Q 01/05

Fortune cookies, a fixture of American Chinese restaurants, most likely came from which country's immigrants?

A) Korea

B) Japan

C) Vietnam

D) Thailand

Answer · why

B) Japan

Japan is the likeliest source: a very similar cookie was baked in Kyoto in the 19th century, echoing the paper fortunes drawn at Japanese temples.

Q 02/05

Which number do many Chinese buildings skip when numbering floors because it sounds like the word for death?

A) Four

B) Eight

C) Nine

D) Thirteen

Answer · why

A) Four

Four is shunned because sì, the word for the number, sounds almost the same as sǐ, the word for death. Many people also avoid phone numbers and addres...

Q 03/05

At a Chinese table, why is standing chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice taboo?

A) It insults the cook

B) It mimics incense for the dead

C) It predicts a poor harvest ahead

D) It asks for more food

Answer · why

B) It mimics incense for the dead

It mimics incense for the dead: upright sticks look like the incense burned in a bowl to 'feed' departed relatives, so the gesture reads as an invitat...

Q 04/05

Which colour do mourners traditionally wear at Chinese funerals, where red is strictly forbidden?

A) Purple

B) Black

C) Grey

D) White

Answer · why

D) White

White is the traditional colour of mourning in China, the reverse of its bridal meaning in the West. Red is kept away from funerals because it stands ...

Q 05/05

In the Great Race legend behind the Chinese zodiac, which animal finished first by riding on the ox?

A) Monkey

B) Rabbit

C) Rat

D) Snake

Answer · why

C) Rat

The Rat won by hitching a lift on the ox and leaping off at the finish line. That is why the Rat opens each twelve-year cycle of the zodiac.