Review Essay

Sins of the Father

Xi Zhongxun, one of China’s early communist revolutionaries, tried to balance reformist instincts with loyalty to the Party. His failure left an indelible mark on his son, Xi Jinping.

What China's Reading: Books from the Sinosphere

Five new reads from the wider world of sinophone literature, including a Taiwanese book on Covid quarantine and a Malaysian-Chinese memoir of loss.

Vikram Seth: Hitchhiking From China to India

Before he became an award-winning novelist, the Indian writer Vikram Seth was an exchange student in China. In the 1980s, he traveled overland from Nanjing to Delhi.

Nominations Open for 2025 Baifang Schell Book Prize

Our book prize returns in its second year, celebrating exceptional books on or from China and the Sinophone world. Nominate now!

Ep. 26: Chris Horton on Taiwan’s History and Present

Colonized by the Dutch Republic, Qing China and Japan, Taiwan's complicated past led to a multi-layered identity today. We invited the author of a new primer to lay it out for us.

Yu Hua: Fictional Cities

The bestselling Chinese novelist foregrounds individual suffering in the chaos of modern Chinese history. In his latest novel in translation, gratuitous violence shows the limits of fiction.

Patrick McGee on Apple in China

The author and journalist explains how China captured Apple's business and learnt from its technology, in a China Books Review event at Asia Society.

Recent books

The Chinese Censorship Discourse on Television Dramas

How Wee Ng

November 19, 2025

Routledge

Machine Decision Is Not Final

Eds. Benjamin H. Bratton, Anna Greenspan, Amy Ireland, Bogna Konior

November 18, 2025

Urbanomic

Jiny Lan and the Art of Subversion

Qinna Shen

November 18, 2025

Camden House

The Classic of Poetry

Tr. Edward Shaughnessy

November 18, 2025

The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

Under Assault

Dennis Molinaro

November 18, 2025

Random House Canada

Browse more recent
Upcoming books

Understanding China

Chandran Nair, Jorgen Randers, Jinfeng Zhou, Frederick Charles Dubee

November 24, 2025

Routledge

What Does it Mean to Be or to Become Chinese?

Ed. Daniel A. Bell

November 25, 2025

The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

Everything You Wanted To Know About China*

Jeffrey Wasserstrom

November 25, 2025

Brixton Inc

Embedded Generations

Liu Jieyu

November 25, 2025

Princeton University Press

The Monkey Chronicles

Xi Xi (ed. John Minford, trs. David Morgan, Jasmine Tong Man)

November 25, 2025

The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

Browse more upcoming
Bestselling books

Breakneck

Dan Wang

August 26, 2025

W.W. Norton & Company

Apple in China

Patrick McGee

May 13, 2025

Scribner

The Lotus Shoes

Jane Yang

January 7, 2025

Park Row

Strangers in the Land

Michael Luo

April 29, 2025

Doubleday

Red Tide

M.P. Woodward

September 23, 2025

Naval Institute Press

Browse more bestselling
Editors' picks

You Must Take Part in Revolution

Badiucao, Melissa Chan

March 4, 2025

Street Noise Books

The Milk Tea Allianace

Jeffrey Wasserstrom

June 10, 2025

Columbia Global Reports

Breaking the Engagement

David Shambaugh

June 12, 2025

Oxford University Press

Religion, Secularism, and Love as a Political Discourse in Modern China

Ting Guo

February 13, 2025

Amsterdam University Press

Transplants

Daniel Tam-Claiborne

May 13, 2025

Regalo Press

Browse more picks

From the Archive

Hongbin Li: How the Gaokao Shapes China

The U.S.-based academic discusses why China’s college entrance exam system retains popular support despite its hardships, and how the gaokao’s influence can spread overseas.

How the iPhone was Made in China

When the iPhone launched in 2007, Apple's supply chain in China was still nascent. Yet as the product took off, China profited from the creation of its own advanced electronics industry.

No Country for a Woman

Women in China have suffered abuse, silencing and erasure — despite the Communist Party’s slogans about women’s liberation. Two novels by the Wuhan writer Fang Fang show how gendered oppression persists throughout political change.

Ep. 25: Timothy Thurston on Tibetan Satire

Tibetans inside China have found various ways to push back against Beijing and voice their dissatisfaction. A lesser-known form of subtle resistance is the art of “zurza,” or satirical repartee.

Wanted: Pandas, Dead or Alive

In 1928, the eldest two sons of President Theodore Roosevelt set out to capture or kill a giant panda. Their hunting trip accidentally contributed to the cause of wildlife conservation.

What China's Listening To

We picked five albums that China’s Gen Z are listening to while lying flat, working, involuting, “running” abroad and pushing the envelope.

What Happened to "Engagement" with China?

Since 1972, the U.S. has hoped that engaging with China would benefit both nations. That dream has burst. A new book performs an autopsy on engagement policy — but is it really dead?

Dan Wang on Engineers vs. Lawyers

The technology analyst discusses his new book "Breakneck," explaining what America's lawyerly society could learn from China's quest to engineer the future.

The Storytelling Robot

A science fiction story by Fei Dao, translated by Alec Ash — plus a Q&A with the author on the importance of Chinese sci-fi.

David Moser on Performing Comedy in China

The sinologist talks about moving to China in 1989, his first appearance on the Spring Festival Gala in 1999, and learning xiangsheng from the masters.

Empire of Engineers

China has been a nation of engineers, from imperial to communist rule. America’s lawyerly society could learn something from that — but civil and social engineering come at a human cost.

Sima Qian: Records of the Grand Historian

History is supposedly written by the victors. Sima Qian, author of China's original historical classic, showed it could also be written by the condemned.

From the Archive

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