November Quiz

A monthly quiz of general history, traditions, geography questions for November
1. By 1093 how many stars had been individually named in China?
12,976
1,565
523
mansions, xiu
The twenty-eight mansions of the Chinese astronomy. May 2008. Image by Mysid available under a Creative Commons License

2. Thomas Wade and Herbert Giles who developed the Wade-Giles system to write Chinese were both professors of Chinese where?
Oxford, England
Edinburgh, Scotland
Cambridge, England
children, school
Girl doing school work

3. The second lowest place (depression) in the world is located whereabouts in China?
Turpan, Xinjiang
Lop Nur, Xinhiang
Jiuquan, Gansu
Hua shan, Shaanxi, chess pavilion
View of the chess pavilion on Huashan peak, Shaanxi. According to legend Emperor Zhao Kuangyin (927-976) played chess with the sage Chen Tuan here.

4. A scholar used to be expected to be proficient at playing which musical instrument?
Pipa
Ocarina
Guqin
music, erhu
Erhu players at Tianjin University Copyright © Dreamstime see image license

5. Together with Yunnan and Guangdong, which other province lies on the Tropic of Cancer?
Anhui
Fujian
Guangxi
Gansu, lake, desert
The famous crescent lake near Dunhuang, Gansu

6. What makes Pingyao in Shanxi a popular visitor attraction?
Sacred mountain
Waterfall
Qing and Ming houses
Tianjin, railway station
Tianjin Train station. November 2012.
Image by Drgkl available under a Creative Commons license

7. The stone forest (Shilin) can be found in which province?
Guangdong
Yunnan
Shanxi
Yunnan, stone forest, landform
Stone forest (Shilin) near Kunming, Yunnan

8. Why are bats considered lucky?
marriage symbol
name sounds like fortune
bats live in caves
bat
Five bats in the outer ring surrounding the character for longevity. Wishing good fortune and a long life.

9. Which province (excluding the metropolitan areas) has the highest population density?
Jiangsu
Shandong
Hebei
Tiananmen Square, crowd
2004 PRC National Day at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. What a crowd! Image by pfctdayelise available under a Creative Commons License

10. Tian (crater lake) is an emblem of North Korea, which Chinese province shares it as a border?
Jilin
Shanxi
Heilongjiang
Jilin, Changbai, lake, view
Crater lake, Tian chi on the border of China and North Korea

11. What was the name given to the country of China in Roman times?
Assyria
Gaul
Serica
Silk road, Jiayuguan, fort
Fortress (14th century) at Great Wall of Jiayuguang, September 2009. Photo by Sigismund von Dobschütz available under a Creative Commons license .

12. Which is NOT one of the names of a Yi Jing Trigram?
Earth
Stone
Thunder
marriage, tea, ceremony
Chinese marriage ceremony

13. Who was the leader of the Taiping Rebellion?
Lin Zexu
Hong Xiuquan
Zeng Guofan
Taiping rebellion, flag
Flag of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Image by Samhanin available under a Creative Commons License

14. What are the ten wings of the Yi Jing (I Ching)?
Appendices
Flying incantations
Compass directions
Yi Jing, I Ching, Song dynasty
A page from a Song Dynasty (960-1279) printed book of the I Ching (Yi Jing, Classic of Changes or Book of Changes) , 17.7x11.9cm, printed book, in the National Central Library in Taipei. Image by Song era print artist available under a Creative Commons License

15. Many of the scenes of James Cameron's ‘Avatar’ film were made in which Chinese province?
Anhui
Xinjiang
Hunan
Hunan, mountains, landform, view
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