Listen to the podcast with Heather Salter on "The Shanghai Agents": buff.ly/AZNxNnC

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

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...

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...

Read the poet Zhang Er's cover essay on reading during the Cultural Revolution: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/23/t...

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...

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

Read Jeremiah Jenne's review of W. Somerset Maugham's On a Chinese Screen, our latest Archive Pick: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/16/w...

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...

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

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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Watch the panel discussion on Hong Kong's past, present and future: chinabooksreview.com/2026/07/02/h...

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

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/

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/

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,…

chinabooksreview.com

Read Brian Spivey's review-essay on In Search of Green China and the future of Chinese environmentalism: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/25/c...

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:

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...

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...

Read Nicholas Bequelin's review of Autocracy 2.0 by Jennifer Lind: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/18/p...

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...

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...

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...

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-...

Read Liuyu Ivy Chen's review of two new books on China and the Mediterranean: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/11/t...

The Middle Kingdom and the Middle Sea have had contact for millennia. Two books explore how China has viewed the Mediterranean, and the state of the relationship today. Read Liuyu Ivy Chen's review of two new books that explore China and the Mediterranean:

Watch Frank Dikötter talk about "Red Dawn Over China" in a CBR event at Asia Society: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/09/t...

Frank Dikötter on the Rise of the Party The historian talks about the early days of the Chinese Communist Party, and how they prevailed in 1949, in a China Books Review book talk at Asia Society. Watch the video of our book talk at Asia Society: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/09/t...

Panel: Hong Kong’s Past, Present and Future June 30, 6:30-8pm; Asia Society NYC. Register your seat now, use code CBR15 for $10 off as a China Books Review reader! asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...

Read Yangyang Cheng's review-essay on Tiananmen in fiction: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/04/t...

After 37 years, the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown of 1989 have been preserved in novels as much as in memory. But does the Anglophone literary imagination get it right? Read @yangyangcheng.bsky.social's review-essay on Tiananmen in fiction: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/04/t...