Fireworks

• According to the Fireworks University, fireworks were invented by the Chinese during the Song Dynasty, between 960 and 1279. A Chinese monk living in the Hunan Province, Li Tian, is credited with the invention of firecrackers. In 2011 the Hunan Province of China is the world's largest producer of fireworks.
  
  

Pasta

• Much controversy surrounds exactly who invented pasta. The popular belief is that Marco Polo brought back pasta from China in the 1200s. However, according to historians, pasta recipes were already in Italy around A.D. 800. So either pasta was exported to Italy before Marco Polo, or it developed independently in the two parts of the word. Chinese poet Shu Hsi composed poems about pasta, called A Rhapsody on Pasta, in 300 B. C. This predates Italian pasta recipes by about 1,000 years.
  
  

Silk Cloth and The Spinning Wheel

• The Chinese first harvested silk about 1900 B.C. Silk is a natural thread, made by the silkworm larva that spins a cocoon. When the larva, now a moth, leaves the cocoon, the cocoon is carefully unraveled. The thread has to be wrapped somewhere so it doesn't tangle, so the Chinese invented the spinning wheel. Looms were used to weave the thread into cloth. In 2011 silk is still used to make a variety of clothing.
  
  

Porcelain

• The Chinese invented porcelain around A.D. 600. Some believe it was invented by Tao-Yue, although this is unconfirmed. He sold a product he called "artificial jade" in the capital city of Chang-an. By 900 porcelain was well developed, having a variety of colors produced by adding quartz or feldspar. In 2011, porcelain plates, coffee cups and other culinary utensils are commonly called "china."