Hainan island is famous as a semi-tropical beach resort.
2. Which ancient figure is represented by this massive stone statue?
Mao Zedong
Laozi
Yellow Emperor
Laozi the founder of Daoism is typically depicted as an old man with a long flowing beard.
3. Where can you find this famous building?
Large Goose Pagoda, Xi'an
Summer Palace, Beijing
Temple of Heaven, Beijing
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests within the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan) complex, Beijing.
4. This is a memorial hall to which important figure in Chinese history?
Sun Yatsen
Zhu De
Zhou Enlai
The Sun Yatsen memorial hall is in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province; the province where he was born.
5. Which muscial instrument is this man playing?
dizi
erhu
suona
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. Why are there nine mythical beasts behind the 'man on a hen' on this roof?
ninth Imperial dynasty
nine was the Imperial number
represent the Double Ninth Festival
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
7. Where might you find this famous landmark?
Old Summer Palace in Beijing
Dongting Lake
Beihai Park in Beijing
The famous White Dagoba stands in Beihai Park and was built in the Mongol dynasty.
8. Where might you find this European style building?
Shanghai
Macau
Hangzhou
The old part of Macau has a number of buildings of colonial Portuguese design including the church of Sao Lourenco.
9. Which famous harbor is this?
Hong Kong
Wuhan
Shenzhen
The view is from “The Peak” on Hong Kong island looking over Victoria to Kowloon.
10. In the pastures of Xinjiang sheep are grazing. What is the name of the type of building used by the herdsmen?
tupiq
igloo
yurt
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.
11. These objects are associated with which religion?
Judaism
Islam
Buddhism
This form of stupa which often contains sacred Buddhist relics is common in Tibet, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia.
12. These ruins are part of which Imperial building?
Old Summer Palace
Ming Tombs
Forbidden City
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.
13. Why is this creature so important in Chinese history?
eaten by giant pandas
carries the Black Death
producing silk
It is the caterpillar of the silkworm moth that spins a silk cocoon. It is usually fed on white mulberry leaves.
14. Where might you find this famous building?
Kunming
Lhasa
Lijiang
The Potala palace in Lhasa is the winter palace of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
15. Which game are these men playing?
backgammon
kerplunk
xiangqi
Chinese chess象棋 xiàng qí is played with discs on which characters are inscribed so can look like chequers from a distance.
16. In which month might you expect to see this watery spectacle?
June
August
September
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.
17. This striking church can be seen in which Chinese city?
Harbin
Urumqi
Beijing
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.
18. Where is this famous pagoda?
Xi'an
Kaifeng
Luoyang
It is the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an that was built to house the Buddhist scriptures brought back to China by Xuanzang.
19. This demonstration of Kung Fu is primarily associated with which place?
Shaolin monastery
Lushan
Taishan
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?
