Solve these clues to fill the grid.
- A form of government whose head of state is not a monarch
- 3 Across
- Thin folded wafer containing a maxim on a slip of paper (plural)
- 9 Across
- The commercial exchange of goods and services
- 10 Across
- A native or inhabitant of Communist China or of Nationalist China
- 12 Across
- An imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (plural)
- 13 Across
- A fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae
- 15 Across
- The imperial dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644
- 16 Across
- A major ___ of Asia in northern China
- 1 Down
- Small white grains grown in wet fields
- 2 Down
- A group's customs, art and way of life
- 4 Down
- Formerly a Crown Colony on the coast of southern China in Guangdong province
- 5 Down
- A fortification 1,500 miles long built across northern China in the 3rd century BC
- 6 Down
- A light midafternoon meal of ___ and sandwiches or cakes
- 7 Down
- A material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses
- 8 Down
- Shrub or small tree having flattened globose fruit with very sweet aromatic pulp and thin
- 11 Down
- A permanent organization of the military land forces of a nation or state
- 14 Down