1. These ruins are part of which Imperial building?
Chengde Resort
Summer Palace
Old Summer Palace
The style of the stone ornamentation of the Old Summer Palace shows that it was designed by European architects (mainly Jesuits) working for the Qing Emperors.
2. In the pastures of Xinjiang sheep are grazing. What is the name of the type of building used by the herdsmen?
yak
yurt
kohte
The yurt is made from layers of felt draped over a wooden framework. It can be very quickly moved to another location as the herdsmen follow their flocks.
3. Which famous harbor is this?
Hong Kong
Tianjin
Wuhan
The view is from “The Peak” on Hong Kong island looking over Victoria to Kowloon.
4. Where might you find this famous building?
Chengdu
Kunming
Lhasa
The Potala palace in Lhasa is the winter palace of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
5. Which muscial instrument is this man playing?
sheng
suona
erhu
Erhu is a two stringed violin with the bow string between the two strings. 二胡 èr hú means literally 'two' 'fiddle'. There is a less common instrument with four strings 'sihu'.
6. Which ancient figure is represented by this massive stone statue?
Laozi
Yellow Emperor
Qu Yuan
Laozi the founder of Daoism is typically depicted as an old man with a long flowing beard.
7. Why are there nine mythical beasts behind the 'man on a hen' on this roof?
ninth Imperial dynasty
nine was the Imperial number
the orginal nine provinces
Yellow roof tiles can only be used for Imperial buildings as yellow was the dynastic color of the Qing dynasty. As three is a potent yang number the square of 3, nine, is an even more potent yang number. It was associated with the Emperor and many things in the Forbidden City are in nines.
Glazed animal sculptures on the palace roof of the Forbidden City, Beijing
8. Where is this famous pagoda?
Qufu
Kaifeng
Xi'an
It is the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an that was built to house the Buddhist scriptures brought back to China by Xuanzang.
9. This is a memorial hall to which important figure in Chinese history?
Zhu De
Zhou Enlai
Sun Yatsen
The Sun Yatsen memorial hall is in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province; the province where he was born.
10. Which game are these men playing?
backgammon
xiangqi
chequers
Chinese chess象棋 xiàng qí is played with discs on which characters are inscribed so can look like chequers from a distance.
11. Where might you find this European style building?
Hangzhou
Macau
Shanghai
The old part of Macau has a number of buildings of colonial Portuguese design including the church of Sao Lourenco.
12. Where can you find this famous building?
Temple of Heaven, Beijing
Forbidden City, Beijing
Iron Pagoda, Kaifeng
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests within the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan) complex, Beijing.
13. This striking church can be seen in which Chinese city?
Hohhot
Harbin
Changchun
The Russian influence in the province of Heilongjiang is quite pronounced reflecting years of Russian domination in the early 20th century. The "onion" domes of the Cathedral of Saint-Sophia, Harbin is a striking example.
14. In which month might you expect to see this watery spectacle?
September
August
June
The Dragon boat festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Chinese calendar. This varies in date on the Gregorian calendar but normally falls in June but in some years it can be in late May.
The famous White Dagoba stands in Beihai Park and was built in the Mongol dynasty.
16. Why is this creature so important in Chinese history?
producing silk
producing lacquer
eaten by giant pandas
It is the caterpillar of the silkworm moth that spins a silk cocoon. It is usually fed on white mulberry leaves.
17. This demonstration of Kung Fu is primarily associated with which place?
Lhasa
Lushan
Shaolin monastery
The world famous Shaolin monastery (literally ‘Small Forest Temple’) is close to Songshan in Henan; it was immortalized by the ‘Kung Fu’ series of the 1970s. It is a Zen Buddhist temple and dates back to the Wei dynasty.
Do you recongize these places in China?
