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China is a magical country that has created many wonders throughout history. When it comes to China’s miracles, many people are well aware of them. Especially as China’s national strength grows, its influence on the world also continues to increase. China has many world records, many of which are well-known, but there are also some that are little known even among Chinese people. Today, we will take a look at the top 10 Chinese world records that are hardly familiar to even the Chinese themselves. I. China has the most neighbors in the world. China is a country with a vast territory, and it also has the greatest number of neighbors in the world. China’s land neighbors include: North Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Laos – a total of 14 countries. China's maritime neighbors include South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, a total of 6 countries. China has 20 neighboring countries, tying Russia for the most in the world in terms of land area. However, Russia counts three more neighboring countries – Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden – due to its exclave of Kaliningrad; when considering only its mainland territory, it still has fewer neighbors than China. Furthermore, China also shares the longest borders with nuclear-armed countries. Of the 9 nuclear-armed countries in the world, 4 – including North Korea, Russia, India, and Pakistan – share borders with China, and China itself is also a nuclear-armed country. II. China has the longest subway network in the world. As is well known, China boasts a highly developed high-speed rail network, with the longest high-speed rail mileage in the world. But in fact, apart from high-speed railways, China also has the longest network of urban subways in the world. By 2015, the length of China’s subway networks had reached 3,300 kilometers, while the United States, which was in second place at that time, had only 1,200 kilometers of subway tracks – less than half of China’s amount. Furthermore, the length of China’s subway networks is equivalent to the total length of those in the second to fourth ranked countries – that is, the United States, South Korea, and Germany combined. When it comes to individual cities, Shanghai has the longest subway network in the world; thus, China is truly a transportation powerhouse. III. China’s Record-Breaking Applications for International Patents In the past, international patent applications were essentially a privilege of developed countries. Before 2015, international patents were largely dominated by the United States and Japan, but as China’s scientific and technological capabilities continued to grow, this situation changed very rapidly. In 2017, China filed 48,882 international patents, surpassing Japan’s 48,208 and becoming the ** second-largest country after the United States. In 2018, China’s Huawei Company became the company that filed the most patent applications in the world, with 5,405 applications. Meanwhile, the number of patent applications in China was 53,345, which is only 2,797 fewer than the 56,142 patents in the United States. In 2019, China filed 58,990 international patents, surpassing the United States’ 57,840, and thus became the country with the highest number of international patent applications in the world, ending the United States’ long-standing dominance at the top of this list. IV. China’s Automotive Brands: The Best in the World. When it comes to brands that are considered the best in the realm of automobiles, people often think of countries such as the United States, Germany, and Japan. But things are about to change now. Currently, China is the world’s largest automobile market, with annual demand for cars exceeding tens of millions. While foreign brands are actively striving to gain a foothold in this market, Chinese domestic automobile brands are also experiencing strong growth. Currently, China has the largest number of automobile brands in the world, and these brands are fairly evenly distributed across the country. In addition to the large cities in the east, many automobile brands have also emerged in China’s western regions. According to statistics, out of China’s 32 provincial-level administrative units, only seven, including Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai, still do not have their own automobile brands. As China actively promotes new energy pure electric vehicles, Chinese automobile brands are set to experience another wave of explosive growth in the foreseeable future. V. China has the largest number of dogs in the world. In many people’s minds, it seems that Westerners prefer to have pet dogs as companions, but in fact, keeping dogs has also been a tradition among the Chinese for thousands of years; China boasts the greatest number of dogs in the world. According to statistics, the number of dogs in China amounts to 130 million, while the United States, which ranks second, has over 70 million dogs. In China, not only do urban white-collar workers keep purebred pets as a source of comfort, but in the vast rural areas as well, native dogs have become part of many rural families and serve to guard the homes. China’s large population of dogs also gives rise to certain social problems. Nowadays, Chinese authorities are focusing more on finding scientific ways to manage urban dogs and promoting rabies vaccinations for them, with the aim of enabling a more harmonious coexistence between dogs and humans. VI. China has the highest watermelon production in the world. There is a term on the Chinese Internet called “those who just watch”, which is used to describe ordinary internet users who simply observe without commenting. In reality, China also has the largest group of onlookers in the world. 60% of the watermelons grown worldwide each year are consumed by Chinese people. Chinese people have a great love for watermelons, and since they consume a lot of them, they also grow many watermelons; as a result, China is the country with the highest watermelon production in the world. China’s annual watermelon production exceeds 70 million tons, while Iran, which ranks second, produces only a little over 3 million tons. Due to high production volumes, watermelons in China are available at relatively low prices domestically; some watermelons that are considered \"luxury fruits\" are actually the most affordable ones in China. VII. China has the highest fishery production in the world. When it comes to food, the Chinese are never short of ideas. It is said that if Chinese people have some land, they will find ways to grow vegetables on it ； And if Chinese people have a pond, they will find ways to raise fish in it. As mentioned earlier, China is the world’s largest producer of watermelons. It is also the world’s largest producer of vegetables and the largest producer of pig meat. Also, China is the world’s largest country both in terms of aquaculture and consumption. According to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 2014, China’s fishery production that year reached over 58 million tons, while the global total for the same period was 101 million tons. In other words, China’s fishery production was greater than that of all other countries in the world combined. To date, China has ranked first in the world in terms of fishery production for 30 consecutive years. VIII. China’s ancient city walls: the world’s best. Today, China is known as a powerhouse when it comes to infrastructure development, and in ancient times, it was also famous for its construction efforts. In addition to the world-famous Great Wall, China also has the longest ancient city wall in the world, the ancient city wall of Nanjing from the Ming Dynasty. The ancient city wall of Nanjing is approximately 35,000 meters long and 14 to 26 meters high; it has a history of over 650 years. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty in China, Nanjing served as the country’s administrative center. The ancient city walls of Nanjing were built by three emperors: Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty; Zhu Yunwen, the Jianwen Emperor; and Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor. Later, Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, yet the ancient city walls of Nanjing continued to bear witness to over 600 years of Chinese history. IX. China’s Water Conservancy Projects: The Best in the World. In ancient China, there were three projects regarded as \"the greatest of all\": the Great Wall, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the Qanats in Xinjiang. Compared to the first two, the Qanats are less well-known, but in fact they represent China’s longest and most complex water conservancy projects. The total length of the canals in Xinjiang amounts to 5,000 kilometers, which is much longer than the 1,800-kilometer Grand Canal between Beijing and Hangzhou. It is undoubtedly China’s greatest hydraulic engineering project from ancient times. Not only that, but the number of karez reaches over 1,700, with tens of thousands of vertical shafts distributed throughout; the deepest of these shafts is 90 meters deep. The karez system played a crucial role in solving the problem of agricultural irrigation in Xinjiang. It can be said that karez have been instrumental in helping Xinjiang become an important agricultural region in China to this day. X. China’s Underground Nuclear Facilities: The Best in the World. During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, China faced nuclear deterrence from these two superpower nuclear nations. To counter this threat, China began undertaking large-scale underground nuclear projects in the 1950s; the Americans referred to them as the “Underground Nuclear Great Wall”. Over time, some of these nuclear projects have been declassified and even become tourist attractions today, including the world’s largest underground nuclear facility, the 816 project, as well as the 6501 project and the 7381 project. According to estimates by American experts, China has built an \"underground nuclear Great Wall\" that is 5,000 kilometers long, making it undeniably the longest of its kind in the world. Source: Global Hawk Vision