Q 01/05

What does the name Beijing mean in Chinese?

A) Northern Capital

B) Great Capital

C) Heavenly City

D) Imperial Seat

Answer · why

A) Northern Capital

The name was applied in 1403 to distinguish it from Nanjing, the 'Southern Capital'; the older spelling Peking dates from a 1655 Jesuit atlas.

Q 02/05

With more than 21.8 million residents, Beijing holds what world record among capitals?

A) Oldest continuously inhabited

B) Most populous national capital

C) Highest-altitude capital

D) Largest by land area

Answer · why

B) Most populous national capital

It is nonetheless only China's second-largest city by urban area.

Q 03/05

The old spelling 'Peking' survives in the IATA code of Beijing Capital International Airport; what is it?

A) BJS

B) BEJ

C) PEK

D) PKG

Answer · why

C) PEK

Peking University also keeps the old romanisation; the newer Daxing airport is coded PKX.

Q 04/05

'Peking Man' fossils were found in caves at which site in Beijing municipality?

A) Wangfujing

B) Fangshan Town

C) Badaling

D) Zhoukoudian

Answer · why

D) Zhoukoudian

The Dragon Bone Hill caves are among Beijing's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Q 05/05

Which Mongol ruler built Dadu (Khanbaliq) on the site of Beijing as his Yuan dynasty capital?

A) Genghis Khan

B) Ögedei Khan

C) Kublai Khan

D) Timur

Answer · why

C) Kublai Khan

Genghis had razed the earlier Jin capital of Zhongdu in 1215; Dadu was built from 1264 to 1293 and remnants of its rammed-earth wall still stand.