China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, with a rich and complex history spanning thousands of years. From the ancient dynasties of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou, to the imperial period and the modern era, China has played a significant role in shaping the course of world history. Chinese culture is also incredibly diverse and encompasses a wide range of traditions, customs, and practices, including art, literature, philosophy, and cuisine.
China is also a major global economic power, and its economy has grown rapidly in recent decades. This has led to many changes in Chinese society, including urbanization, modernization, and an increasingly globalized culture. Additionally, China is known for its contributions to science and technology, including innovations in fields such as medicine, engineering, and mathematics.
Overall, China is a country with a rich and complex history, as well as a fascinating culture and rapidly-developing modern society. Trivia questions about China can range from its ancient history and cultural traditions, to its modern economy and contributions to science and technology, making it a great topic for a trivia night or quiz.
122 China Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- Before China repatriated them in 2019, the largest giant panda population outside of China sat around munching bamboo in the zoo of what American city that anagrams to SEA DINGO?
Answer: San Diego
- Holidays like China’s Dongzhi Festival or the Hopi people’s Soyal, are scheduled around December 21 every year in celebration of the winter version of what “S” term that signifies the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere?
Answer: Solstice
- What number links the number of points J is worth in Scrabble, good luck in China and the number of legs on a normal spider?
Answer: Eight
- Corridors to Mongolia and Russia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and India are a few parts of the massive Belt and Road Initiative carried out over the past two decades by what ginormous country?
Answer: China
- What paddle game bolstered diplomatic relations after U.S. national champion players traveled to China in the 1970s?
Answer: Ping pong
- Billing itself as the largest solar-powered high-rise in the world, the Sun-Moon Mansion is a 75,000-square-meter building in Dezhou City, Shandong Province, in what country?
Answer: China
- If you order uni at a sushi bar, you're going to get what spiky ocean dweller that anagrams to SURE CHINA?
Answer: Sea urchin
- The Shujing, Chunqiu, and Shijing are considered the foundations of the literary tradition in what country?
Answer: China
- Spreading across 17 square miles, the giant Tengger Desert Solar Park is located in the Ningxia province of what country?
Answer: China
- Constance Wu will do a lot of location shooting far from her hometown of Richmond for "China Rich Girlfriend" and "Rich People Problems," the planned sequels to what globe-trotting 2018 rom-com?
Answer: Crazy Rich Asians
- New Zealand is known for its Kiwifruit, which is one of the nation's major agricultural exports today. Which Asian nation are these gooseberries actually native to?
Answer: China
- Which 37th U.S. president began to normalize relations with China, culminating in his 1972 visit?
Answer: Richard Nixon
- A Great Wall is a cocktail made with orange vodka, blackcurrant syrup, and a tangerine wedge. The name is inspired by a landmark in which Asian country that cannot, in fact, be seen from space?
Answer: China
- Which multinational corp based in China that’s one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in the world got the top spot in IPO history after it hit $231 value in 2019 (Hint: You might need “One Thousand and One Nights” to go through all the listings of things you could buy from the website…)?
Answer: Alibaba
- In December 2018, the U.S. angered China by arranging for the detainment in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, an executive of what telecom company?
Answer: Huawei
- What crop, the most common to be rotated with corn, was the focus of China trade war discussions because of the fact that 60% of the U.S. crop was exported to China in 2016?
Answer: Soybean
- Covering nearly 400,000 square feet, the world's largest QR code was created in 2015 by strategically mowing a wheat field in the province of Hebei in what country?
Answer: China
- On May 27, 2022, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that what nation "is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the...power to do it?"
Answer: China
- What consumer product advertising icon is known in Spain as "Don Limpio" and in China as "Mr. Proper?"
Answer: Mr. Clean
- Hangzhou's bike-sharing program is said to be the largest in the world with a fleet of over 60,000 cycles. What East Asian country is it in?
Answer: China
- Ulaanbaatar is the capital and largest city of what ginormous Asian country between Russia and China?
