Society Archives | China Books Review

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 prolific social media blogger explains how censorship works in the era of WeChat, and talks us through a changing media landscape, in our new...

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...

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.

No Country for Women

Women in China have suffered abuse, silencing and erasure — despite Communist Party slogans about women's liberation. Two novels by the Chinese writer Fang Fang...

Sex Sells

A book on prostitution in China asks sex workers how they see the industry, the state and themselves.

The Secret Life of Student Democracy

A scholar’s portrait of student volunteer groups in China is inspirational, but are they really planting the seeds of democratic change?

Barbara Demick on the One-Child Policy and International Adoption

The foreign correspondent talks about her new book on child trafficking and the adoption market in China, and the story of twin girls separated at...

How China’s Adoption Market Led to Child Trafficking

In 1991 China allowed foreigners to adopt its children, supposedly abandoned by parents because of the one-child policy. But some had been taken or trafficked...

Books for Uncertain Times

China’s economy is unsteady, its publishing industry facing hard times — yet interesting books continue to come out. Here are five of them, from psychotherapy...

Dancing in Chains

Squeezed by both political and commercial pressures, China’s book publishers face an existential crisis. How can the industry survive, let alone publish anything interesting?

Yan Geling: Crossing the Red Line

The acclaimed novelist and screenwriter built an audience in China for her powerful historical narratives. Then, somewhere, she crossed a line. What is it like...

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Topic: Society