Rumors of China

Snopes.com verifies rumors and myths about many things including China. Although the list of rumors of China was long, I’ll list just five.

1. A claim that the U.S. government agreed to allow China to exercise “eminent domain” as collateral for American debt is FALSE. China may not take land, buildings, factories and entire cities inside the USA to satisfy the financial obligations of the US government.

2.  The rumor that Costco warehouse club stores are owned by China is FALSE.  Maybe Wal-Mart started this one. However, there are Wal-Mart stores in China.  Costco isn’t in China yet.

3. As crazy as the 2010-midterm elections were, I didn’t hear this lie to discredit Democrats and President Obama claiming that the Obama administration was selling the blueprints for the B-2 Stealth Bomber to China in exchange for debt relief. Snopes found this rumor was FALSE.

The interesting thing about Snopes.com is if possible it provides links to the origin of the lie/myth. If you check on a rumor or myth, read all of the Snopes.com explanation.

4. Since there have been so many complaints of food exported to the US from China being tainted, know that the “Mandarin Menace” was proven FALSE by Snopes.com.  Pesticide used on mandarin oranges imported from China was “not” causing allergic reactions among U.S. consumers.

Snopes could find no reports or officially used warning to support the claim that a new pesticide being used in China is causing a pattern of allergic reactions among U.S. consumers.


Then some people want to believe the myths and lies.

5. The belief that fortune cookies originated in China is also FALSE. By World War II, fortune cookies were being offered in Chinese restaurants in San Francisco and from there the practice spread to the rest of the country.

In fact, no one knows who invented the fortune cookie but it did not start in China and in all my trips to China since 1999, I have never seen a fortune cookie in any of the restaurants I’ve eaten in from Xian to Guilin.

Learn 15 Facts that will Blow Your Mind about China

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

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