Intermediate level quiz about the geography, history, traditions and language of China (4)
1. Gunpowder tea is a famous export from which province?
Anhui
Liaoning
Zhejiang
Yunnan
Zhejiang is the province associated with production of gunpowder tea. It gets its name because it looks like pellets of gunpowder
2. The Meiji restoration was an important event in which neighboring country?
Japan
Thailand
Malaysia
Mongolia
The Meiji system of 1868 allowed Japan to rapidly modernize and so provided a blueprint as to how an Asian country could catch up and take on the European powers.
3. An explosion on 12th September 2015 killed 173 people, in which city did it happen?
Tianjin
Wuhan
Ningbo
Guangzhou
The large explosion at a storage depot at Binhai, Tianjin led to 173 deaths and 797 non-fatal injuries.
4. The Yangzi River is one of the longest rivers in the world, where does it stand in the world rankings for length?
4th
2nd
3rd
6th
The Yangzi river is the 3rd longest river after the Nile and Amazon rivers.
5. In which province is the Taklamakan desert?
Tibet
Qinghai
Yunnan
Xinjiang
The provinces in China's far north-west are very dry and receive very little rainfall.
6. In Beijing a 'hutong' is what?
Old building
Old lane
Toilet
Type of monkey
The narrow and winding lanes between traditional courtyard houses are called hutongs 胡同. A few districts remain in Beijing which are famous for their hutongs.
7. What is the name of the range of mountains separating Tibet and Xinjiang provinces?
Qilian
Altay
Daxue
Kunlun
The Kunlun mountains have had a strong presence in Chinese legends. The Queen Mother of the West is said to have her palace there, and for centuries precious jade was mined there.
8. Du Fu, the famous Tang poet had a thatched cottage that can still be seen where?
Haikou
Qufu
Beijing
Chengdu
Du Fu held an appointment at Chengdu in Sichuan towards the end of his life. There is a commemorative museum that can be visited.
9. How long did Marco Polo's visit to china last?
6 months
25 years
10 years
17 years
In 1275 Marco Polo and his father and uncle went to China and all three spent 17 years there. On return to Italy he was imprisoned by the Genoese and it was while in prison that he dictated his book, the ‘Description of the World’. It was printed in many editions and languages and promoted a lot of interest and speculation throughout Europe about this vast, rich country far away.
10. Amber is considered a potent medicine because it was thought to contain the essence of a what?
Daoist sage
yellow dragon
tiger
monkey
Its orange color has led to an association with tigers. There is an ancient belief that the spirit of a tiger goes back into the earth on its death to form amber.
11. Where you can find a smaller version of the Forbidden City?
Shenyang
Changchun
Hangzhou
Xi'an
The Manchu kingdom built a mini-version of Beijing's Forbidden City before they conquered China in 1644.
12. Jingdezhen is famous for the production of what?
Moon cakes
Porcelain
Silk
Bamboo
It was near Jingdezhen, Jiangxi that the first deposits of kaolin (China Clay) were discovered and exploited. Huge amounts of porcelain have been produced there since the Song dynasty
13. The world famous Shaolin monastery for martial arts is located in which province?
Hebei
Shaanxi
Henan
Shandong
Henan attracts many martial arts enthusiasts particularly to Shaolin near Mount Song.
14. What was probably the earliest use for kites?
frightening enemies
scaring birds
carrying supplies
fishing
Kites were used in fishing, the kite would trail a line with hooks and bait allowing the kite-flier to fish in areas some way out over rivers or the sea.
15. At which university did Sun Yatsen study?
University of Hong Kong
University of Hawai'i
Fudan University, Shanghai
Tsinghua University, Beijing
Sun Yatsen was born in furthermost southern China: Cuiheng, Guangdong in 1866. He had a brother living in Hawaii, and at the age of 12 joined him there to escape poverty and was educated at a Hawaiian school and converted to Christianity. He returned to China for an arranged marriage and studied medicine at Hong Kong, graduating as a doctor in Western medicine in 1892.
16. The formation of the May 4th movement was a response to which event?
Death of Dowager Empress Cixi
Installation of Yuan Shikai as President
Death of Sun Yatsen
Treaty of Versailles 1919
The signing of the Versailles Treaty in Paris May 4th 1919 caused uproar in China because the parts of Shandong that had been governed by Germany were given to Japan rather than returned to Chinese control. The treaty came at the end of WW1.
17. You may hear that 'guanxi' is very important in China what is it?
residency permit
saving 'face'
social network
travel permit
Many Chinese spend considerable effort to cultivate a network of people that they may call upon at some time for a favor. A contact may get you a job, discounted prices or promotion.
18. About how many Chinese characters in common use are all pronounced 'shi'?
50
10
400
5
'Shi' is one of the most common sounds in mandarin Chinese. There are about 50 characters all pronounced 'shi' but spread over the five tones so there are only ten true homophones to take into account. This explains why many English words need two Chinese characters to make them unambiguous in meaning.
19. Chiang Kaishek is associated with which event in 1936?
Meeting with Mao Zedong
Kidnapping at Xi'an
Marrying Song Meiling
Trip to Moscow
Chiang was kidnapped by his own generals at Xi'an, Shaanxi to force him to form to form a united front with the Communists against Japanese occupation of Manchuria
20. The number of Imperial eunuchs has at one time reached how many people?
70,000
10,000
1,000
7,000
During the Ming dynasty the vast new Forbidden City was home to many thousands of eunuchs engaged in serving the Emperor and administering the Empire.