RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Missouri >> Howell County >> China >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in China, we use the following websites to find information relevant to China and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for China:
    • 36.612006, -91.899594
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on China
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Howell County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Howell County
    • Since China is near Fulton County and also Ozark County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Fulton County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Ozark County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for China

Communities Also Named China ...

We found eight communities that are also named China.

Within Missouri, the name China is unique.

Beyond Missouri, we know of eight communities that are located in the United States.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Alabama
      • Conecuh County
      • This China is located in Conecuh County and lies 448 miles [721 km]<1> to the southeast of the China that is located in Howell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Conecuh County community of China.
    • Indiana
      • Jefferson County
      • This China is located in Jefferson County and lies 389 miles [626 km]<1> to the east northeast of the China that is located in Howell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of China.
    • Louisiana
      • Calcasieu Parish
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Louisiana community of China [Calcasieu Parish].
      • Jefferson Davis Parish
      • This China is located in Jefferson Davis Parish and lies 431 miles [693.6 km]<1> to the south of the China that is located in Howell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson Davis Parish community of China.
    • Maine
      • Kennebec County
      • This China is located in Kennebec County and lies 1,288 miles [2,072.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the China that is located in Howell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Kennebec County community of China.
    • Michigan
      • Saint Clair County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Michigan community of China [Saint Clair County].
    • New York
      • Delaware County
      • This China is located in Delaware County and lies 957 miles [1,540.1 km]<1> to the east northeast of the China that is located in Howell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Delaware County community of China.
    • Texas
      • Jefferson County
      • This China is located in Jefferson County and lies 474 miles [762.8 km]<1> to the south southwest of the China that is located in Howell County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Jefferson County community of China.

Curious and Interesting Names Near China ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Carson ‑ Historic
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Carson is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carson
  • Cornertown
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Cornertown is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornertown
  • Cureall
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Cureall is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cureall
  • Egypt Grove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Egypt Grove is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt Grove
  • Frankville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Frankville is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frankville
  • Fruitville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Fruitville is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitville
  • Globe
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Globe is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
  • Homeland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Homeland is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Homeland
  • Moody
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Moody is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody
  • Pottersville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Pottersville is located in Howell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottersville

How Far From China to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as China to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in China and extending to:

  • West Plains, which is the Seat of Howell County, lies just to the North Northeast.
  • Jefferson City, which is the State Capital of Missouri, lies 136 miles [218.9 km]<1> to the north (N). If you could drive a straight line from China to Jefferson City, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than three hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 8 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 6 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 825 miles [1,327.7 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 33 days and walking would take 47 days.
  • The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,602 miles [10,624.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,335 miles [11,804.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,213 miles [8,389.5 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'

Footnotes ...

<1>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- China) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<2>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that China could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<3>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<4>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from China to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in China. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.6120, Longitude: -91.8996       In this case, the coordinates for China have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 317.08 degrees.
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 313.646 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 311.863 degrees.