Chinasage : All about China
China sage's information will be of use to anyone keen to learn more about the world's upcoming nation. We cover all aspects of China in hundreds of detailed pages which include all sorts of cultural traditions , descriptions of every Chinese province and history , including all the dynasties. We hope you make ChinaSage the home for your study of China.
You can also check out your knowledge of China with our Quiz section .
Best wishes for 2026
For a very comprehensive guide for all Chinese festivals see our complete guide .
Wishing everybody a happy and prosperous new year.
I'd like to thank in particular the generosity of our Patreon supporters who have made it possible to pause advertising for most of 2025.
Traditions
About Chinasage
We’re building an extensive set of information all about China. We found other sites too detailed (such as Wikipedia) or just too old-fashioned. What we thought was needed was a carefully constructed site with strict editorial control so that everything is consistent and easy to navigate without clutter.
The name “Chinasage” came about because it can be read as either “China sage” (中 国 英 明 zhōng guó yīng míng ) or “China’s age” (中 国 时 代 zhōng guó shí dài ) , which promotes our new knowledge resource at a time when China has come of age in the world.
All the tea in China
Tea was the most important export that was weighed in the traditional Chinese unit of measurement called a 'catty'. It is known colloquially as the Chinese pound and is about 1.1pounds. In China it is known as the jin 斤 the word catty probably came from the Malay word. The modern weight is aligned to the metric system as exactly 500grams. The container for tea, a 'caddy', is believed to have been named after the measure.
Getting by in China There are many customs and traditions that you should know before traveling to China. Our customs page covers such things as giving gifts, banquets, sealing business deals and how to behave in public. A respect for age old traditions will impress your hosts who will appreciate your efforts to embrace the culture. Read more…
Imperial officials The prized job in dynastic China was as an Imperial official. As well as prosperity and a life of relative leisure an official received respect from the community. As anyone who passed the Imperial examinations could hope for such an appointment the posts were potentially open to all men. Read more…
Game of Go or Weiqi The ancient game of 'Go' is called 围棋 wéi qí in China. It was a Chinese invention and has for centuries been the top game for learning strategy. Scholars would spend hours honing their skills to outwit an opponent with a disarmingly simple set of rules. Read more…
Air travel in China Here we list all China's main airports , giving information on location, facilities and easy to use distance calculator so you can plan a complex itinerary around China. We also give useful visitor information about air transport in China. Read more…
Peony The peony is a frequent art motif in China. It is considered one of the best flowers of spring and was much loved by Empress Wu Zetian . Read more…
The Chinese Stars The Chinese system of astronomical observation is as ancient and distinctly different that as that developed in Europe and the Middle East. More emphasis was put on the moon than the sun and stars were arranged into groups according to the layout of the Imperial court. Read more…
A survey of Chinese literature As both the book and printing were invented in China it is not surprising that Chinese literature has a long and distinguished history. There are a number of very famous novels from before the time of Shakespeare including The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Water Margin. Read more…
Chinese money As in so many other things, China was the first to introduce paper currency and has had a standard coinage for thousands of years. Read more…
Cracking China book
Your A-Z key to understanding China
We are proud to announce a printed book all about China based loosely on this web site. It is a set of sixty topics in A-Z order covering everything from hair to kiwifruit, clapping to rhubarb, eunuchs to dragons. Buying a copy will help support Chinasage . Now available as a Kindle eBook for just $3.90.
Details... ➚
All the tea in China
Tea was the most important export that was weighed in the traditional Chinese unit of measurement called a 'catty'. It is known colloquially as the Chinese pound and is about 1.1pounds. In China it is known as the jin 斤 the word catty probably came from the Malay word. The modern weight is aligned to the metric system as exactly 500grams. The container for tea, a 'caddy', is believed to have been named after the measure.
