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Stranger Than Life
We recommend five Chinese-language books that draw on real-life experiences, from an LGBTQ short story collection to a reality-TV inspired novel.
China’s Workers’ Literature Revival
Once a socialist genre beloved of Mao, laborers’ or “battler” literature has seen a revival in the era of the gig economy. Two new books...
Xu Zhiyuan on Chinese Intellectuals
A journalist, author, bookstore owner and vlogger talks about the legacy of Liang Qichao, the changing nature of China’s intellectual scene, and whether studying history...
Xiang Biao on a Society at the Edge
An anthropologist with a wide youth following and a knack for popularizing academic terms explains how China’s stratified society led to social malaise amid economic...
A Chinese Intellectual in Oxford
In the 1930s Chiang Yee, a Chinese writer and artist, moved to England. His work, and that of his wartime circle of Chinese literati, deserve...
Liang Hong on Youth Depression in China
An author famous for her observations on China's village life turns her attention to the mental health of its adolescents.
Chinese Comedy with Jesse Appell
The bilingual comedian talks us through the traditional “xiangsheng” form of Chinese comic repartee, and explains whether Beijing can take a joke.
The Runaways
Young Chinese have been moving away from big cities into rust-belt towns with cheap housing and less pressure. A new book asks what they’re running...
A Day in the Life of an Internet Censor
China’s social media boom let its people speak out — but its censorship network silenced them. One of those censors reveals what happens behind the...
How China’s Independent Bookstores Survive
Even as restrictions tighten in Beijing, independent bookstores in Chengdu have flourished — showing how offline community and public debate can thrive. But it’s hard.
Zhang Feng on China’s New Media
The social media blogger explains how censorship works in the era of WeChat, and talks us through a changing media landscape, in our new column...
Jung Chang: A Grande Dame of China Writing
The author of “Wild Swans” and its new sequel made her name by introducing China to readers through personal history — but her later biographies...
