# China: why does one embassy have three dates?

Compare a mission to the Qing court across three calendars, then explore projects about places, records and China–Romania ties.

https://mariuscomper.uk/en/china/

- [The seasons: why the year turns, how many seasons the world counts and what 351 languages call them](https://mariuscomper.uk/seasons/): The sky gives the year four fixed points: two solstices and two equinoxes. People decided the rest: two seasons in Iceland’s old calendar, three in ancient Egypt, six in India, 24 solar terms in China and 72 in Japan’s old almanac. The page draws 21 calendars as rings of one year, shows why there are seasons at all, where the four words come from in 64 languages, and what the oldest text found says for eighteen stories about the turning year.
- [The height of Everest, 8,848.86 m: the last ten metres, then the whole mountain, drawn to scale](https://mariuscomper.uk/everest/en/): How high Everest is and what the height is measured from: the five published heights from 1856 to 2020 drawn to scale on the last metres of the summit, then the Nepal route, the Tibetan side, the river that lifts the mountain and the sea the metres are counted from. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [Qinghai Lake: China's largest lake has been growing for two decades](https://mariuscomper.uk/lacul-qinghai/en/): Qinghai Lake measured 4,650.08 km² in September 2024, after two decades of growth. What satellites show, and what happened to its birds, its fish and its shores. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [The Yangtze on a painted scroll 800 years old: 240 named places, mountains to sea](https://mariuscomper.uk/fluviul-yangtze/en/): A Chinese handscroll 16.57 m long, painted under the Song dynasty, shows the Yangtze with 240 names written in red. Unrolled from the mountains to the sea, beside what is there today: the Three Gorges, the dam, 1,426 porpoises, ten years without commercial fishing. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [The world in China's People's Daily: how often the paper mentioned each country, 1946–2025](https://mariuscomper.uk/lumea-in-ziarul-chinei/en/): 197 Chinese country names, searched for in 1,991,747 articles of the People's Daily, the newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. Pick a country and a year: how many articles mention it, where it ranks, and its curve month by month. The United States goes from 6,235 articles in 1965 to 787 in 2024. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [1989 in China's People's Daily: the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, day by day](https://mariuscomper.uk/1989-in-ziarul-chinei/en/): All 365 issues of the People's Daily for 1989, with the 729 news items on Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania: the page, the length and the headline of each. The opening of the Berlin Wall is 554 characters on page 4, without the word “wall”. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [Romanian films in China, 1950–1992: 68 films and the titles China gave them](https://mariuscomper.uk/filme-romanesti-in-china/en/): Between 1950 and 1992 at least 68 Romanian feature films were dubbed or shown in China. Each is listed with its Chinese and Romanian titles, the year it opened in Romania, the year and studio of its Chinese dubbing, and its sources. One 1955 spy film had six million admissions in China by 1958, according to the People's Daily. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [Five students on the train to Beijing: the first Romanians to learn Chinese, from 1950 to today](https://mariuscomper.uk/cinci-studenti-la-beijing/en/): In November 1950 five Romanian school-leavers spent fifteen nights on trains from Bucharest to Beijing. None of them knew Chinese. One became an ambassador, one a trade counsellor, one a historian of China, one a translator of Chinese literature. The journey on a map and the five lives step by step, each step with its source. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [Romania in China's People's Daily: eighty years of Romania–China relations in 16,793 articles](https://mariuscomper.uk/romania-china/en/): The People's Daily named Romania in 16,793 articles between 1946 and 2025. Their month-by-month chart has two peaks, 1971 and 1978, and one almost empty year, 1968. Every year has its card, with three headlines printed in Beijing, in Chinese and in translation. