Robot Kitchen in Hong Kong, China, opened in July 2006. It has two robot staff members capable of taking orders from customers and delivering their meals to them. A third robot is being constructed that should be able to perform simple culinary tasks, such as preparing omelettes and flipping burgers.

The National Basketball Association is the first American professional sports league to stage games in China. Led by Yao Ming (China), the Houston Rockets (USA) posted an 88-86 preseason win over the Sacramento Kings (USA) at Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China on 14 October 2004. The Kings defeated the Rockets 91-89 at Capital Stadium in Beijing during the second game on 17 October 2004.

The earliest reliable record of the use of a crossbow was in 341 BC at the Battle of Ma-Ling, Linyi, China.  Historians believe these weapons were single-shot, with no springs, which are held with a pistol-style grip. The crossbows were probably used before this date, but no reliable information proves this. The earliest (non-recorded) was probably by the Stoneage people in Africa and south east Asia. They have remained as a popular military weapon, although largely replaced by firearms in later centuries. Crossbows were introduced to England Continue reading →

According to internationally renowned forensic biologist, Mark Benecke (Germany), the study of insects recovered from crime scenes and corpses can be traced back to a 13th-century medico-legal text book entitled Hsi Yuan Lu (The Washing Away of Wrongs) by Sung Tz’u (China), a lawyer and death investigator. When called upon to investigate a fatal stabbing in a rice field, Sung Tz’u asked workers to lay down their sickles; soon afterwards, blow flies were attracted to one particular sickle covered in invisible traces of blood, compelling Continue reading →

Propelled by gunpowder, `flying fireworks’, (charcoal-saltpetre-sulfur), were described by Zeng Gongliang of China in 1042. War rockets originated in 1245 near Hangzhou, China (the capital of China between 1127 and 1278) However the first use of true rockets was reported in 1232 when the Chinese and Mongols were at war with each other. During the battle of Kai-Keng, the Chinese repelled the Mongol invaders by a barrage of ‘arrows of flying fire’.

The earliest written language discovered has been on Yangshao culture pottery from Paa-t’o, found in 1962 near Xi’an in the Shaanxi province of China. This bears proto-characters for the numbers 5, 7 and 8 and has been dated to 5000—4000 BC. Information taken from Archives (e.g.1993). Submitted for use in Scholastic’s Modern Marvels.

The greatest distance travelled by train in 24 hours is 3,783.91 km (2,351.21 miles), achieved by John Daffurn (UK), with a start point at Guangzhou South Station in Guangzhou, China, and a finish point at Longyang Road Metro Station in Shanghai, China, on 7-8 November 2013. Daffurn travelled from Guangzhou South Station to Beijing West Railway Station by high-speed train, then transferred to Beijing South Railway Station by metro, then travelled to Shanghai Railway Station by high-speed train and transferred to Longyang Road by metro.

Zedong Wang (China) styled a head of hair using ten pairs of scissors in one hand, controlling each pair independently, on the set of Zheng Da Zong Yi – Guinness World Records Special in Beijing, China, on 31 October 2007.

The heaviest building moved intact is the Fu Gang Building at West Bank Road Wuzhou, in the Guangxi Province of China. It was successfully relocated by the Guangzhou Luban Corporation on 10 November 2004.The building weighs 15,140.4 metric tonnes (33.3 million lb) and is 34 m (111 ft) tall. The building was moved 35.62 metres horizontally and it took eleven days to complete the relocation.

The heaviest pomegranate weighs 1.85 kg (4.08 lb) and 48.7 cm (19.17 in) in circumference. It was grown in Aiguo village, Huili county, Sichuan province, China and was verified at the Pomegranate Competition organised by the People’s Government of Huili County, on 4 September 2009. The pomegranate measured 16 cm (6.2 in) in diameter and 13.8 cm (5.4 in) in vertical diameter.