Answer: Mongolia
- According to the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles in 2018, China was the world's largest manufacturer of motor vehicles with 28 million produced. Next up was the United States with 11 million vehicles. What Asian country was in third place with nearly 10 million vehicles produced?
Answer: Japan
- Titan Rain was a series of attacks on U.S. computers that started in 2003. The hackers gained access to defense networks at places like Lockheed Martin and NASA. Which country did the attacks originate from?
Answer: China
- Often appended with "tea" to distinguish it from a culture of bacteria and yeast, what is the fermented, slightly effervescent, sweetened tea drink that is often consumed for purported health benefits? Although its origins are not fully known, it is believed to have originated in China.
Answer: Kombucha
- China is officially recognized as the People's Republic of China. What Asian country is officially known as simply the Republic of China?
Answer: Taiwan
- Which solar panel maker in the United States was one of the earliest in the industry (no surprise given its name) when Harold McMaster started the original company (Glasstech Solar) in the mid-1980s? (Hint: Today, it’s also the only major manufacturer that’s based in the U.S. and not China)
Answer: First Solar
- Which landlocked East Asian country is between Russia (north) and China (south), and Ulaanbaatar is its capital (and largest) city?
Answer: Mongolia
- The Opium Wars were primarily fought between the British Empire and what country?
Answer: China
- The $600 million Zoji La tunnels project will connect the rest of India to its very militarized Himalayan border with what other superpower?
Answer: China
- In 2016, China's Tsinghua University announced an international postgraduate award program called the Schwartzman Scholarship modeled after the hallowed Rhodes scholarship at Oxford University. This prestigious 1-year master's degree program is hosted in which Chinese city?
Answer: Beijing
- Mount Fuji may be the tallest mountain in Japan, but it’s certainly not the tallest in Asia. That title belongs to Mount Everest, which sits on the border of Nepal and the disputed Tibetan region of what country?
Answer: China
- The U.S. Immigration Act of 1882 is the first and only time that federal law prohibited immigration to America from a specific country. What country is that?
Answer: China
- What president of China, in office since 2013, studied chemical engineering in college before rising through the ranks of regional politics? He was portrayed himself as a heroic figure, standing strong against Western influences on behalf of the Chinese people.
Answer: Xi Jingping
- The Sino-Vietnamese War was a conflict that occurred in 1979 when China invaded Vietnam over Vietnam's invasion and occupation of what other country? That country's genocidal regime had the support of the Chinese government.
Answer: Cambodia
- What superpower nation is the world's leading producer of solar energy?
Answer: China
- The Mukden Incident was used by what country as a pretext to invade China in 1931?
Answer: Japan
- Which dog with a repetitive name may have been referenced in ancient China as resembling lions with their blue-black tongues?
Answer: Chow Chow
- What beer brand, known as a blue-collar Milwaukee lager and a cheap beer for college students and hipsters, was licensed for sale in Chinese markets in the early 2010s? In China, the price of a typical bottle skyrocketed to $44, and the company claims the beer itself is different, a special brew of German malts and aged in oak whiskey barrels.
Answer: Pabst Blue Ribbon
- In 2023, China banned the import of Japanese seafood after the latter country's controversial announcement that they would discharge wastewater from what prefecture's nuclear power plant?
Answer: Fukushima
- In 2019, CB Insights and the New York Times partnered to rank the Top 20 Venture Capitalists. In first place was Neil Shen, a former co-founder of Chinese travel company Ctrip.com. Shen was a founding partner of the China-based office of what famed venture firm?
Answer: Sequoia
- With a futuristic design evoking a giant eyeball, the Tianjin Binhai Library is an institution housing more than 1.2 million volumes in what country?
Answer: China
- China Energy Engineering Corp. has proposed a 1,000-megawatt floating solar plant to be constructed on the Kariba Dam in what country in southern Africa whose capital is Harare?
Answer: Zimbabwe
- Sometimes called the maidenhair tree, which large, deciduous species with fanned leaves that is native to China is considered a “living fossil” because it’s over 270 million years old?
Answer: Gingko
- In 2023, a handful of countries including Argentina and the UAE were invited to join what economic summit, previously consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa?
