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
March or April
January or February
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. Why are oranges, tangerines and similar fruits are often seen at Chinese New Year?
Wishes good luck
Adds Vitamin C to diet
Lucky color
orange
Dish of oranges, Hong Kong. Image by Fung Kimmia available under a Creative Commons License

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

4. Which event marks the traditional end of the Chinese New Year (Spring) festival?
Qingming Festival
Lantern Festival
Dragon Boat Festival
festival, temple, lion dance
Traditional lion dance near a temple

5. 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

6. Why are fish widely eaten at Chinese New Year?
Fish carry a wish for a long life
Fish in Chinese sounds like abundance
The god of fish was born on Chinese New Year
taiwan, yin yang, fish
Window detail of Zushih Temple, Sansia, Taipei County, Taiwan. Aug. 2008. Image by Benjiho available under a Creative Commons License

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

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

9. What heralds the start of New Year's day?
firecrackers
military parade
President's speech

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

11. What is a 'guotie'?
lucky fish
door guardian
fried dumpling (jiaozi)
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 .

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

13. 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

14. When is the next dragon astrological year?
2024
2022
2028
silk, dragon
Silk embroidery of Chinese dragon

15. Which Chinese god is given an offering a week prior to Chinese New Year?
Kui Xing - god of literature
Zao Jun - the Kitchen god
Sun Wukong - the Monkey King
deity, eight immortals, Shandong, Penglai
Statue of the Eight Immortals at Penglai Pavilion, Shandong
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