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.
Chinese Opera
3. Jingdezhen is famous for the production of what?
Firecrackers
Porcelain
Ink
Silk
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
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.
Marco Polo in Tartar costume. Source: Scann? de Coureurs des mers, Poivre d'Arvor.
Photo by Grevembrock, available under a Creative Commons license ➚.
5. Amber is considered a potent medicine because it was thought to contain the essence of a what?
turtoise
red 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.
6. Gunpowder tea is a famous export from which province?
Guangdong
Zhejiang
Anhui
Yunnan
Zhejiang is the province associated with production of gunpowder tea. It gets its name because it looks like pellets of gunpowder
7. Where you can find a smaller version of the Forbidden City?
Shenyang
Changchun
Guangdong
Xi'an
The Manchu kingdom built a mini-version of Beijing's Forbidden City before they conquered China in 1644.
8. What is the name of the range of mountains separating Tibet and Xinjiang provinces?
Kunlun
Qilian
Daxue
Altay
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.
9. The Meiji restoration was an important event in which neighboring country?
Japan
Malaysia
Burma
Korea
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.
10. At which university did Sun Yatsen study?
University of Hawai'i
Peking University, Beijing
University of Hong Kong
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.
Statue of Dr. Sun Yatsen at memorial hall in Taipei, Taiwan
11. The number of Imperial eunuchs has at one time reached how many people?
10,000
70,000
20,000
1,000
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.
Ming Emperor Xuande with his imperial eunuchs. 1425-35.
Image by unknown court artist available under a Creative Commons license ➚
12. Chiang Kaishek is associated with which event in 1936?
Marrying Song Meiling
Meeting with Mao Zedong
Battle with Japanese
Kidnapping at Xi'an
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
13. The formation of the May 4th movement was a response to which event?
Death of Dowager Empress Cixi
Installation of Yuan Shikai as President
Treaty of Versailles 1919
Death of Sun Yatsen
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.
Students of Beijing Normal University (arrested at the May Fourth Movement) returned to the university on May 7th, 1919. Available under a Creative Commons License ➚
14. What was probably the earliest use for kites?
fishing
measuring wind speed
carrying supplies
scaring birds
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.
16. You may hear that 'guanxi' is very important in China what is it?
saving 'face'
formal banquet
social network
table manners
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'?
10
250
400
50
'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. In which province is the Taklamakan desert?
Inner Mongolia
Qinghai
Xinjiang
Yunnan
The provinces in China's far north-west are very dry and receive very little rainfall.
20. The Yangzi River is one of the longest rivers in the world, where does it stand in the world rankings for length?
3rd
4th
2nd
6th
The Yangzi river is the 3rd longest river after the Nile and Amazon rivers.
Barge on the Yangzi river near the Three Gorges dam
Intermediate level quiz about the geography, history, traditions and language of China (4)