Answer: BRICS
- The Kowloon peninsula constitutes the mainland portion of which territory of China?
Answer: Hong Kong
- In 2020, Pepsi introduced a version flavored with osmanthus, a flowering plant native to east Asia, its first exclusive flavor for what extremely populous nation?
Answer: China
- Debuting in 2016 and attracting more than 100,000 visitors by the third iteration in 2018, what is the annual Philadelphia festival in Franklin Square that celebrates light and culture while featuring artisans from China and the Philadelphia metro?
Answer: Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival
- Known in its home country as Bìguìyuán, Country Garden Holdings is the largest property developer in what Asian nation?
Answer: China
- The "hot duck," an escapee that charmed Central Park visitors in late 2018 and even inspired a children's book by Bette Midler, was what kind of duck native to China?
Answer: Mandarin Duck
- After the United States and China, which country has the third-largest higher education system in the world?
Answer: India
- Once called the Champa Sea by Southeast Asia and where one-third of global shipping passes through, what sea within the Western Pacific Ocean is surrounded by China, Taiwan, Borneo and the Indochinese Peninsula?
Answer: South China Sea
- Of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, which one has the fewest number of letters in its name when spelled in English (no abbreviations).
Answer: China
- As of 2014, there were over 25 million tons of pears being produced each year. Over 70% of these pears were grown in what country?
Answer: China
- In Season 3 episode "The Tape," George orders a baldness remedy from what foreign country?
Answer: China
- Beijing Capital International Airport is the largest airport serving China's capital city and goes by what 3-letter airport code? Hint: The code is based off the city's former Romanized name.
Answer: PEK (for Peking)
- On the TV show "Firefly," the Anglo-Sino Alliance government featured a flag blending elements from the flags of the United States and what other current Earth country?
Answer: China
- What American chain localizes its fare with offerings such as Turkish coffee in the Republic of Georgia and versions of its signature product stuffed with kimchi in South Korea and topped with fish flakes in China?
Answer: Dunkin' Donuts
- The tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, is famous for having an "army" of thousands of soldiers sculpted from what material whose name literally means "baked earth?"
Answer: Terra Cotta
- To help maintain the wall’s strength and longevity, a “sticky” version of what popular grain – that is also used to make sake – was mixed within the mortar to build The Great Wall of China?
Answer: Rice
- One of China's most expensive private estates is Taohuayuan, a 1,663-acre property in what city whose tourist attractions include the much more modest-sounding Humble Administrator's Garden?
Answer: Suzhou
- Representing a total of 30.8% of the population, Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu, and Chen are the five most common surnames in what country?
Answer: China
- The Old Portland Underground, a series of passages underneath Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, is known to Portland, OR locals as tunnels named after what “S” Chinese city?
Answer: Shanghai Tunnels
- Which Asian country is the world's largest producer of goose meat by quite an extreme margin?
Answer: China
- What “M” River, the sixth longest in Asia, originates in the Tibetan Plateau of China and reaches the sea in Vietnam?
Answer: Mekong River
- Which creature with the binomial name Ailuropoda melanoleuca precedes “diplomacy” in the name of diplomatic practice undertaken by China in which these creatures are gifted to other countries?
Answer: Panda
- During the Song Dynasty (around the 11th century CE), paper money—called “flying cash”—was invented in which country?
Answer: China
- Originating in China over 10,000 years ago, sericulture is the practice of raising an animal with the scientific name "bombyx mori" in order to produce what material?
Answer: Silk
- Which FinTech company based in China and linked to Alibaba owns Alipay and shares its name with a one-by-one marching insect?
Answer: Ant Group
- Now forming part of the name of a major airline, Cathay is a historical name of which country? Marco Polo referred to this country by the name Cathay in his writings.
Answer: China
- In 1842, the signing of the Nanking Treaty ended the first Opium War between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of which country?
Answer: China
- Although its legal status is disputed, the McMahon Line forms part of the de facto boundary between India and which other country?
Answer: China
- What proposed form of energy generation can produce the same amount of energy with one kilogram of fuel as 10 million kilograms of fossil fuels? China’s prototype “Artificial Sun” sustained this for over 17 minutes.
