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China Books Review

@chinabooksreview.com
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A digital magazine on all things China and bookish, publishing reviews, essays, excerpts, lists and more. Organizer of the Baifang Schell China Books Prize chinabooksreview.com

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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 2h
Read Jeremiah Jenne on Shen Fu's "Six Records of a Floating Life": chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/29/s...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 29/09/2026
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 China’s favorite love stories. Read Jeremiah Jenne on Shen Fu's "Six Records of a Floating Life": chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/29/s...
chinabooksreview.com
https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/29/shen-fu/
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 28/09/2026
We've got a stellar line-up of events this fall, from book talks by Jung Chang (Wild Swans) and Emily Feng (Our Hearts Burned for Home) to panel discussions. Click-through to register now, using code CBR15 to save $15 as a China Books Review reader: chinabooksreview.com/events/
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 25/09/2026
Read the excerpt from Orville Schell's new book "Inside China's Secret Prisons": chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/24/i...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 24/09/2026
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, camps like it still exist. Read the excerpt: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/24/i...
chinabooksreview.com
https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/24/inside-the-camps/
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 23/09/2026
See what books from China Na Zhong recommended in her latest "What China's Reading" column: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/22/w...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 22/09/2026
We recommend 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 with its wartime past. Read Na Zhong's latest "What China's Reading" column: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/22/w...
chinabooksreview.com
https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/22/wcr-awards/
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 21/09/2026
Join us for a panel discussion on Oct 15 at Asia Society with Jianying Zha, Li Yuan and Orville Schell, on occasion of the publication of his book "Inside China's Secret Prisons." Use code CBR15 for half-price tickets, as a China Books Review reader: asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
asiasociety.org
China's Psychological Scars: The Personal Consequences of Political Repression
Join Orville Schell, Jianying Zha, and Li Yuan to examines how China's turbulent political history has shaped the way Chinese people understand authority, each other, and themselves.
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 18/09/2026
Read Hannah Borenstein's review of "Immunity on Trial" and "Made in Ethiopia": chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/17/a...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 17/09/2026
Beijing is investing heavily in Ethiopia, helping to run Special Economic Zones similar to China's own. African workers are questioning whether the costs are worth the development. Read Hannah Borenstein’s review of "Zones of Immunity" and "Made in Ethiopia": chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/17/a...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 16/09/2026
Read the latest My China Bookshelf column, a conversation with literary translator John Minford: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/15/j...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 15/09/2026
The veteran literary translator John Minford tells us how his collection ballooned, why his library is called “Three Dog Hall,” and how New Zealand pine is the best shelving material. Read the latest My China Bookshelf column: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/15/j...
chinabooksreview.com
https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/15/john-minford/
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 14/09/2026
Emily Feng: Uyghurs in Syria Hear NPR correspondent Emily Feng talk about her new book on the untold story of Uyghur exiles who fled China only to become a pivotal force in the Syrian Civil War, moderated by NYT journalist Michael Forsythe. Register now: asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 11/09/2026
Read Jeff Tompkin's profile of the author Bill Porter, better known as "Red Pine": chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/10/r...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 10/09/2026
Over 50 years and 30 books, the American Bill Porter — better known as “Red Pine” — has followed the trails and trials of China’s classical poets and modern hermits. A new documentary tells his own story. Read Jeff Tompkin's profile of the enigmatic author: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/10/r...
chinabooksreview.com
https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/10/red-pine/
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 09/09/2026
Read Jack Hargreaves' latest column of Translated Chinese Literature recommendations: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/08/t...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 08/09/2026
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. Read Jack Hargreaves' latest column: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/08/t...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 02/09/2026
Listen or read along as we discuss food writing with Clarissa Wei, author of Sitting the Month and Made in Taiwan, on the China Books Podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/01/c...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 01/09/2026
Clarissa Wei, author of a new book of postpartum recovery recipes, tells us what to eat while “sitting the month,” and how Taiwanese food is distinct from Chinese cuisine. Listen to the latest episode of the China Books Podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/01/c...
chinabooksreview.com
https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/09/01/clarissa-wei/
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 28/08/2026
Read Yi Liu's Q&A with the anthropologist Li Mingjie about Chinese folk belief: chinabooksreview.com/2026/08/27/w...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 27/08/2026
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 social. Read Yi Liu's Q&A, in our "What China's Thinking" column: chinabooksreview.com/2026/08/27/w...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 21/08/2026
Read Mark Leonard's essay on Chinese intellectual discussions of Pax Sinica: chinabooksreview.com/2026/08/20/p...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 20/08/2026
A New World Order? 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 its place on the world stage? Read Mark Leonard's essay, excerpted from "The Idea of China" chinabooksreview.com/2026/08/20/p...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 14/08/2026
Read our latest New China Books column, featuring five picks from the editors: chinabooksreview.com/2026/08/13/n...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 13/08/2026
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 your list. Read the latest New China Books column from the editors: chinabooksreview.com/2026/08/13/n...
chinabooksreview.com
https://chinabooksreview.com/2026/08/13/ncb-dog-days/
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 06/08/2026
Join the China Books Review book club this September to discuss "Time Tunnel: Stories and Essays" by Eileen Chang, tr. Karen S. Kingsbury, a collection of previously untranslated stories from Eileen Chang's glistening career. Save your spot by RSVPing now! asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
asiasociety.org
Book Club: Eileen Chang’s Time Tunnel
Join the China Books Review book club this September to discuss Time Tunnel by Eileen Chang, a collection of previously untranslated stories from Eileen's literary career.
