Bitesize Quiz

  1. How big is China?

    1. 10 million square kilometres

  2. How far back can the present form of Chinese writing system be traced?

    1. 200 BC

  3. How many ethnic minorities live in China, including the Hans?

    1. 56

  4. How many times is China’s population bigger than that of the United States?

    1. 5 times

  5. Apart from Putonghua (Mandarin), which is both the official language of China and a member of the Northern Chinese dialects, there are 7 other main Chinese dialects.

    How many people in each dialect group speak these dialects as their mother tongue?

    1. 30 to 40 million

  6. Within each main Chinese dialect group, there are sub-groups. For example, the Northern Chinese group can be divided into 4 sub-groups; Northern subgroup of the dialects including that of Beijing, Northwestern subgroup, Southwestern subgroup and Xiajiang subgroup.

    How many subgroups of dialects are spoken in China?

    1. 80