Readings

Original stories and articles written for each level of the course. Tap any word to hear it and see what it means, and turn pinyin on or off.

Foundations

A student's quiet Saturday at home in Beijing: books, tea, noodles with his mother and a film with a friend.

Teacher Zhang takes her daughter out for Chinese food on a Friday, and the dumplings disappear fast.

Xiao Lin always flew home to Shanghai, until a friend talked him into trying the train.

A big brother doesn't know what to give his little sister, so he asks their mother.

Chen Jing leaves her wallet in a taxi on a Friday night, and the next morning her phone rings.

Moving out of the dorm turns out harder than expected, mostly because of a cat called Doudou.

Lao Zhou has delivered takeaway for three years. He knows every jammed road, and one kind old woman.

Every year hundreds of millions of people travel home for New Year. Why, and what's changing.

Explainer

An opinion piece on working from home: what it saves, what it costs, and why the answer is about management.

Opinion

A second-hand bookshop behind the university, its silent owner, and the last day before it closes.

An essay on speed and slowness, from Confucius and Tao Yuanming to express delivery.

Essay

Han Feizi's farmer and his lucky tree stump, moved to the age of viral videos.