20 Chinese Cities Everyone Should Know

China has many, many cities, most of which are rather obscure. Try to name the following twenty cities, which are among the most well known.

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Last updated: April 1, 2021

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First submitted	March 25, 2021
Times taken	31,733
Average score	55.0%
Rating	4.54

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Hint	City
Capital of China	Beijing
Former British colony returned in 1997	Hong Kong
City immediately north of the above whose population has increased by 20,000% since 1980	Shenzhen
Former Portuguese colony returned in 1999	Macau
This "southern capital" was the venue of a brutal Japanese massacre in 1937–1938	Nanjing
Including nearby cities such as Suzhou, this megalopolis has a population over 30 million	Shanghai
Capital of Tibet	Lhasa
Northwestern hub is partly inhabited by ethnic Uyghurs	Ürümqi
City which experienced the first Covid-19 outbreak	Wuhan
Home of the Terracotta Army	Xi'an
Largest city on Hainan Island	Haikou
Port city of 15 million people located about 100 km from the capital	Tianjin
City on the Pearl River Delta formerly known as Canton	Guangzhou
Large city, starting with X, which borders the Taiwan Strait	Xiamen
Southwestern city which served as the terminus for the Burma Road in WWII	Kunming
Its annual ice festival is internationally famous	Harbin
Capital of Sichuan, known for its Giant Panda breeding center	Chengdu
Yunnan city named after a Himalayan utopia whose residents are immortal	Shangri-La
Biggest city on the Liaodong Peninsula (hint: starts with D)	Dalian
Formerly German-occupied city known for its brewery	Qingdao

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54 Comments

+11

Level 69

Mar 27, 2021

Great quiz Gassu, hope this series continues

+38

Level 90

Apr 1, 2021

Just to be that guy, Chungking / Chongqing is another major city long known in the West. After government reorganization it is technically the most populous city on Earth within city limits. The city limits are, however, over 80,000 square kilometers. That's a "city" larger than 12 of the 50 states in the U.S.A. and more than 40% of the nations in the world. Maine and Austria are the closest in size, respectively.

+34

Level 87

Apr 1, 2021

Yes, Chongqing should be included, and maybe the quite obscure Haikou removed.

+30

Level 82

Apr 1, 2021

I'd back this idea. Chongqing was even a temporary capital during the Japanese invasion, so it certainly seems to be a better candidate than Haikou for inclusion in this quiz.

Level 75

Apr 2, 2021

I came to comment the same thing

Level 74

Apr 2, 2021

It was probably the first Chinese city I ever knew due to the Chun King brand of Chinese food.

+11

Level 76

Apr 4, 2021

I would have included Luoyang, which is the only one of the "Four Great Ancient Capitals" missing.

Level 61

Apr 18, 2023

I would second this; the four ancient capitals and four provincial-level municipalities all make sense as cities that should be known. Still a great quiz though!

Level 80

Apr 2, 2021

I've been to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 15, 16 and 19! (I live in Suzhou)

+13

Level 71

Apr 2, 2021

Can someone explain me why Haikou should be known by everyone?

(I'm a geography nerd like most of you here but I never found this city in quizzes alike)

Level 76

Apr 4, 2021

Island.

+30

Level 90

Apr 14, 2021

Two syllable word

Just as informative as

A pointless haiku

Level 65

Apr 25, 2021

It is a very popular tourist destination among the Chinese

Level 42

Apr 26, 2021

Even Sanya, located on the same island as Haikou, is more famous in China.

+15

Level 69

Apr 2, 2021

I can't explain it, but my brain has a blind spot when it comes to Chengdu.

Every time I take a quiz involving Chinese cities, I forget about Chengdu. Then when the quiz is over, I see the answers and think, "Ah, Chengdu!".

It's a massive city with a long history and yet. . .my brain refuses to remember it.

My apologies to the residents of Chengdu but my subconscious clearly refuses to believe you exist.

Level 90

Jul 4, 2021

Poor Chengdu. Mention pandas and everyone thinks of San Diego.

Level 53

Apr 18, 2023

same for me with cardiff...it's off-topic but i have never remembered the capital of wales when i need to

Level 69

Apr 19, 2023

I'm proud to say I have grown in the past two years and my brain now holds space for Chengdu. I'm sure the residents of that fine city, both human and panda alike, are thrilled to learn this.