History
Dip into history Our history section has a page for each major dynasty, for the whole period from the time of myths and legends 5,000 years ago all the way through the Han, Tang, Song, Ming dynasties to the last great dynasty the Qing. Read more…
Relations between Korea and China A history of the long and eventful history of Chinese relations with Korea. Chinese settlement first began two thousand years ago and at times since then China has intervened in Korean affairs, most recently in the Korean War 1950-53. Read more…
Top Academy in China 725-1911 China can lay claim to having the longest lived academic institution. The Hanlin Academy was founded way back in the Tang dynasty long before any European university. For nearly 1,200 years it employed all the top scholars in many disciplines and had its own set of buildings at the Imperial capital. The academy produced Imperial edicts, the Imperial histories as well as educating the Emperor's children and administering the university examination system . Read more…
The Long March The epic tale of the struggle of thousands of soldiers over thousands of miles of challenging terrain has been held up as the chief heroic episode in the early days of the Communist party. It was during the Long March that Mao Zedong emerged as leader with his own vision for the future of China. Read more…
The building of China's railways The building of railways became a competitive scramble in the late 19th and early 20th century. Railways were seen as the key step to opening up inland China for trade. Britain, France, Germany, Japan and America all invested heavily in railway construction only for the the money to be lost in the following years of turmoil. Read more…
The Republic of China 1912-1949 The years 1912-49 marked the difficult transition from centuries of Imperial dynastic rule to that of a Republic. Sun Yatsen's dream of a democratic Republic was never achieved amidst the turmoil of the Japanese Occupation and then the Civil War with the Communists. Read more…
Geography
China's diverse geography China has deserts, mountains, lakes, rain forests and almost every other type of geographical feature you can think of. Our geography section has pages for each individual province as well as the great Yangzi and Yellow rivers. There are also pages on climate, cities, population, ethnic people, airports and universities. Read more…
The South China Sea China lays claim to a vast area of sea as far south as northern Borneo. The sea contains two groups of islands: the Paracels and the Spratleys. China's claim is disputed by all the neighboring countries surrounding the South China Sea. The U.S. navy continues to provocatively sailed through the region and plans further naval maneuvers. Read more…
Philippines and China The Philippines represent the most distant of China's neighbors across the South China Sea . Extensive trade over the centuries and the Spanish and then US occupation has its legacy in relations with mainland China. Read more…
Chinese Cities We have all the important statistics on all the major cities in China. Gives Population, Chinese name and shows map of location within China as well as calculating distances to any other Chinese city. Read more…
Yangzi River The mighty Yangzi River is the longest in China and third longest in the world. It has carried huge quantities of people and goods over the centuries. Many great cities lie close to its banks: Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing and Shanghai. Read more…
All the tea in China
Tea was the most important export that was weighed in the traditional Chinese unit of measurement called a 'catty'. It is known colloquially as the Chinese pound and is about 1.1pounds. In China it is known as the jin 斤 the word catty probably came from the Malay word. The modern weight is aligned to the metric system as exactly 500grams. The container for tea, a 'caddy', is believed to have been named after the measure.
Hot and cold foods
The Chinese have always put importance on balancing foods in meals that goes back to the concept of yin and yang . According to tradition 'hot' and 'cold' refers not to temperature but the property of the food . Obviously chilies are hot and bananas are cold. Less obviously beef and chocolate sweets are considered 'hot' while pears and shrimps are 'cold'. A good dish and the whole meal will seek to balance hot and cold ingredients. Read more…
Language
The Chinese Language The Chinese language is rightly treasured as the country's greatest accomplishment. Our language section describes the language and its history. The section includes some introductory lessons and a guide to writing the characters. Read more…
Chinese Calligraphy The Chinese language is a treasure trove of history and traditions. The language script has been in use for over 4,000 years. Fine historic pieces by the great masters continue to achieve as high a price at auction as great paintings. To appreciate Chinese writing it is important to know how the characters are made with the brush. Read more…
1,000 character language primer One of the most loathed books in human history must be the Thousand Character Classic. For 1,500 years schoolchildren had to learn the whole set of 1,000 characters by rote. It was more about calligraphy practice rather than for making conversation. It remains a fact that learning a couple of thousand characters is a challenge to even young minds. Read more…
Chinese Poetry The Chinese language is ideally suited for writing poems. The long history of Chinese has allowed poems written over two thousand years ago to still be appreciated today. The characters provide a concise method for conveying impressions and emotion. Read more…
All Chinese Festivals Our extensive section on Chinese festivals gives the dates and backgrounds on over 30 of them. Our festivals page has full details of the origin and observance of each of them as well as a handy diary for when they will next fall. Essential when planning a trip to China. Read more…
Bits and Pieces
We need your help to keep the Chinasage web site growing. We'd love to keep this web site completely free of advertisements like Wikipedia. Please consider becoming a Patreon subscriber for however little or much you can afford. We have been running this campaign for two months and have so far raised only 10% of our target. So please help… or else advertisements will make a comeback!
To read more and take out a subscription simply click on the Patreon Patreon
Many thanks, much appreciated.