Answer: Nuclear fusion
- According to Democratic senator Mike Mansfield, "Only Nixon could go" to what country, which he literally did in 1972?
Answer: China
- In September 2021, which Asian country declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal?
Answer: China
- The Gaokao is the national college entrance exam in which Asian country?
Answer: China
- A museum on 3rd Avenue that opened in 1996 features exhibits that celebrate the cross-cultural history of which Asian country and America?
Answer: China
- Focused on the trillion-dollar pharmaceutical distribution market, Yaoshibang is a fast-growing startup based in what populous nation?
Answer: China
- What then-Speaker of the House visited Taiwan in August 2022, sparking an angry reaction from mainland China?
Answer: Nancy Pelosi
- In what country were the first gas wells drilled in or before 347 A.D.? The gas was burned to evaporate brine to make salt.
Answer: China
- What cultural and scientific agency of the United Nations did the US stop funding in 2011 and declare plans to return to in 2023 over concerns that China is taking too large of a role in its policymaking?
Answer: UNESCO
- What sport was involved in the improvement of U.S.-Chinese relations in 1971, when the U.S. national team in that sport was invited on an all-expenses paid trip to China? This term was used with the word “diplomacy” to describe it.
Answer: Ping Pong
- Although they have all been repatriated to China (the parent pandas were on loan), how many baby giant pandas have been born at the San Diego Zoo?
Answer: Six
- Based on a classic story of a Taoist monkey who travels to India to bring back sacred scriptures, "The Monkey King" was a 6-minute-long Pepsi ad that was wildly successful in 2016 in what country?
Answer: China
- One is the loneliest number…But in China, it’s four times more profitable than Black Friday! 11/11 marks which unique Chinese shopping holiday that celebrates people who aren’t in relationships by encouraging them to buy presents for themselves?
Answer: Singles Day
- If you ride the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the sky-high view might make you feel like you’re on a plane. At 16,640 feet above sea level, the Tanggula Pass is the world’s highest point on a railway. What country are you traveling through if you see it?
Answer: China
- Accounting for approximately 134 million tons in 2020, what country is the world's largest supplier of wheat?
Answer: China
- Which Chinese property developer incorporated in the Cayman Islands and headquartered in Shenzhen was once the most valuable real estate company in the world, but filed for bankruptcy in 2023?
Answer: China Evergrande Group
- A Washington D.C. monument to the "Victims of Communism" is a 10-foot bronze reproduction, based on photographs, of a papier-mâché statue nicknamed the "Goddess of Democracy," which had been built in 1989 in what country?
Answer: China
- What (or whose) fish owl native to China, Japan, and Russian Far East is also known as Keptupa blakistoni, and is the biggest (living) species of owl?
Answer: Blakiston’s
- Only two cities in the world have a metro system that is considered to be over 400 miles long. Both these cities are located in which country?
Answer: China (Shanghai and Beijing)
- Johannes Gutenberg gets oodles of history book credit, but in fact there is clear documentation that movable type was invented 400 years earlier (circa AD 1045) in what country?
Answer: China
- Although its current name comes from Tagalog, what toy has been seen on Greek vases dating to 500 B.C.? The toy may be even older than that, as a similar toy originated in China about 1000 B.C.
Answer: Yo-yo
- As a 14 year-old “rook”-ie, China’s Hou Yifan became the youngest female player to become a grandmaster. Since 2015, Hou has been the “queen”--that is, the world’s top-rated female player–at what brainy board game?
Answer: Chess
- Fan Zhengdong of China is currently ranked number one by the International Federation for which alliterative sport? At only 25 years old, Fan has already surpassed superstar Ma Long, even though Long consistently outperforms Zhengdong at the Olympics. We're looking for BOTH words here.
Answer: Table Tennis
- Not to be confused with the club store, which shipping company based in Beijing is one of the largest in the world and one of the top brands in China?
Answer: COSCO
- Artificially induced logistics demand hits super high levels on Black Friday and what Black Friday equivalent in China that sounds like speed dating?
