# Sinophile

A Sinophile is a person who demonstrates fondness or strong interest in China, Chinese culture, Chinese history, Chinese politics, and/or Chinese people.

## Typical interests

The overall study of Chinese culture is referred to as Sinology. This could include Chinese culture architectural and fashion styles, such as including Traditional cultural Han Chinese clothing (Hanfu). Another area of Chinese culture is cuisine and liquor, such as Chinese wine culture and baijiu. Medicine, architecture, characters, language (and varieties such as Standard Chinese and Cantonese), are also areas of interest for Sinophiles. They also tend to be drawn towards Chinese astrology and horoscopes, as well as Feng Shui and Kung Fu. The history of China, Chinese philosophies and folk religions like Daoism, Chan Buddhism, and Confucianism are also topics of Sinology, as well as the Politics of China, socialism with Chinese characteristics, Dengism, Three Principles of the People, one country, two systems, the Mass Line. Chinese artwork is a topic of interest for many Sinophiles. The Chinese arts, encompass poetry, literature, music, calligraphy and cinema, as well as Chinese traditional forms of theatrical entertainment such as xiangsheng and operas.

## Notable Sinophiles
### Europe
#### France

* Louis XIV, a 17th-century French monarch whose Grand Trianon, spread of Chinoiserie, centennial new year bash, and Confucian translations were influenced by Chinese culture.
* Voltaire, a 17th-century French philosopher who admired Chinese culture and Confucian thought.

#### Germany

* Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a 17th-century German polymath who loved Chinese culture and studied many aspects of it.

#### Italy

* Marco Polo (c. 1254-1324), Italian explorer who was one of the first Europeans to visit China and narrated about the nation in his travelogue, The Travels of Marco Polo
* Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), Italian Jesuit who was the first to translate the Confucian classics into Latin and taught European science to the Emperor and the Chinese literati

#### Russia

* Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907), Russian chemist and inventor
* Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), Russian writer widely considered one of the world's greatest novelists

### Oceania
#### Australia

* Paul Keating (born 1944), Prime Minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996
* Edwin Maher (born 1941), New Zealand-born Australian journalist who worked as a news reader for CCTV-9 until 2017, following a long career on Australian TV
* Kevin Rudd (born 1957), Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and in 2013. His sinophile characterisation has been disputed.

### North America
#### United States

* Allen Iverson (born 1975), former NBA star basketball player who has expressed affinity for the country
* Stephon Marbury (born 1977), former NBA star basketball player who joined the Beijing Ducks and has expressed affinity for the country
* James Veneris (1922-2004), US soldier who defected to China after the Korean War and remained in the country expressing positive feelings until his death in 2004

### Asia
#### Cambodia

* Norodom Sihanouk (1922-2012), Cambodian king who sought refuge in China and praised the country

#### Thailand

* Sirindhorn (born 1955), Thai princess who has received awards in China for promoting friendship between the two countries