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [Chess and xiangqi (Chinese chess): one army on two boards, compared piece by piece](https://mariuscomper.uk/sah-si-xiangqi/en/): Chess and xiangqi set out the same army: chariot, horse, elephant, counsellor, king. Pick a piece and see its move on three boards: shatranj, the medieval game, chess today and xiangqi. The medieval bishop reached 8 of 64 squares; the xiangqi elephant reaches 7 of 90 points. With the names of the pieces in 31 languages and a ten-move quiz. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [Beijing's walls, along the metro route](https://mariuscomper.uk/zidurile-beijingului/en/): Beijing's Line 2 follows the former inner-city enclosure corridor, and several stations carry the old gates' names. Ride all 18 stops — 8 inner-gate names, 3 later openings, 7 without a counterpart — then compare Liang Sicheng's unbuilt wall-top park with the 1952–1970 demolitions and count what remains: 2 gate sites, 3 towers, wall fragments.
- [Pax Silica: the US declaration on the artificial-intelligence supply chain, who signed it and what has been done](https://mariuscomper.uk/pax-silica/en/): The full text of the declaration, its 25 signatories on a map through time, the eight layers of the technology chain and what has been announced or launched in each, with every claim tied to its source.
- [What is the original Cinderella story? 134 versions from 1893, and Ye Xian, written down in 9th-century China](https://mariuscomper.uk/cenusareasa/en/): Tell us the Cinderella you remember and see how many of the 134 versions Marian Cox collected in 1893 match yours: a godmother helps in 4, midnight appears in 2. The bones that work wonders, from Ye Xian (written down before 863) to Romania's Pipelcuța and the rooster. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [Shi Yousan, the general who changed sides 13 times](https://mariuscomper.uk/shi-yousan/en/): The Chinese general Shi Yousan changed sides 13 times between 1926 and 1940 and seven times turned on the side he served. Take his seat at nine forks, see his whole career on one line and the three versions of his death. In Romanian, English and Chinese.
- [The Romanian word for “plate” comes from a title of China’s emperor](https://mariuscomper.uk/faghfur/en/): Where Romanian farfurie, “plate”, comes from: Ottoman farfuri, “porcelain”, and before it Persian faghfūr, the title given to the emperor of China. Turn a Ming dish to see the word’s seven forms, from 天子 to farfurie, each with its source. With the Chinese province that dictionaries invented, the map of the routes and the Topkapı collection.
- [Ibn Battuta's travels mapped, 1325–1354](https://mariuscomper.uk/ibn-battuta/en/): Ibn Battuta, from Tangier to Kilwa, Constantinople, Delhi, the Maldives, China and Mali: 108,800 kilometres, measured on the map.
- [Nicolae Milescu (Spathari) in Beijing, 1676: why the tsar’s envoy left without the Kangxi Emperor’s letter](https://mariuscomper.uk/milescu-in-china/en/): The tsar’s envoy to the Kangxi Emperor was a Moldavian boyar. The embassy’s report and the Qing court record, set side by side day by day along a Kangxi-period painted scroll of Beijing: who laid the letter on the table, how the envoy bowed, and why he left without a reply.
- [Romania–China ties: dates and documents since 1949](https://mariuscomper.uk/relatia-ro-cn/en/): Follow 11 milestones in Romania–China relations, from diplomatic recognition in 1949 to consultations in 2024. Each entry links to documents and sources; bilateral trade is covered separately.
- [Dragonul Roșu: Bucharest's Chinese wholesale city](https://mariuscomper.uk/dragonul-rosu/en/): Opened 2003, 10 pavilions, 3,713 shops (this page's sum): Dragonul Roșu is the on-the-ground form of trade with China. Imports from China, from $90m in 1995 to $8,509m in 2024 — 30 years, eight chapters, eight markers, each with a source.
- [Did Marco Polo go to China? His book, set beside the Chinese records](https://mariuscomper.uk/marco-polo/en/): A Chinese entry of 1290 names the same three envoys as Marco Polo, though not Marco. Nine passages of the book stand beside Chinese texts about the same things: the fee on worn banknotes, couriers with bells, the cowries of Yunnan, the siege engines at Xiangyang. With the route of 1271–1295 on the map, what the book leaves out and a ten-question quiz.
- [Chinese medieval explorers: seven journeys from China to India, Baghdad, Paris and Africa (399–1433)](https://mariuscomper.uk/exploratori-chinezi/en/): Faxian, Xuanzang, Du Huan, Changchun, Rabban Bar Sauma, Zhou Daguan and Zheng He: seven journeys out of China between 399 and 1433, on one map, with what they wrote about what they saw.
