Interesting Facts

According to a survey conducted by sweetener manufacturer Splenda, chocolate, cheese and crisps are the treats that are most likely to tempt people away from a diet. (Half the respondents said chocolate was their downfall, for a third it was crisps, and a quarter said cheese was their biggest temptation. Other foods mentioned were bread, cakes, biscuits, sweets and Chinese meals. The fourth biggest craving mentioned was a glass of chilled white wine on a night out. What! No beer?)

According to the World Tourism Organisation, nearly one in ten international tourists worldwide is now Chinese. (There were 97.3m outward-bound journeys from China in 2013, of which around half were for leisure.  Chinese tourists spend most in total ($129 billion in 2013, followed by Americans at $86 billion) and per tax-free transaction ($1,130 compared with $494 by Russians).  More than 80% say that shopping is vital to their plans, compared with 56% of Middle Eastern tourists and 48% of Russians.  The Chinese are expected to buy more luxury goods next year while abroad than tourists from all other countries combined. However, only around 5% of China’s population actually own passports.)

The MOD (Ministry of Defence) has announced plans to scrap its RAF UFO hotline. (The reason for this decision is not because they don't believe in aliens, but because they get so many calls.  The problem is the calls aren't because there are little green men invading, but because of Chinese lanterns; people spot them flying around spookily and think they are UFOs, which I guess they are really, because UFO simply stands for Unidentified Flying Object, and so it stands to reason that if you see something flying around and you can't tell what it is, then it is de facto a UFO. Maybe Chinese lanterns are a cunning alien plot?)

According to preliminary figures released by research firm Gartner, PC maker Lenovo has replaced Hewlett-Packard as the world's top PC maker. (Lenovo shipped 13.8 million units in the third quarter, compared with HP's 13.55 million, and they were the only PC maker, among the world's top five, that increased its shipments to the US during the third quarter. Lenovo are based in Beijing, China, but before you decry the rise of Chinese manufacturing, they make the ThinkPad, which was originally designed, developed and sold by IBM. Maybe we should be asking, "Who decided to sell off the IBM PC business in 2005?")

Chinese Girl, a painting by Vladimir Tretchikoff, who died last week, is believed to have sold more in print form than the Mona Lisa or Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Dressed in a gold-collared robe, her skin is a strange blue-green colour. (Of course critics dismissed it as kitsch, but, if kitsch sells, who are they to criticise? Apologies if you were sent here when searching for a dating site.)

Only 53% of Chinese speak Mandarin. (A survey by the National Language Commission shows that only 53 percent of China's 1.3 billion people speak Mandarin, the nation's official language.)

There are more than 40,000 characters in Chinese script. (So, next time you complain about how complicated the English language is - think on!)