1. In the pastures of Xinjiang sheep are grazing. What is the name of the type of building used by the herdsmen?
teepee
tupiq
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.
2. Which ancient figure is represented by this massive stone statue?
Laozi
Qu Yuan
Yellow Emperor
Laozi the founder of Daoism is typically depicted as an old man with a long flowing beard.
3. Where is this famous pagoda?
Xi'an
Kaifeng
Hangzhou
It is the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an that was built to house the Buddhist scriptures brought back to China by Xuanzang.
4. Which muscial instrument is this man playing?
guqin
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'.
11. These objects are associated with which religion?
Communism
Confucianism
Buddhism
This form of stupa which often contains sacred Buddhist relics is common in Tibet, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia.
12. Where can you find this famous building?
Forbidden City, Beijing
Temple of Heaven, Beijing
Iron Pagoda, Kaifeng
The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests within the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan) complex, Beijing.
13. Where might you find this famous building?
Urumqi
Kunming
Lhasa
The Potala palace in Lhasa is the winter palace of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
14. This is a memorial hall to which important figure in Chinese history?
Mao Zedong
Zhu De
Sun Yatsen
The Sun Yatsen memorial hall is in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province; the province where he was born.
15. Why are there nine mythical beasts behind the 'man on a hen' on this roof?
nine ancient rites
the orginal nine provinces
nine was the Imperial number
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
16. This demonstration of Kung Fu is primarily associated with which place?
Lushan
Shaolin monastery
Lhasa
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.
Hainan island is famous as a semi-tropical beach resort.
18. In which month might you expect to see this watery spectacle?
October
March
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.
19. These ruins are part of which Imperial building?
Forbidden City
Old Summer Palace
Chengde Resort
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.
20. This striking church can be seen in which Chinese city?
Harbin
Hohhot
Urumqi
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.