So, you want to learn more about the history, politics, and culture of China and you’re looking to read some books about China in order to do that. Do you pick up a novel by a Chinese author or search for a Chinese memoir? I suspect most English-language readers would go for fiction. It’s so …
China
My birthday wish this year was simple: to escape the suffocating crowds of Shanghai and bask in the fresh air, blue skies and wide-open spaces of the Chinese countryside. Fortunately for me, my birthday wish came true. “Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with …
Suzhou is one of China’s most friendly, explorable, and unique cities. It blends classical streets and architecture with the excited hustle and bustle of modern Chinese life. Suzhou is also a stone’s throw from Shanghai and, if you happen to be based in Shanghai for a few days or a few years, it’s quick and …
China is a wonderful place to live and work for so many reasons: its extensive cuisine, deep and alluring history, fascinating language, thriving economy, unparalleled natural beauty – the list goes on and on. It’s also a difficult place to live, politically speaking, but that shouldn’t necessarily stop you from moving there. Is living and …
Here is a very rare kind of book that has such a weight of cultural importance that, even if it were bad (which it absolutely is not) it would still be worth buying and reading. Fortunately, beyond just being important, it’s also spectacular. Broken Stars is valuable in the scope of Chinese genre fiction. Literature …
When it was first announced that the epic book series Legends of the Condor Heroes known as the ‘Chinese Lord of the Rings’ was to be translated for the first time into English, I waited with bated breath for the first book to be released, translated by the impeccably talented Anna Holmwood. The book was …
Translated from the Chinese by Carlos Rojas Yan Lianke is not beloved by his own government. Like all great artists, he has the skill and the confidence to hold up a mirror to the face of his society. This face doesn’t like what it sees, and so it hides the mirror as best in can …
The subject of history is one that concerns politics, economics, and philosophy. Lessons from the past teach us how to proceed into the future. And yet, for so long, books on history have been simply that. Recently, however, a trend has emerged amongst historians: experts in world events of the past have taken to writing …
Pixar’s first female-directed short film, Bao, hit cinemas recently, tugging at the heartstrings of viewers worldwide before Incredibles II started to play. The latest in Pixar’s now famous shorts has quickly become a favourite for many, especially among those whom it spoke to the loudest: Asian immigrants to the West. But it should speak to …
Shanghai is a metropolis where old Chinese traditions meet futurism and modern technology. It has some of the best restaurants on Earth and a host of incredible museums, galleries, and hidden cultural secrets to discover. If you’ve got 48 hours in Shanghai, you can see so much of the city and discover the full beauty …