12 Facts about China

01. China’s economy grew 7 times as fast as America’s over the past decade (316% growth vs. 43%)

11 More Facts about China after the break...

02. 85 percent of artificial Christmas trees are made in China. So are 80 percent of toys.

03. China has more pigs than the next 43 pork producing countries combined3

04. Chinese consume 50,000 cig@rettes every second.

05. America’s fastest “high speed” train goes less than half as fast as the new train between Shanghai and Beijing (150 mph vs 302 mph).

06. China’s enormous Gobi Desert is the size of Peru and expanding 1,400 square miles per year due to water source depletion, over-foresting, and over-grazing.

07. By 2025, China will build enough skyscrapers to fill TEN New York-sized cities.

08. There are already more Christians in China than Italy.

09. China executes three times as many people as the rest of the world COMBINED… and uses mobile execution vans for efficiency.

10.. Chinese GDP could overtake the U.S. in less than 15 years.

11. The Target Range Of China’s “Aircraft Carrier Killer” Missile.

12. The world’s biggest mall is in China… but it has been 99% empty since 2005

 Via — Link

Beautiful Place In China — Shanxi

Shanxi province is a beautiful place in China. It looks fantastic and truly amazing on these photos. Shanxi Province got its name due to its location to the west of Taihang Mountain. Shanxi neighbored on Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia & Autonomous Region. It is located to the east of the Yellow River, and is also known as Hedong. Shanxi belonged to Jin State in Spring and Autumn Period, so it is abbreviated in Jin. Shanxi occupies an area of 156,000 square kilometers and has a population of over 32 million, including its minority ethnic population. Its capital is Taiyuan City. More images after the break...

Being at a high altitude, Shanxi Province has a cold and dry climate and has an annual rainfall of between 400-600 millimeters. The province is also frequently plagued by sandstorms, especially in the spring, so it is often useful to bring along both sunglasses and a hat when visiting. Generally speaking, the province’s climate is the best between May and October. Shanxi is one of the birth places of Chinese civilizations with a long history and traditional culture. As early as one hundred million years ago, the ancestors of the Chinese lived and propagated in this region. Legend tells us that the Yellow Emperor, founder of the Chinese nation, once lived in Shanxi for a certain period. Today, many Neolithic sites from that period can still be seen dotted across the vast expanse of the province.

Shaanxi is also abundant in natural beauty beyond its rich historical legacy. As one of the five best-known mountains in China, Mt. Huashan, 120 kilometers east of Xian, is famous for its breath-taking cliffs and awe-inspiring landscape. The Hukou Waterfall on Yellow River, the second biggest one in China, is very overbearing and magnificent. And Moutain Lishan and the nearby Huaqing Hot Springs  are very attractive. Their beautiful legends will bring you into a moving love story between emperor Xuanzong and a beauty named Yang Yuhuan. Shaanxi is both a base area of Chinese new-democratic revolution and a place with unique folk customs. The loud resounding Shaanxi opera, the joyous clattering of gongs and drums, the exquisite cut – paper art and the peasants’ paintings full of a rich flavor of life attract more and more tourists’ attention from home and abroad.