Tue 20th Sep 2022Patreon pictures Thanks to the generous donations from Chinasage's Patreon ➚ sponsors we've just added quality photographs to many of our pages.
Although you can get images of all sorts of thing for free you do still have to pay for quality, particularly for specialist subjects. This time we have used 123rf for the new images who claim to have 200 million images to choose from. It takes a long time to make a choice and then they all need editing for usage, tagging and finally putting on the appropriate place on our hundreds of pages. We hope you will agree that they make a significant improvement.
New Year dragon, Shanghai Read more…
All the tea in China
Tea was the most important export that was weighed in the traditional Chinese unit of measurement called a 'catty'. It is known colloquially as the Chinese pound and is about 1.1pounds. In China it is known as the jin 斤 the word catty probably came from the Malay word. The modern weight is aligned to the metric system as exactly 500grams. The container for tea, a 'caddy', is believed to have been named after the measure.
Chinese coolies 1845-1880 When African slavery was made illegal in the UK and US, employers turned to China for supply of labor. The conditions were just as appalling as for the Africans. A technicality allowed employers to claim this was not slavery but Chinese were bought at markets and had little chance of returning home. This little known trade began in 1845 and lasted about 35 years before the Chinese and some foreign governments put a stop to it. Read more…
The Peoples of China China although predominately populated with the Han Chinese , has over 100 million people identified as belonging to other ethnic minorities. However these people are concentrated in the less densely populated 'fringes' of China so may form the majority in some regions. Read more…
Lucky Bats Bats are commonly used in handicrafts, paintings and artwork to give a wish for good luck. This is because 'bat' and 'good luck' sound the same in Chinese. Read more…
The Great Mongol Empire The conquest of China by the Mongols took over 50 years. The north was taken in 1215 and the south held out until 1279. The horde of brutal horsemen from Mongolia swept all before them. The Mongols took to Chinese ways, using existing administration and traditions rather than imposing their own. It became China's most cosmopolitan era. Read more…
海 hǎi sea 氵 shuǐ water radical 85]Origin Derives from 'water' and an unending supply of mother's milk Full information for 海
Historic drum tower and prayer hall with distinctive flying eave roofs at Wenshu Buddhist temple, Chengdu
Conventions
We use a consistent style for links within Chinasage. An internal link taking you to another page within our site is shown like this while a link to a page on any other web site is shown like this ➚ .
We use Chinese characters wherever appropriate. Most browsers should display both the characters and the pinyin correctly. We highlight any use of the older Wade Giles system for 'spelling' characters. Except where stated all characters are the modern simplified form used in the People's Republic rather than the traditional ones (pre-1970s). To help you learn Chinese characters many of the very common characters are highlighted thus: 中
Dates are given using the BCE/CE ➚ (Before Common Era and in Common Era) year convention rather than BC/AD. If a date is not followed by BCE or CE it should be taken as CE.
Authorship
All the text on the Chinasage web site is my own, I do not copy and paste from other web sites. I research each topic from a number of authoritative sources (mainly books ). The only exception to this are quotations and image credits. All text is our copyright and can not be used/copied without my permission. I am independent of any other company or government, the opinions expressed are my own. I do not receive funding or backing from any agency or organization .
Teacup Media (China History Podcast)
I am delighted to be able to promote links to Laszlo Montgomery's excellent Teacup Media ➚ series created over the last 15 years. Laszlo Montgomery ➚ has in depth knowledge of building commercial contacts with China over 30 years. The set of 290 podcasts totals 150 hours of audio commentary which covers every conceivable topic in Chinese history. Highly recommended.
Acknowledgments
I am extremely grateful to the many people who have put their photographs online for anyone to adapt and use. Without them this site would be very drab. If I am not using the image license correctly please let me know. I am grateful to Kim Dramer ➚ for permission to use her short videos all about Chinese culture and traditions. Patreon subscribers have supported the web site and allowed us to amongst other things purchase some quality images of China for use here. Some pages use Javascript ➚ to create special effects such as our airport table and calendar . I am grateful to the original authors for providing their code to be used and adapted by anyone else. The online Chinese dictionary uses the definitions from the CC-CEDICT project ➚ for which I am grateful for a generous free license. Sound files kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License.
Feel free to contact Chinasage to point out any errors, omissions or suggestions on how to improve this web site.
If you would like to support my work and keep us independent become a Patreon or make a Donation via Paypal.
