Did you know?
PGMC will be ‘Taking its Act on the Road’ when it steps onto the stage in Beijing on September 1st, 2018, becoming the first gay chorus to tour China. PGMC will be bringing its act to four cities, Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Portland’s sister city, Suzhou, when it embarks on its ten-day whirlwind tour. The tour will be an amazing opportunity for the chorus to bring its message of love and acceptance to new audiences – international ones at that.
Most folks, including many of our own chorus members, have very little knowledge about this enigmatic nation of 1.3 billion people, other than knowing that just about everything one buys at Wal-Mart is labeled “Made in China.” So I thought it might be helpful to put together a sheet of interesting facts, simply titled “Did you Know? as an informative way of helping out!
Did you know? China is officially known as the People’s Republic of China. The official language is Mandarin, which is spoken by about 71% of the population. The second most popular dialect is Cantonese.
Did you know? With a population of over 1.3 billion, China has more people than any other country on Earth and has the second largest economy in the world after the Unites States.
Did you know? Chinese were some of the first people to use silk, jade, bronze, wood and paper to make art. The artistic writing called calligraphy was invented in China.
Did you know? Much of China’s modern beliefs and philosophies are based on the teachings of a government official who lived nearly 3,000 years ago – Confucius. He taught people the value of things such as morality, kindness and education.
Did you know? Ancient China was a land of invention. For centuries, China was much more advanced than most other countries in science and technology, astronomy and math. The Chinese invented paper, the magnetic compass, printing, tea porcelain, silk and gunpowder, among other things.
Did you know? The Great Wall of China is the largest man made structure in the world, stretching an incredible 5,500 miles. Just a couple of things – it really cannot be seen from space (no matter what Ripley’s Believe it or Not tried to tell us) and in China the wall is referred to as Chang Cheng which translates as Long Wall or Long City. It is not called The Great Wall.
Did you know? It is estimated that there are over 40 million LGBT citizens living in China. In 1997 homosexuality was decriminalized and in 2001 declassified as a mental illness.
Did you know? PFLAG China was founded in in 2008 and is quickly growing across the country. Its first national conference was held in the city of Guangzhou in 2009. They currently have formal groups in 51 cities including all the cities where PGMC will be performing.
Did you know? Well, if not, now you do!
