3. The grand canal link used to originally link which city to Hangzhou?
Luoyang
Zhengzhou
Wuhan
The original Grand Canal route ran from the old capital at Luoyang to Hangzhou. It was only after Beijing became the capital in the Yuan dynasty that the extension was made and the old route to Luoyang bypassed.
4. Emperor Yao is credited with which important innovation?
making silk
appointment on merit
writing the Yi Jing (I Ching)
Emperor Yao (2333 - 2234 BCE) chose Emperor Shun as his successor rather than one of his own ten sons on the basis of Shun's merit. The importance of choosing the best person for a job rather than family/friends had huge repercussions. The innovation was only taken up elsewhere ater many centuries.
Emperor Shun performs divination in the palace. Made by Jiang Tingxi c.1725. Available under a Creative Commons License ➚
5. The tulou houses of the Hakka people are mostly found in which province?
Anhui
Fujian
Hubei
The distinctive, traditional round structure acted as a refuge for the community of several large families should they come under attack. It also held storerooms, mainly for tea which is the main crop where the Tulou houses can still be found in Fujian.
6. Dandong is on the major crossing point to which neighbouring country?
Mongolia
North Korea
Vietnam
There are many ethnically Korean people on the Chinese side of the border with North Korea. Dandong is on the Yalu River that forms the boundary between the two countries.
The low lying land with its many canals made it an ideal place to create gardens. Some gardens in Suzhou are world famous and give UNESCO protection status.
A bridge near Suzhou. The Emperor commanded all bridges to give the embassy a military salute. The horseshoe shape was quite common around Suzhou. Painted by the official artist to the Macartney British Embassy to China 1793-94. Image by William Alexander ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚
8. Pudong is a district of which major city?
Xi'an
Beijing
Shanghai
Pudong means 'east of the Huang Pu river'. Before the 1980s only the western bank had been developed
9. Which chemical element traditionally provided the red color for seals and inks?
beryllium
mercury
iron
Mercury in the form of cinnabar (mercury sulfide) was traditionally used for the ink paste used for seal marks on documents and paintings. All mercury compounds are rather toxic. The strange properties of cinnabar made it a popular elixir that was intended to give people a longer life but had the opposite effect.
A seal by Gian Jinlun (1888-1950) which uses text from the Dao de Jing (Tao Te Ching). Image by Cangjie6 ➚ available under a Creative Commons License ➚
10. The Dawn Redwood is a living fossil which was 'rediscovered' in which province?
Hainan
Jiangxi
Hubei
The Metasequoia or Dawn redwood was found as a fossil in rocks dating to 100 million years ago before it was discovered still living in China.
Metasequoia glyptostroboides. May 2005. Image by Georges Jansoone available under a Creative Commons License ➚
11. Who is mostly attributed for taming the Yellow River?
Yellow Emperor
Yu the Great
Guan Di
The flooding of the Yellow River has been the scourge of northern China for thousands of years. It is the legendary emperor 'Yu the Great' who is said to have put in the first flood prevention measures.
12. Lady Hao was a military leader from which dynasty
Sui
Qing
Shang
Although men took military posts throughout much of Chinese history (apart from a few notable exceptions such as Mulan) if you go back over 3,000 years then some women were appointed as military commanders. Lady Hao ➚, whose tomb has been excavated, is the best known example.
13. Early compasses were often made in the form of what?
ladle
swan
knife
When the key Chinese invented the compass they only used naturally occuring magnetic lodestones. These were carved into a delicately balanced ladle that would swivel to always point south (in China south not north is the most important direction).
Division of a traditional Feng Shui compass
14. What was the 'Mukden incident' of 1931?
outbreak of plague
attack on Chiang Kaishek
railway sabotage
Shenyang, then known under the Manchu name of Mukden was the scene of a Japanese plot to legitimize the seizure of Manchuria. Japanese agents planted a bomb under a raiway line and blamed the attack on Chinese nationalists.
Skyline of Harbin, Heilongjiang
15. Which three cities are considered the three furnaces of China?
Beijing, Chongqing and Shanghai
Chongqing, Shanghai and Wuhan
Nanjing, Chongqing and Wuhan
In the summer heat it is the cities close to the Yangzi river in southern China that have a reputation for being unbearably hot and humid.