The paper explores the Chinese conceptualisation of intelligence and points out how Western techniques of measurement of intellectual functions arefarfrom satisfactory. Two studies are presented. Both studies used the relevance rating technique to investigate the notion of intelligence held by two groups which differed in terms of culture and race (Australian and Taiwanese students, Study 1) and also in terms of educational experience (traditional Chinese and English schooling systems) but of the same culture (Study 2). In both studies items selected from two well-known intelligence tests were rated for their relevance to measuring intelligence as well as in terms of their difficulty level. Study 1 showed that three factors—non-reasoning ability, verbal reasoning ability and rote memory—constituted the concept of intelligence. In Study 2 as well, subjects of both groups shared a common structure of intelligence. The implications of using Western intelligence tests for non-Western groups are discussed.