China is one of playable civilizations in Rise of Kingdoms and is available in the Civilization Selection main menu upon creation of a new account. Players also can switch to China at any given time as long as they have Civilization Change token available.
Nationality: China
Trait 1:
+3% Troop Defense
Trait 2:
+5% AP Recovery
Trait 3:
+5% Building Speed
Civilization Popularity Ranking:
2 out of 11
Unique Unit: Chu-Ko-Nu

China Summary:
- All troops’ defense increased by 3%.
- Recover action points 5% faster.
- Build and upgrade buildings 5% faster.
Why China is the Best Civilization?
- Best starting civilization for building an empire.
- Faster building speed, helps you unlock Tier 5 troops sooner.
- Recover action points faster, helps you farm more barbarians.
- All troops are harder to die thanks to increased defense.
Background Information

China is one of the oldest civilizations with thousands of years of continuous history, spanning all the way back from the Shang Dynasty in 1,250 B.C. Through eras of multiple kingdoms and feudalism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts and all of China.
In some specific eras, some dynasties’ political power stretched as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, currently. Although, traditional culture and influences from various parts in Asia and to a certain extent, the Western world form the basis of the modern culture of China.
China is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization. The unique unit is Chu-Ko-Nu, a powerful dark age archer equipped with crossbow, who was widely utilized during the battles due to its repeat-firing mechanism. It also was used as self-defense occasionally for the women with poison so they can use it to hunt animals and draw blood from offenders.
Introduction
Welcome to our Rise of Kingdoms civilization guide for China. If you are looking for the best China civilization guide so that you can get up to speed. Then you have come to the right place, because in our best China civilization guide we will cover all the basics that you need to know about this nation.
China is one of the most popular civilizations for new players along with Rome thanks to great starting traits. It is an easy civilization if you are looking to build fast and gain a blanket bonus to all troops instead of a specific type of troop in addition to faster recovery rate.
Which means players who are playing or starting off as China will play slightly differently compared to other civilizations as it involves a bit more activity to maximize this civilization’s traits to your own advantage. That being said, you are probably wondering why you should play China as your starting civilization. This civilization guide is quite straightforward and on the point, so be sure to stick around and learn how to play China effectively.
Best China Traits
In the next part of our best China civilization guide for beginners, we will talk about its traits. Whether you are just starting off or want to know more about how this civilization traits can benefit you in the beginning of the game to late game. Here’s a list of China traits below:
Trait 1
Grants +3% troops defense, which applies to infantry, archers, cavalry and siege. This trait is amazing for commanders who are doing mixed army such as Hannibal Barca and Aethelflaed.
But it also works well with single-troop types such as Genghis Khan and Tomyris for instance. The fact that this trait gives you a great degree of flexibility to gain the bonus is one of the biggest perks for playing as China.
Trait 2
Increases the rate of Action Point Recovery by 5%. This trait is great because it recovers the action points at a slightly faster pace, which turns into more action-based combat that you can use to hunt even more barbarians.
Trait 3
Pretty much self-explanatory which reduces the amount of building time by 5%. This small bonus is nice especially in late game when the time to upgrade high-level buildings takes a long time. The 5% bonus will cut down the time to upgrade by a few hours, a nice trait to have.
Best China Unique Units
China’s unique unit is Chu-Ko-Nu and becomes available at Tier 4. Chu-Ko-Nu is an archer-type unit which excels at countering infantry rushes. They have one of the best balanced attack and defense stats in Rise of Kingdoms. This will allow them to deliver a combination of strong attack and withstanding heavy blows with ease.
Chu-Ko-Nu

![]() Attack: 197 | ![]() Defense: 197 | ![]() Health: 187 |
![]() Speed: Slow | ![]() Load: 11 | ![]() Power: 4 |
Elite Chu-Ko-Nu

![]() Attack: 227 | ![]() Defense: 223 | ![]() Health: 212 |
![]() Speed: Very Slow | ![]() Load: 13 | ![]() Power: 10 |
Best China Commanders
China has 4 commanders who are affiliated with this civilization. By default, Sun Tzu is your starting commander and a good early defender. His active skill also makes him a solid choice for PvP battles and field battles on the map. You can learn more about each commander by clicking on them to visit their in-depth guide.
Best China Tips & Tricks
For some players who are new to playing in Rise of Kingdoms as China, or looking to play effectively with this civilization. We have included a few tips and tricks to help you gain advantages early in the game and especially late when you start training Tier 4 / Tier 5 troops and high-level buildings.
Tip 1: Use Mixed Army Often
One of the perks that you get is a 3% defense bonus to all troops. If you have commanders who excels at mobilizing a mixed army, use them often since they get a full 3% defense blanket bonus to all troops. Which is especially great for multipurpose commanders with Leadership skill.
Tip 2: Use Commanders That Does AoE Damage
One way you can use to further extend your Action Points pool is to use commanders that do AoE damage and can pull in multiple barbarians. This is a trick that doesn’t consume any of your Action Points at all. Basically, free kills and more loot. Since China has 5% Action Points Recovery which encourages you to play it more actively in farming the barbarians, you should use this trick to maximize for each dispatch.
Tip 3: Ask Alliance for Help First
The 5% building speed bonus is nice, especially with cutting down some hours off high-level buildings such as City Hall. So, before you use any of these building speedups, ask your alliance for help. This works the best when you join one of these top alliances as they will be happy to lend you helping hands and greatly accelerate the building time.
Conclusion of China Civilization Guide

As we come to the conclusion of our best China civilization guide for beginners. You have learned more about its traits, unique units, commanders, and tips & tricks in detail.
If you are thinking of playing as China after the minute you download Rise of Kingdoms on your mobile device or as your next civilization in a new game. You will have no problem trailblazing playing as China.
Lastly, if you have any suggestions or tips that you have for playing as this civilization, drop an e-mail to us via our contact page. Happy ruling, Governor!