Unfortunately, Kunming and Haikou still have not found a home in my memory.

Level 88

Apr 2, 2021

Chengdu, home to many panda videos that I watch daily.

Level 81

Apr 5, 2021

Haikou seems slightly obscure.

Shangri-La renamed recently to attract tourists, so it was the only one that slipped my mind.

Level 78

Apr 19, 2021

Haikou is well known

Only because of poems

Wait...I mean Haiku

Level 44

Apr 25, 2021

I did terrible.

Level 49

Nov 10, 2021

-100 social credit

Level 70

Apr 18, 2023

re-education time

Level 53

Apr 18, 2023

*labor camp time

Level 76

Apr 20, 2023

Start with adverbs - terribly rather than terrible.

Level 76

Apr 25, 2021

Very good list. A lot of people don't think Haikou is significant enough to merit the top-20. I agree, but Shangri-La is clearly the one that most deserves to drop out, unless you have a fetish for bad novels. (The city was renamed after the book in 2001). Changsha, Yan'an, Chongqing, and Kashgar might be replacements.

Level 81

Apr 27, 2021

Kind of agree, even though Shangri-La could be guessed by someone whom had never heard of the city before so that's probably a plus to QM. But you could add Chengdu, Ningbo, Luoyang, Xiamen, Anyang, Kaifeng, or several others with cultural/historical significance.

Level 51

Apr 25, 2021

The front picture for the quiz is a Korean royal palace called Gyeongbokgung, which is in the center of Seoul and is totally irrelevant to this quiz. I suggest you change it.

Level 62

Apr 25, 2021

Unfortunately we all know about Wuhan now.

Level 70

Apr 25, 2021

Accept Urumchi? Wikipedia shows both spellings.

Level 57

Apr 26, 2021

Chongqing is another city I think people should know about. Maybe Shenyang as well

Level 26

Apr 26, 2021

I got 14, missed Nanjing, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Shangri-La, Kunming, and Haikou. Good Quiz Though :D

Level 45

Apr 26, 2021

got 18/20, missed Haikou and Shangri-La

Level 75

Apr 27, 2021

Interesting quizzes, but the clickbait titles that suddenly get more coy in the explanation are a tad irritating...

Level 32

Apr 28, 2021

That picture is Seoul, Korea though

Level 64

Apr 29, 2021

Yeah, the picture used in the quiz headline is of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, which is an egregious shame because there is a lot of beautiful historic architecture in all of the listed Chinese cities

Level ∞

Apr 29, 2021

Replaced it with one from Shenzhen.

Level 64

Apr 28, 2021

I got pretty far by just listing all the Chinese cities I could think of. Afterwards I read the clues and learned fun facts about them.

Level 38

Apr 29, 2021

WhAt HaPpEnEd At TiAnImEn SqUaRe In 1989??

Level 81

May 1, 2021

someone broke their capslock key?

Level 68

Aug 7, 2021

is Shangri-La which was renamed after the fictional location in 2014 really notable?

Level 45

Mar 30, 2022

i got shangri-la and urumqi but forgot about shanghai

Level 83

Jun 11, 2022

I'm surprised Guangzhou wasn't on here. I've had to memorize it for all those populaiton quizzes, and yet doesn't appear here!

Level 65

Dec 30, 2022

I thought taipei would be on this list

Level 56

Apr 18, 2023

nice quiz

Level 68

Apr 18, 2023

What about Wuhan?

Level 71

Apr 18, 2023

Perhaps include Chongqing and Hangzhou? These are important cities in China. Sanya is also known more than Haikou as a resort city on Hainan Island.

Level 68

Apr 19, 2023

Yes I guessed Chongqing and Hangzhou to no avail. Didn't get the least four guessed. But I learned something.

Level 68

Apr 19, 2023

18/20 first try. Cute quiz but not information "Everyone" should know. I can't imagine that knowing Haikou is the largest city on Hainan would enrich the lives of the Ticuna tribe.

Level 61

Nov 17, 2023

Shenzhen is usually part of Guangzhou on JetPunk. I would swap Shenzhen and Haikou for Chongqing and Hangzhou.

Level 29

Apr 29, 2024

taipei should be included.taiwan is part of china.

Level 60

Oct 26, 2024

not on this site

Level 55

Oct 21, 2024

Correction, that legendary place with (daoist) immortals is in the Kunlun mountains, not the Himalayas.

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