October Quiz

Mao Zedong made rocket research an early development goal. So, when the space race between the USSR and USA was at its height, China launched its first large satellite into orbit on April 24th 1970.

Passing the grueling Imperial Examinations was a lifelong study. At examination candidates were expected to be able to provide exact recall of passages of text. For comparison the whole Christian Bible is about 800,000 words

Britain was the main player in the early development of Shanghai as a trading center.

Many people died on the Long March 1934-35 but many also joined for only part of the journey. 53% of the marchers were under 23 years old - so mainly very young.

In the old Wade-Giles system of spelling of Chinese names 'k' was often used in place of 'j'. The pinyin use of 'x' does not give much of a clue that it is a hard 's' sound 'hs'.

The economic growth rate of China has been spectacular since 1990.

Although Hainan is further south than Fujian and is hottest in June the prevailing weather brings lots of cloud to Hainan in July.

To consolidate the grip on India and counter Russian threats, the British made sure that neighboring countries like Tibet and Nepal posed no threat. Captain Younghusband was sent to impose control and the Union Jack was flown in Tibet until 1949.

Maotai Liquor is distilled from a wheat and sorghum base; it is famous throughout China and beyond. It is distilled at Maotai, a town in northern Guizhou.

Wuhan stands at the confluence of the Yangzi and Han rivers. Wuchang was on the south bank of the Yangzi, Hankou and Hanyang on the north bank. The three nearby cities were merged in 1926.

The great Tang Emperor Xuanzong after achieving much in his early years was besotted with Yang Guifei (aka 杨玉环) while in his sixties. She was born in Sichuan and became a Daoist priestess just at the time that Imperial court turned from Buddhism to Daoism.

Sui Emperor Yangdi's expensive military campaigns to subjugate the Korean peninsula proved the downfall of the dynasty.

In the old traditional system it would be the parents of the couple who would arrange the marriage often when the couple were very young. Often the bride and groom would not see each other before the wedding day and if they happened to do so earlier this could give grounds for breaking off the marriage.

Up until the 1793/4 embassy of Lord MacCartney foreign visitors were content to perform the formal kowtow before the Emperor.

Although the blue and white porcelain is mostly associated with the Ming dynasty some was made earlier once the cobalt blue from Persia (Iran) became available. Blue and white continued into the Qing but a wider range of colors were normally used.