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 05/08/2026
Listen to the podcast with Heather Salter on "The Shanghai Agents": buff.ly/AZNxNnC
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 04/08/2026
Spies in Shanghai with Heather Salter The author and historian discusses a dramatic Soviet espionage case in interwar Shanghai that rocked the international community and presaged the Cold War. Listen to the podcast: buff.ly/AZNxNnC
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 31/07/2026
Read Yi Liu's interview with the renowned filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai, the latest installment in the What China's Thinking column: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/30/w...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 30/07/2026
The pioneering filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai discusses the past and future of China’s film industry and what it feels like to be caught between the censors and the market in this latest installment of the What China's Thinking column. Read Yi Liu's interview here: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/30/w...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 24/07/2026
Read the poet Zhang Er's cover essay on reading during the Cultural Revolution: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/23/t...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 23/07/2026
Sixty years after the Cultural Revolution began, a writer looks back to her childhood in Beijing during its peak, and the banned books that sustained her through the tumult. Read Zhang Er's cover essay now: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/23/t...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 20/07/2026
From our friends at NüVoices: Sign up now to the creative writing workshop "Turning Memories into Narratives" with M Lin, a Chinese writer and translator living in the U.S., author of the recent short story collection "The Memory Museum". Sunday, August 9, 10am ET, online. Register: buff.ly/biy2TeV
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 17/07/2026
Read Jeremiah Jenne's review of W. Somerset Maugham's On a Chinese Screen, our latest Archive Pick: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/16/w...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 16/07/2026
A century after it came out, Maugham's travelogue of his trip to China in 1919–20 reveals less about China itself, more about the foreigners who lived there. Read Jeremiah Jenne's latest Archive Pick now: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/16/w...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 07/07/2026
China’s Disappearing Countryside, with Colin Flahive Over the last quarter century, the countryside of southwest China has been transformed. The author of two memoirs reflects on what is lost, and what is gained. Listen to the podcast: buff.ly/9JMsHFr
buff.ly
China’s Disappearing Countryside, with Colin Flahive | China Books Review
Over the last quarter century, the countryside of southwest China has been transformed. The author of two memoirs reflects on what is lost, and what is gained.
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 03/07/2026
Watch the panel discussion on Hong Kong's past, present and future: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/02/h...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 02/07/2026
Six years after Hong Kong's National Security Law went into effect, we convened a panel of authors to discuss what has changed since. Watch the panel discussion, with Xu Xi, Mark Clifford, Anna Kwok and Simon Elegant: buff.ly/TDa5bq2
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 01/07/2026
We made a game! Test your China knowledge by seeing if you can match a book we reviewed with a quote we pulled from it — if you need a hint, read the reviews 😉 Play now: chinabooksreview.com/game/
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 30/06/2026
Our Hong Kong panel is tonight at Asia Society in New York, video to follow on Thu! Heads up: in July and August we switch to our summer publishing schedule, with weekly posts and a new issue every month, then back to biweekly in September. chinabooksreview.com/about/
chinabooksreview.com
About Us | China Books Review
China Books Review is a digital magazine on all things China and bookish. We are a literary review for all general readers interested in China and the Sinophone world, publishing reviews, essays,…
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 26/06/2026
Read Brian Spivey's review-essay on In Search of Green China and the future of Chinese environmentalism: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/25/c...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 24/06/2026
Scroll through Na Zhong's five book picks for her latest "What China's Reading" column, from an LGBTQ short story collection to a reality-TV inspired novel:
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 23/06/2026
Writers tend to bristle at the adage, “Life is stranger than fiction.” In this latest “What China’s Reading” column, we share five Chinese-language titles that find a deeper truth through art. Read Na Zhong's latest column on Chinese-language reads: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/23/w...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 22/06/2026
Panel: Hong Kong’s Past, Present and Future Join us exactly six years after the implementation of Hong Kong's National Security Law, for a panel discussion on how Hong Kong has changed. June 30, 6:30-8pm; Asia Society NYC. Use code CBR15 for $10 off: asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 19/06/2026
Read Nicholas Bequelin's review of Autocracy 2.0 by Jennifer Lind: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/18/p...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 18/06/2026
A new book argues that China’s “smart authoritarianism” enabled innovation and economic growth while keeping draconian control over society and politics. But is it really possible for the two not to contradict? Read Nicholas Bequelin's review of Autocracy 2.0: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/18/p...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 17/06/2026
A selection of photos from the 2026 Baifang Schell Book Prize, rewarding outstanding books on or from China and the Sinophone world – organized by @chinabksreview, hosted by @asiasociety. Watch the video: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/16/c...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 16/06/2026
Awards Ceremony for the 2026 Winners Journalist Barbara Demick and translator Michael Berry talk about their winning books "Daughters of the Bamboo Grove" and "The Running Flame," at our prize ceremony. Watch the video, see the pics: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/16/c...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 15/06/2026
Our May bestsellers are out! Fantasy epic "The Poet Empress" by Shen Tao claims a second month in the top spot, followed by top five staples "Breakneck," "Killed to Order" and "Cod Red," as well as "Defending Taiwan." Read on for the full list of 15: chinabooksreview.com/bestselling-...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 12/06/2026
Read Liuyu Ivy Chen's review of two new books on China and the Mediterranean: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/11/t...
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