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J. G. Ballard’s Dystopian Shanghai
How the English novelist J. G. Ballard’s boyhood in war-torn Shanghai influenced his darkest fiction.
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Shen Fu: Floating Life in a Fallen Realm
A Qing dynasty failson’s memoir of genteel poverty, parties and potting soil was rediscovered in a Suzhou book stall in 1874 and remains one of...
Inside the Camps
In 1991, a CBS investigation into China’s reform-through-labor camps shocked the world, exposing how prison-made goods were being exported to the U.S. Three decades later,...
What China’s Reading: Outside the Awards
Five books from China that deserve more recognition, from an internet novel about the fashion industry to a star reporter’s study of how Germany reckoned...
China’s Industrial Parks in Africa
Beijing is investing heavily in Ethiopia, helping to run Special Economic Zones similar to China's own. But African workers are questioning whether the states of...
John Minford’s China Bookshelf
The veteran literary translator tells us how his collection began, why his library is called “Three Dog Hall,” and that New Zealand pine is the...
Red Pine: Channeling Silent Voices
Over 50 years and 30 books, the American Bill Porter — better known as “Red Pine” — has followed the trails and trials of China’s...
Translated Chinese Literature: Hard Work
We recommend five new books translated from Chinese, spanning workers’ literature and disaffected youth, all the way to alien landscapes, Tibet and Silicon Valley.
Ep. 36: Food Writing with Clarissa Wei
The author of a new book of postpartum recovery recipes tells us what to eat while “sitting the month,” and how Taiwanese food is distinct...
Li Mingjie on Chinese Folk Belief
The academic and author walks us through Chinese folk religion today, from paper gods to ancestor worship, and explains how faith in China is fundamentally...
A New World Disorder?
With Pax Americana crumbling, many countries in the Global South are turning to Pax Sinica as an alternative. So what are Chinese thinkers' vision for...
New China Books: Dog Days of Summer
From the canine history of Hong Kong to a revisionist history of the Great Leap Forward, we recommend five new China books to add to...
