| Books
about/set in China
-
Hong Kong
- Mainland China
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| Hong
Kong |
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The Monkey King
by Timothy Mo A
beautiful depiction of an eccentric Chinese family living
in Hong Kong in the 1950s. Insightful about both place
and people, still relevant today.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Jane, student at JMJ Manchester
Click here to read about JMJ
- the school, the teachers and the director. |
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East and West
by Chris Patten The last governor
of Hong Kong before Britain handed it back to China
discusses the future of the ex-colony, as well as telling
us a bit about how he got on. Lots of intriguing theories
and speculation; a very stimulating book if you're interested
in China and Hong Kong.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Caroline, student at JMJ |
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| Mainland
China |
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Monkey (abridged)
by Cheng'en Wu An ancient Chinese
legend about a Buddhist priest on his way to India to
get some sacred scriptures, accompanied by three strange
creatures: a river monster, a pig and Monkey. On the
face of it, a simple, entertaining story, but with the
added dimension of Buddhism to give it depth.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Journey to the West (unabridged)
by Cheng'en Wu The full story of Monkey and
his friends.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Mary, student at JMJ |
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Three Kingdoms: A Historical
Novel (abridged)
by Guanzhong Luo An epic tale
of the end of the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). A juicy
book, on which the playstation games Dynasty Warriors
are based. Interesting for history and exciting for
the battles.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Matthew, student at JMJ |
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Outlaws of the Marsh Vol 1-4
by Shi Nai'an Historical Chinese
culture in the guise of an adventure novel. It's basically
about the battles between the outlaws and the government,
on an epic scale.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Matthew |
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The Story of the
Stone: a Chinese Novel: Vol 1, The Golden Days
by Xueqin Cao Confucianism, Buddhism
and Taoism all feature in this gentle family drama.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
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The Story of the
Stone: a Chinese Novel: Vol 2, The Crab-flower Club
by Xueqin Cao The story continues.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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The Story of the
Stone: a Chinese Novel: Vol 3, The Warning Voice
by Xueqin Cao And continues.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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The Story of the
Stone: a Chinese Novel: Vol 4, The Debt of Tears
by Xueqin Cao And continues.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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The Story of the
Stone: The Dreamer Wakes
by Xueqin Cao The conclusion
of this masterpiece of Chinese literature. You'll be
sad when you've finished it, after all the months (years?)
you've known these people.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Eleanor, student at JMJ |
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The Analects
by Confucius Time to find out what Confucius
actually said.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Jane |
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Wild Swans: Three
Daughters of China
by Jung Chang The bestselling
true story of three generations of women living through
the turbulent twentieth century in China. I found this
immensely enlightening.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Vicki, student at JMJ |
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Red Dust
by Ma Jian Ma Jian is one of
China's leading contemporary writers. He now lives in
London because his own country became too dangerous
for him but he continues to illuminate China for us
with his writing.
Personally, I found this book quite
raw and the narrator somewhat disconcerting in his attitudes.
But I learnt a lot about Chinese life from this novel
and I'm glad I read it.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Georgie, Director of JMJ |
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Waiting
by Ha Jin A sad little story about duty and
love and repression of the human spirit.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon.
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Recommended by: Georgie |
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The Hundred Secret Senses
by Amy Tan A clever weaving
together of past and present, China and America. An
intense and satisfying book about relationships, identity,
love and hate.
Click here
to buy this now from Amazon. |
Recommended by: Georgie |
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| Inspired to learn
Chinese? If you live in or
near Manchester, you could start a one-to-one
Chinese course with us tomorrow (or whenever you
like).
If you are a complete beginner, you
might like to have a look at our introduction
to the Chinese language.
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