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Music around the World: Asia

China

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Some interesting information

China is one of the biggest country in the world. Here you have some information about this country:

  • The capital city is Beijing.

  • The largest city is Shanghai (with a population of 24 millions)

  • Population: 1347 millions.

  • Languages: Mandarin, Wu and Cantonese.

  • Currency: Yuan (1 yuan=0’12 €) 

  • Religion: Syncretism of Confuncianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

Did you know...

  • Chinese cuisine is highly diverse: Rice, noodles, soybeans (tofu) and wheat are the staple food, but pork is the most popular meat.

  • Cuju is an ancient Chinese ball game. It is a competitive game that involves kicking a ball through an opening into a net. The use of hands is not allowed.

  • Wushu (known in Europe as Kung fu) (武术) are fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. 

  • The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials. Its measure is 21,196 km!

  • The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty. 

  • A well-educated Chinese reader today recognizes approximately 4,000–6,000 characters; approximately 3,000 characters are required to read a Mainland newspaper. 

China

China

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Chinese music instruments

  • The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a arying number of frets ranging from 12 to 26.  

  • The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". 

  • The xiao is a Chinese vertical end-blown flute. It is generally made of dark brown bamboo (called "purple bamboo" in Chinese). The xiāo is a very ancient Chinese instrument.

  • Peking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. Masks are used in the opera; each color has a different meaning.

Japan

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Some interesting information

The Capital City is Tokyo (with a population of 9 millions)

Its total population is 126 millions of people!!

It's an archipelago of 6852 islands.

The actual emperor is Akihito

Official language: Japanese

Currency: Yen (1 yen=0.0071€)

Religion: Buddhism, Shinto (1% Christians)

Did you know...

  • Japanese cuisine is based on combining staple foods, typically Japanese rice or noodles, with a soup — dishes made from fish, vegetable, tofu and the like – to add flavor to the staple food. They eat more fish than meat. They even eat seaweeds, for example, in sushi.

  • Anime are Japanese animated productions usually featuring hand-drawn or computer animation, with a style often characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastic themes. The anime industry consists of over 430 production studios including major names like Studio Ghibli, Gainax and Toei Animation.

  • The Sumo is a competitive full-contact wrestling sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring.

  •  Kendo: meaning "Way of The Sword", is a modern Japanese sport/martial art, which descended from swordsmanship  and uses bamboo swords, and protective armour. 

  • Geisha are traditional Japanese female entertainers who act as hostesses and whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music, dance and games.​