This page lists our editors’ picks of new China books, defined as any English-language book on or from China that was published in the last year, and which we see as having special value that adds to the conversation. We update this list on a quarterly basis. If you believe we have missed a book that might make this list, please check first if it is included on our list of recent China books. Please note that editorial selections are not intended as an authoritative judgment, merely as recommendations of titles that readers may enjoy. Blurbs by Taili Ni, adapted from publisher copy.
Nonfiction
Party of One
The Rise of Xi Jinping and China's Superpower Future
Chun Han Wong
A journalistic work that narrates and analyzes the rise of Xi Jinping and China's superpower future.
Buy
Beijing Rules
How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World
Bethany Allen
Nonfiction revealing the ways in which China has strategically wielded its economic power to assert dominance on the global stage.
Buy
The Peking Express
The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China
James Zimmerman
A true story that follows a group of bandits who stole a train, shocked the West, and disrupted the Republic of China.
Buy
Invitation to a Banquet
The Story of Chinese Food
Fuchsia Dunlop
An exploration of the history, cultural significance and irresistible flavors that define Chinese cuisine, by a chef trained in Sichuan province.
BuyFiction
Bearing Word
Liu Liangcheng (tr. Jeremy Tiang)
A novel that explores the power of sound and the many languages scattered across the vast expanse of the Gobi Desert
Buy
The Age of Goodbyes
Li Zi Shu (tr. YZ Chin)
A novel that crafts three storylines bound together by women, literature and society in the aftermath of Malaysia's 1969 race riots
Buy
The Book of Beijing
Ed. Bingbing Shi
A collection of short stories that capture the essence of Beijing, from counterfeits to security officers.
BuyChinese titles
Feminism From Zero
从零开始的女性主义
Chizuko Ueno & Eiko Tabusa (tr. Lu Lingzhi)
A series of conversations inviting readers to reflect on gender expectations in East Asian societies
Buy
Working Class History: Everyday Acts of Resistance & Rebellion
每日工人阶级史
Ed. Working Class History (Tr. 51 Personae)
A selection of people’s history through hundreds of “on this day in history” anniversaries that are as diverse and international as the working class itself
Buy
Delivering Packages in Beijing
我在北京送快递
Hu Anyan
An autobiographical essay collection examining the lives of blue-collar workers in China
Buy
White Portraits
白色画像
Lai Xiangyin
A novel following three individuals living through the White Terror period in Taiwan
BuyMemoir/biography
I Have No Enemies
The Life and Legacy of Liu Xiaobo
Perry Link, Wu Dazhi
A biography that delves into the remarkable life and enduring legacy of Liu Xiaobo, providing profound insights into his contributions and the struggles he faced
Buy
Chinese Dreams in Romantic England
The Life and Times of Thomas Manning
Edward Weech
A biography that details the extraordinary life of an Englishman who traversed Eurasia to study Chinese language and culture at the turn of the 19th century
Buy
Waiting to Be Arrested at Night
A Uyghur Poet's Memoir of China's Genocide
Tahir Hamut Izgil
A memoir providing a firsthand account of the Uyghur community's suffering and persecution in China.
Buy
The Dean of Shandong
Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University
Daniel A. Bell
A personal account of Chinese academia and what it reveals about China’s political system
BuyAcademic
The Rise and Fall of the EAST
How Exams, Autocracy, Stability, and Technology Brought China Success, and Why They Might Lead to Its Decline
Yasheng Huang
A history of China’s relationship between stability, diversity and prosperity, and how its current leadership threatens this delicate balance.
Buy
Life and Afterlife in Ancient China
Jessica Rawson
A history of ancient China told through the prism of a dozen extraordinary tombs
Buy
An Ecological History of Modern China
Stevan Harrell
An exploration of China's ecological changes throughout its modernization process, shedding light on the environmental challenges and their impacts
Buy
At the Frontier of God’s Empire
A Missionary Odyssey in Modern China
Ji Li
A recounting of the missionary journey in modern China, examining Chinese people at social and cultural margins
Buy
Scents of China
A Modern History of Smell
Xuelei Huang
An exploration of the olfactory dimensions of modern Chinese history, delving into the smells that permeated Chinese life from the high Qing to the Mao era
Buy