Special Sub-Topic: North East Asia Challenge Authored by: kashikoi Sub-topic of: Asian Cultures

Which of the following did NOT occur during the Meiji Restoration in Japan between 1868 and 1912?

Commodore Perry of the U.S. Navy arived with a squadron of 'Black ships' to insist Japan open to foreign trade.. The two wars occured in 1894-95 and 1904-05, respectively. Perry's arrival was in 1853.

Which of the following is the phonetic alphabet of Korea?

Hangul. The others are the three written languages used in Japan.

Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 by the British. Macao was handed back to China in 1999 by the:

Portuguese. Portugal had had control of Macao since the mid-1800s.

Which of the following Japanese foods is not some kind of noodle?

Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is often described as 'a Japanese pizza' but I think it is more like a fritter. The best known types come from Osaka and Hiroshima. Somen is a thin white noodle, served cold in the summer.

Which of the following trainlines does NOT have a terminus in Beijing, China?

Trans-Siberian. The Trans-Siberian travels between Nakhodka (near Vladivostok) and Moscow. The other two both go between Moscow and Beijing, with the Trans-Manchurian bypassing Mongolia.

The truce village on the ceasefire line in the DMZ between North and South Korea is called:

Panmunjom. An amazing place. There is a negotiation room built half in North Korea and half in South Korea.

The currency in Macao is the:

Pataca. The Won is used in Korea, the Yuan in China, and the Yen, of course, in Japan. The Pataca was first used in the Philippines by Spanish merchants and went into use in Macao in 1901. It is still being used even after the return of Macao to China.

The phonetic syllabary Hangul was invented about 500 years ago by:

A king. It was invented by King Sejong and his group of researchers in 1443. These days it consists of 24 letters: 14 consonants and 10 vowels.

Which of the following isn't one of 'Japan's Best Views'?

Kiyomizu. Japan is very fond of lists like this. I am sure that Kiyomizu-dera, one of the most famous temples in Kyoto, must be on another list. 'The three most famous temples in Japan', perhaps? Matsushima is in Miyagi Prefecture, Miyajima Island is in Hiroshima Prefecture and Amanohashidate is in Kyoto Prefecture.

Three of the following are 'Thank you' in North East Asian languages. Which one is 'Thank you' in a South East Asian language?

Khawp khun. 'Xie xie' is Chinese, 'Kamsa hamnida' is Korean, 'Arigato gozaimasu' is Japanese, and 'Khawp khun' is Thai.