China is known the world over for its long history, old oriental culture and tradition, its spacious land mixed with the old and modern, humility and weirdness, and also – let’s be honest – its rapid economic development coming with a healthy dose of sarcasm.
Do you love China?
Well, no matter the answer is yes or not, China does 8 things better than anywhere else.
1. Chinese cuisine involved with all kinds of ingredients and various cooking methods
Many love China for its food.
More than 2500 years ago, Confucius pointed out that eating is the utmost important part of life. Chinese are fond of eating, and good at cooking. They make great effort to improve their cuisine by using different cooking methods, a variety of ingredients, and multiple combinations. There are thousands of dishes throughout the country, some of which are extremely weird. For instance, Long Fu Dou (Fighting between Dragon and Tiger) of Cantonese Cuisine is made of cat and snake.
2. Tea culture
How can you not love Chinese tea?
China has a long history of planting tea trees, making tea, and drinking tea. People here give this simple drink much respect and have developed a profound appreciation for tea. They learn to tell apart the unique features of different teas, mull over what is the best time for picking tea (usually a very short period); they match different teas with different tea sets (different in materials), and also practice the wonderful tea ceremony.
3. Calligraphy art
China never lacks of artists or artistic inspiration. The old oriental culture gives each art form a boundless philosophical beauty, including calligraphy. This art tradition is to express virtuous soul rather than simply writing Chinese characters. A great calligraphy artist shows his/her personality, mood, idea, thoughts and soul though the calligraphy works. Like those famous paintings, Chinese calligraphy works can also fetch millions of dollars, and are sought after by world collectors.
4. Copying
There are some people blaming China for all kinds of copying – soft drinks, TV shows, luxury fashions, and even the famous architectures like Pyramid and the Eiffel Tower.
We say Chinese’s great talent at copying is to make the goods more affordable for everyone, and to create fun and a little weirdness.
5. Building fast
Many people, from home or abroad, plaint that China is not what it looked like 10 years ago. That’s true, as the country is building so fast!! I believe that China is very different from your conventional picture of a poor, dusty, undeveloped country.
It has built several metropolises which are filled with skyscrapers and high-rises. Subways are under construction in most cities, while the bullets trains greatly shorten the train journey between each region. And hotels ranging from comfortable economic hostels to luxury 5-star hotels can meet different interests and budgets.
Recommended China High-speed Train Tours
6. China’s triumph over limits
China likes to challenge the limits. Now it has the world's highest railway running on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau - the largest and highest plateau on earth, and is able to bring all travelers barreling directly to Tibet and Mount Everest.
Furthermore, China has the world’s longest suspension bridge across the canyon - Aizhai Bridge (1176 m), the world's longest bridge over water - Jiaozhou Bay Bridge (26.7 km), the world’s the highest bungee jumping (400 m) in Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon.
7. Indoor sports
To be honest, we Chinese are not good at football or Marathon. But we are doing great in indoor sports, like ping pong, badminton, athletic gymnastics and diving. Indoor sports help China become one of world sporting powers.
8. Kung Fu
Bruce Lee brings the world “kung fu”, which is originated from Martial Arts of China. Kung fu helps to build fitness, defend against bully, and is the art of fighting. To be a kung fu master, you need to keep practicing and training. Shaolin Temple in Henan province and Wudang Mountain in Hubei province are shrines for martial arts.