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Tea is made by letting tea leaves steep in boiling water, but it was mostly used as medicine. However around the 8th century CE, it became an everyday beverage throughout China. Tea leaves were grown on trees and were harvested by tea farmers.
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The Chinese drew characters on paper and glued it to a wood block. Then used that block to print those same symbols onto paper.
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The first Chinese compass was made with pieces of lodestone. They eventually replaced lodestone with a steel needle.
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The Chinese discovered steel when making iron. The first steel was made from blowing air from molten cast iron causing a chemical reaction. Steel is stronger than iron and easier to bend.
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Porcelain was used for pottery and was a combination of clay, quartz, and feldspar. This was used to make beautiful art.
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Earliest paper made from hemp and bark from a mullberry tree. Later they used rags, and it became apart of daily life.
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Chinese alchemist accidentally discovered when looking for the secret to eternal life.
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Paper money was invented in the late 8th or early 9th century. Before the Chinese used coins as their currency, but then used paper money as most of the world does today.
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Rockets were powered by gunpowder which was one of their earlier inventions. China first used them as fireworks, but the later used them as weapons.
