and by the way, when you use a pair of chopsticks, you involve more than 30 joints,
almost 50 muscles, and thousands of nerves in your wrist, arm, shoulder, and fingers.
And if you want to celebrate the existence of these eating utensils, you can do it on
February 6 - it's National Chopsticks Day.
And no, we’re not playing the piano.
- And of course, when speaking about China, it's impossible not to mention the Great Wall.
With a total length of more than 13,170 miles, it's the longest human-made structure in the
world!
The Wall is more than 2,300 years old, and it took hundreds of years to build.
But despite what most people think, the Great Wall isn't a continuous line.
Nope, it has numerous branches, heading in different directions.
Also, there’s no wall in places that have natural protection, for example, lakes or
mountains.
But probably the most curious thing about the Great Wall of China is that it was built
with the help of... rice!
Builders used mortar, which partially consisted of sticky rice flour.
As a result, this mixture bound the bricks together so well that no grass or weeds could
grow through the construction.
- In the 1800s, China produced the best graphite in the world.
American pencil producers wanted to have a special way to inform people that their pencils
contained this high-quality graphite.
And since in China, the yellow color is associated with respect and royalty, the producers started
to paint their pencils yellow.
- China is also the home of the world-famous Terracotta Army, which consists of approximately
8,000 clay soldiers who were supposed to guard the Emperor's tomb in Xi'an.
Researchers state that it took more than 37 years to make the the Army.
- You have to thank the Chinese for inventing toilet paper!
But at first, it wasn't just for anybody - only the emperor could use it.
- Chinese dishes are often a mixture of seemingly incompatible tastes, and can combine sweet,
sour, bitter, spicy, and salty flavors.
One of the main reasons for different unexpected food combinations is that traditional Chinese
medicine claims that all the tastes must be balanced.
- Unlike in western cuisines, where soup is typically a starter, in China, it's a part
of the last course.
The Chinese believe that it helps with digestion.
- China has its own version of Bigfoot.
Its name is Yeren, which means "wild man," and it supposedly lives somewhere in the mountains
of the Hubei Province, which is covered in dense forests.
- The most popular hobby in China is collecting stamps.
What's more, it's seen as a status symbol!
- Kites were invented in China about 3,000 years ago.
Researchers say that the Chinese first used kites made from silk and bamboo to frighten
their enemies.
Nowadays, however, it's one of the most popular kids' toys.
Hey, if you learned something new today, then give the video a like and share it with a
friend!
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Just click to the left or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!