Geography Quiz

The Chinese people themselves have several names for their own country. 中国 zhōng guó is the official name. It means literally 'middle or central' 'country; kingdom or region' and was based on the traditional view that China is the center of the civilized world.

Sanjiangyuan is a large area in south-eastern Qinghai province with the Mekong eventually heading south, the Yangzi east and the Huang he (Yellow) river north.

Changbai means ‘forever white’ as the mountains have permanent snow cover. The border with North Korea runs directly through the middle of volcanic Lake Tian.

The Star Ferry is a passenger ferry in Hong Kong that is mainly now a tourist attraction. It was established in 1888 when there were no bridges to the island of Hong Kong.

Wangfujing is one of the most famous shopping streets of Beijing; it is located in Dongcheng District.

The province of Sichuan was split into two parts in 1997, which had by far the largest population. The eastern section of Chongqing is governed by the city of Chongqing and follows the Yangzi river valley.

Guangzhou, on the Pearl (Yu) river estuary, has been a major port for many centuries. Hong Kong and Macau stand on either side of the large outflow into the South China Sea.

The Uyghur (Uigur) people represent about 43% on the population of Xinjiang, closely followed by Han Chinese at 41%.

The distinction between the name of the currency ( 人民币 rén mín bì) and the units (元 yuán) is like the difference between the British term sterling for the currency and pound as the unit.

The flooding of the Yangzi valley displaced at least one million people. The dam has the largest lock and is the largest hydro-electric system in the world.

Inner Mongolia is surprisingly large, it marks an important buffer zone beyond the Great Wall and is partly covered by the Gobi desert.

Hunza is in the disputed area of Kashmir but is usually considered part of Pakistan. The Karakoram Highway passes through the valley at the Kunjerab Pass.

Shanghai's Old Chinese City has the narrow alleys, temples and markets typical of an old Chinese town. It has the famous traditional ‘Yu Gardens’ which were originally built in 1537.

Although the second largest in area Tibet has a low population - and so has the lowest population density of any province.

The homeland of the Manchu people is spread along the Liao river, surrounded by mountains on three sides and the North China Sea to the south-west.

Macau was governed by Portugal for nearly 450 years. Macau stands on a rocky peninsular on the mouth of the Zhu (Pearl) River estuary connected by bridges to Taipa and Coloane Islands .

The high altitude of Tibet makes breathing difficult. Winters are harsh and summers cool and short.

Heilongjiang stretches marginally further north than Inner Mongolia. It shares its harsh, cold winters with its Russian neighbor.

The Qingling mountains form an important historic and climatic boundary between northern and southern China.

Laos has a very short land border with the Peoples Republic, Northern Thailand comes within 100 miles [161 kms] of the Chinese border in Yunnan.