Top 10 Far East facts

4. Words "four" and "Death" have very similar pronunciation in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese. In East Asia many buildings do not have a 4th floor. Some high-rise residential buildings omit all floor numbers with "4", e.g., 4, 14, 24, 34 and all 40–49 floors.

Ryukyu Kingdom. Karate developed from the indigenous martial arts of Ryukyu Islands (today Japanese) under the influence of Chinese martial arts. The Ryukyu Kingdom was an independent kingdom from the 15th to 19th century, and despite its small size, the kingdom played a central role in the maritime trade networks of medieval East Asia. Until the 19th century, it has had much more in common with China, than with Japan.

In North Korea. The Arch of Reunification is a sculptural arch located south of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It was opened in August 2001 to commemorate Korean reunification proposals put forward by Kim Il-sung.

Ninjatō. The ninjatō or shinobigatana, are allegedly the preferred weapon that the Shinobi of feudal Japan carried. It is portrayed by modern ninjutsu practitioners as the weapon of the ninja, and is prominently featured in popular culture. Replicas of this sword have also been prominently on display at the Ninja Museum of Igaryu located in Iga

Subspecies feature. Qinling Panda - Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis is the only subspecies of the giant Panda. Brown and white Qinling Pandas they are usually smaller and live only in the mountains Qinling in Shaanxi province. There have been only 7 documented brown Pandas in the last 25 years, among about 300 Qinling Pandas living in the wild.

At point 1. Beijing is located in northern China. Its name, which means "Northern Capital", was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming Dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing (the "Southern Capital").

In Japan. The Aokigahara forest has a historical reputation as a home to yūrei: ghosts of the dead in Japanese mythology. In recent years, Aokigahara has become internationally known as "the Suicide Forest", one of the world's most prevalent suicide sites, and signs at the head of some trails urge suicidal visitors to think of their families and contact a suicide prevention association.

The Fisherman. Fishing with cormorants is a very old and popular practice in Japan and China. Today more oriented towards tourism. In Gifu, Japan, Japanese cormorant (P. capillatus) is used; Chinese fishermen often use the big cormorants (P. carbo). Anthracnose (anhinga), related to cormorants, are also used for this fishing technique.

Japan. Okobo is wooden sandals worn by maiko (apprentice geisha) during their apprenticeship. These sandals are very practical, keeping the expensive kimono off the ground.

South Korea. With a population of 50.2M, South Korea is more than twice as populous as North Korea (24.5M).