- [The other side of the Moon: why it looks so different, and who has landed there](https://mariuscomper.uk/cealalta-luna/en/): Turn a globe of the Moon and watch the dark seas almost disappear: they cover 30% of the near side and 2% of the far side. With a map of crust thickness, the South Pole–Aitken basin, the places where Chang’e 4 and Chang’e 6 landed, and what the first samples brought back from there say.
- [Taiwan Turned the Tax Receipt into a Lottery Ticket](https://mariuscomper.uk/loteria-bonurilor/en/): A shopper's chance to win made the sale harder to hide.
- [Romania Schengen Visa 2026: Interactive Guide for Chinese Passport Holders](https://mariuscomper.uk/viza-schengen-china/en/): Chinese passport holders can check where to apply and which documents to prepare for a trip to Romania. The guide follows the EU’s harmonised list for China and reflects Romania’s Schengen membership since 1 January 2025.
- [Study Medicine in Romania: The International MD Atlas (Verified Shortlist)](https://mariuscomper.uk/studiaza-medicina/en/): Compare tuition and admission conditions at four Romanian medical schools with English-language programmes. The guide explains how to check accreditation, diploma recognition and the steps Chinese graduates may need for licensing in China.
- [Romania vs China Dashboard: Time Gap, Exchange Rate, 10 Indicators, Trade, Distance](https://mariuscomper.uk/ro-cn-dashboard/en/): Compare Romania and China by local time, exchange rates, ten World Bank indicators, bilateral trade and the distance between their capitals. Each figure includes its source and year.
- [Romanian Pickle Fermentation Lab: brine calculator, Chiojdu timeline, murături × pao cai](https://mariuscomper.uk/fermentation-lab/en/): Compare Romanian pickles with Sichuan pao cai, follow four stages of fermentation in Chiojdu, and calculate brine concentration. The page includes a food-safety reference, not recipes.
- [Romania's Digital-Nomad and Work Visas: A Chinese-Passport Guide](https://mariuscomper.uk/viza-nomad-digital/en/): Three tracks separated: the nomad's ten papers, the 3× wage math, work with the employer first. Every legal sentence with its article; the sorter gives FIT/HOLD bands, never verdicts; not legal advice.
- [Survival Romanian: the pinyin bridge and 120 phrases](https://mariuscomper.uk/romana-supravietuire/en/): Learn 120 Romanian phrases for ten everyday situations, with Chinese translations and Pinyin reading guides. A pronunciation chart compares Romanian sounds with Mandarin.
- [Romanian Books in Chinese: A Verified Map of Translations](https://mariuscomper.uk/carti-in-chineza/en/): Browse 28 verified Chinese-language editions of books by writers connected with Romania, with publishers, years, ISBNs and catalogue links. Five more records still need translation details confirmed.
- [A telescope in New Zealand: what it would add to a Chinese satellite-tracking network](https://mariuscomper.uk/telescop-noua-zeelanda/en/): A day of real orbits for more than five thousand objects: what a station placed anywhere on land adds to a Chinese network, where New Zealand ranks, and what the NZSIS report on Purple Mountain Observatory does and does not say.
- [Salt Trails](https://salt.mariuscomper.uk/en/): An edible rock set humans in motion.
- [One Target, Two Flags](https://convergenta-pakistan.mariuscomper.uk/en/): How China- and India-nexus cyberespionage actors reached the same Pakistani police servers and converged on Balochistan Police.
- [Tea, thé, чай, 茶: who says it like you?](https://mariuscomper.uk/harta-cuvintelor/en/): Pick a word and 107 languages of Europe and Asia light up, first the ones that say it almost like you.
- [Who sees, who decides?](https://mariuscomper.uk/cine-vede-cine-decide/en/): A supervisory file shows what changes when decision rights move closer to where information appears.

## Sources

- [[object Object]](https://mariuscomper.uk/milescu-in-china/)
- [[object Object]](https://mariuscomper.uk/romania-china/)
- [[object Object]](https://mariuscomper.uk/1989-in-ziarul-chinei/)
- [[object Object]](https://mariuscomper.uk/relatia-ro-cn/)
- [[object Object]](https://mariuscomper.uk/fluviul-yangtze/)
- [[object Object]](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/39624)
- [[object Object]](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/康熙朝實錄/卷之60)