Answer: Singles' Day
- Notable for its crisscross architecture and 70-story height, the Bank of China Tower is a famous financial building located in the Central district of what Special Administrative Region of China?
Answer: Hong Kong
- Visiting China for the Lunar New Year? Why not make your way to the winter festival in the northern city of Harbin, where artists use saws and picks to make the world’s largest statues out of what material?
Answer: Ice
- More than 500 million of the Flying Pigeon PA-02 bicycles have been made, many multiples more than the next-most popular model of bicycle. The Flying Pigeon brand has been state-owned since the mid 20th century by what country?
Answer: China
- What river, located entirely within China, is the longest river in Asia and the longest river in the world to flow entirely within one country?
Answer: Yangtze
- According to 2022 data from Savills, which city in China is the most expensive city in the world to buy property, with the average cost per square foot being around $4,530?
Answer: Hong Kong
- What is the world’s largest peanut-producing nation? This country produces well over twice what the second-largest peanut-producing nation grows.
Answer: China
- Which internation multi-sport event was first held in Singapore in 2010, and has subsequently been held in Nanjing, China in 2014 and Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2018?
Answer: Summer Youth Olympic Games
- The "Legalists" were a third and fourth century group of political thinkers and statesmen who dominated the political culture of what country?
Answer: China
- According to the "CIA World Factbook," who is Uruguay's largest export partner, accounting for 29% of goods exported, more than double those of the second largest export partner?
Answer: China
- Chinese architect I. M. Pei designed the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, but his most recognizable work might be a glass structure of what shape at the Louvre in Paris?
Answer: Pyramid
- Spring Festival is to Chinese New Year as Tsagaan Sar is to the Lunar New Year of what country that borders China?
Answer: Mongolia
- In 1974, which country successfully detonated a nuclear bomb as part of "Operation Smiling Buddha", subsequently becoming the second Asian country after China to declare possession of nuclear weapons?
Answer: India
- What controversial structure, built along China's Yangtze River, became the world's largest power station in 2012 and is also the world's largest concrete structure?
Answer: Three Gorges Dam
- What new economic program did China's Mao Zedong announce in 1958?
Answer: The Great Leap Forward
- China, India, and the U.S. have the three biggest active militaries in the world, but which country with the fourth largest military overall has the largest active military per capita, with roughly 1 in 20 people in active service?
Answer: North Korea
- In early February 2023, which province of China announced plans to allow unmarried people to have children in response to low birth rates?
Answer: Sichuan
- "Sericulture" is the name for the cultivation of what animal, scientific name Bombyx mori, which began in China over 5,000 years ago?
Answer: Silkworm
- A 2022 study from researchers at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China looked at owls' wings to find out how to reduce what in airplanes?
Answer: Noise
- In what country would you find Shishi High School, the oldest school in the world still operating? The school dates back to 141 BCE, seven centuries older than King's School, Canterbury, which is the second oldest.
Answer: China
- What is the English-translated name of the global development initiative adopted by the Chinese government in 2013? The goal is to invest in both land and sea trade infrastructure between China and 152 other countries and organizations.
Answer: Belt and Road
- Asia's largest waterfall complex, consisting of 18 waterfalls with a combined width of 101 meters, is located at what site in China?
Answer: Huangguoshu
- The largest aquarium in the world is located in what country? Its enclosures contain almost 13 million gallons of water.
Answer: China
- What is the 11-letter name for the historical region and cultural area in the Western Hemisphere that is considered one of only three regions in the world known to have independently developed writing? Sumer and China are the other two regions.
Answer: Mesoamerica
- Which Beijing-based edtech unicorn startup is the biggest online tutoring app and learning platform in China, having helped more than 200 million students with their homework since it was founded in 2012?
Answer: Yuanfudao
- Starting December 23, 2021, China enforced a lockdown on what centrally located city, the capital of Shaanxi Province, due to a surge in COVID-19 cases?
Answer: Xian
- What is the best-selling beer brand in the world? It is sold mostly in China.
Answer: Snow
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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