Chinese New Year Quiz

Quiz all about Chinese New Year. You'll find many of the answers on our Spring Festival page
1. Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) usually takes place in which month(s)?
April or May
January or February
March or April
red lantern, lantern, chinese new year, spring festival
Red lanterns are hung from the trees during the Chinese New Year celebrations in Ditan Park (Temple of Earth) in Beijing. Image by Paul Louis available under a Creative Commons License

2. What are the lucky numbers in a year of the Ox?
eight
nine
four and one
cat
Japanese lucky cat

3. Which day of the New Year festival should you give the family dog a treat?
4th
2nd
5th
Ming dynasty, Forbidden City, lion, Beijing
Gilded bronze, guardian xiezhi statue at Forbidden City, Beijing

4. When is the next dragon astrological year?
2031
2028
2036
silk, dragon
Silk embroidery of Chinese dragon

5. What is a 'guotie'?
door guardian
fried dumpling (jiaozi)
rice cake
food
Eating dimsum dumplings on the street in gongguan; pictures by tashenka. February 2007. Photo by brappy! from Gongguan Market in Zhongzheng available under a Creative Commons license .

6. Which event marks the traditional end of the Chinese New Year (Spring) festival?
Qingming Festival
Lantern Festival
Confucius' Birthday
festival, temple, lion dance
Traditional lion dance near a temple

7. The New Year greeting 'Gong hei fat choy' is in which language?
Cantonese
Wu
Mongolian
lanterns, new year
Chinese New Year, Saigon, Vietnam. Image by falco available under a Creative Commons License

8. Which character for good fortune is widely seen at Chinese New Year?
fēi
festival, temple, lion dance
Traditional lion dance near a temple

9. What heralds the start of New Year's day?
drinking vodka
phoenix dances
firecrackers

10. Which astrological year follows the year of the snake?
monkey
sheep
horse
Hong Kong, zodiac, sculpture
The Garden of the Chinese Zodiac features twelve carved animals in the gardens of Kowloon Walled City Park, Hong Kong

11. Why are oranges, tangerines and similar fruits are often seen at Chinese New Year?
Keep away demons
Wishes good luck
Lucky color
orange
Dish of oranges, Hong Kong. Image by Fung Kimmia available under a Creative Commons License

12. Which Chinese god is given an offering a week prior to Chinese New Year?
Zao Jun - the Kitchen god
He-He - the Heavenly twins
Kui Xing - god of literature
deity, eight immortals, Shandong, Penglai
Statue of the Eight Immortals at Penglai Pavilion, Shandong

13. Which color envelope is traditionally used for gifts of money?
red
blue
yellow
God of Money, poster
Chinese Lunar New Year money god poster in Hong Kong. Image by Mk2010 available under a Creative Commons license

14. What is the phase of the moon at Chinese New Year?
new
half
first quarter
garden, Foshan, Guangdong, architecture
Moon gate in Qinghui garden, Foshan city, Guangdong

15. Why are fish widely eaten at Chinese New Year?
Fish in Chinese sounds like abundance
The god of fish was born on Chinese New Year
Fish were the first creatures created
taiwan, yin yang, fish
Window detail of Zushih Temple, Sansia, Taipei County, Taiwan. Aug. 2008. Image by Benjiho available under a Creative Commons License
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