While China is largely mapped and settled, significant portions, especially in the vast, harsh western regions like Tibet and Xinjiang (high plateaus, mountains), remain sparsely populated and geographically "undiscovered" by the masses, with hidden ecosystems like underground forests recently found; the country also has unexplored remote areas, but "undiscovered" mostly refers to inaccessible or uninhabited terrain, not uncharted land in the traditional sense.
About 94% of China's population lives in just 43% of its land area, while the remaining 57% is almost uninhabited. The reason is simple — much of western China is covered by mountains, deserts, and icy regions, making it nearly impossible for people to live there.
China's "0.1% rule" refers to its October 2025 export controls, requiring licenses for foreign products containing ≥0.1% by value of certain Chinese-origin rare earths or made with controlled Chinese rare earth tech, extending China's jurisdiction extraterritorially to high-tech supply chains like EV magnets and AI chips, impacting global industries by giving Beijing leverage over critical materials. This "de minimis" rule creates significant compliance burdens for foreign firms, potentially halting supply of advanced tech.
Yes, approximately 90% of people in China own their homes, making it one of the highest homeownership rates globally, a result of significant housing reforms starting in 1998 that privatized public housing, alongside strong cultural emphasis on owning property as a marker of stability and a prerequisite for marriage, though it's important to note ownership is of the building, not the land, which remains state-owned. Urban rates hover around 87%, while rural rates are over 95%, with many families owning multiple properties.
In southern China, researchers have discovered a vast underground forest nestled within a sinkhole that descends to a depth of 192 meters (630 feet). This hidden ecosystem boasts towering ancient trees, with some reaching nearly 40 meters (131 feet) in height.
Those that are only found in China include giant pandas, Tibetan macaques, Chinese giant salamanders, golden snub-nosed monkeys, and Chinese sturgeons. The red panda, Siberian tiger, and Chinese sturgeon are in other countries too, but the Chinese zoos, safari parks, and breeding centers are good places to see them.
TIL At least 30 Million people in China live in cave homes, called yaodongs; because they are warm in the winter and cool in the summer, some people find caves more desirable than concrete homes in the city.
A society where problems are hidden rather than solved can appear “orderly,” but that order is often achieved through coercion and silence, not care and dignity. Homelessness exists, but it is made largely invisible through a mix of short-term containment, forced removal, and strict control over reporting.
With the exception of individuals with hunting permits and some ethnic minorities, civilian firearm ownership is restricted to non-individual entities. Law enforcement, military, paramilitary, and security personnel are allowed to use firearms. Police are to use issued pistols only to stop serious or dangerous crimes.
According to the China Real Estate Index System (CREIS), as of October 2025, the average price of newly built residential properties across 100 monitored cities stood at RMB 16,973 (USD 2,389) per square meter, while second-hand homes averaged RMB 13,268 (USD 1,867) per square meter.
China's "3-hour rule" for minors restricts children under 18 to playing online video games for only three hours per week, specifically from 8 PM to 9 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, to combat gaming addiction and improve health. Implemented by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) in 2021, the rule mandates gaming companies use real-name verification and facial recognition to enforce limits, though some children bypass it using adult accounts.
Google has a difficult history in China. The company pulled its search engine out of China in 2010 because of government censorship and what the company said was a cyberattack from Chinese hackers trying to gain access to human rights activists' email accounts.
The current average monthly salary in China is $3000-$4000 US dollars.
As per China's national poverty line, 8.5 percent of people were in poverty in 2013, which decreased to 1.7 percent in 2018. On 6 March 2020, Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, announced that by 2020, China will achieve all poverty alleviation in rural areas.
The 4-2-1 family structure refers to families in which three generations coexist in a variety of family forms. The structure emphasizes a social living community, including four older people (paternal and maternal grandparents), two parents, and one child, based on relationships of marriage, kinship, and adoption.
Now that you have a little idea of what's involved in gun ownership when moving overseas, here are the 10 countries with the friendliest gun laws:
China has strict gun control laws, and reports of gun violence are extremely rare. While some may be covered up by government censorship of negative news, knife attacks appear to be more common, as well as driving a vehicle into a crowd.
It's generally possible to buy a sword in China, although the type of sword you can buy and the process for doing so might vary. China has a long history and tradition of sword-making, particularly in the areas of longquan and shanxi, which are famous for their sword production.
Finland is the only country in the world where there are no homeless people; the Finnish government believes that housing is not a privilege, but a fundamental right for every individual. Therefore, instead of temporary shelters or tents, homeless people are given the keys to permanent homes.
So, China does not have “Slums”. However, according to the property rights analysis of land resources, China relies on the government to actively implement the land reform system, comprehensively solve the problem of landlords, and fairly divide the land to all farmers.
Despite falling housing and rental prices, housing affordability in China's top-tier cities is still an issue, with rent-to-income ratios exceeding 30%.
The newest of these not-for-the-faint-of-heart structures is called Tianti (“Sky Ladder” in Chinese). It clocks in at 551 feet long (168 meters) and stretches between two cliffs at a height of 5,000 feet, according to Chinese state media.
Almost 94% of people live east of the “Heihe–Tengchong Line”, a diagonal line running from the northeast to the southwest. To the west of this line lies 57% of China's land area — but just 6% of its people. Harsh deserts, towering mountains, and arid plateaus make it difficult to settle or farm.
Since 1994, an average of 6.4 people have died each year in the United States in cave-related accidents. More than half of those deaths involved cave divers. In Utah, an Eskdale man died last year when he drowned in a cave at Warm Creek Springs, near Delta.