{"id":182752,"date":"2014-04-24T02:53:27","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T06:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/chinese-readers\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T07:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T11:00:01","slug":"chinese-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/chinese\/chinese-readers\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Chinese Graded Readers for Improving Your Mandarin"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve learned Chinese for a while, you\u2019ll know that it’s important to read Chinese stories<\/a> to speed up the process. With that in mind, there are interesting Chinese readers that can guide you through new Chinese words and sentence structures.<\/p>\n

I’ve come up with 10 of the most reliable Chinese graded readers <\/strong>here. This list covers both graded reader books and apps, with options for all levels.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

Classic Chinese Graded Reader Books\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Chinese graded reader books give you a very immersive reading experience, and they usually come in a series too so you can steadily improve as you make your way through each book. These tried-and-tested graded reader books come with different themes, from folklore to modern mystery:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best for Beginners: Mandarin Companion<\/a>\"mandarin<\/h3>\n

Level:<\/strong> Beginner to low intermediate<\/p>\n

The Mandarin Companion series is a series of readers that consists of lots of stories. There are lots of great features within the series, like definition annotations \u00a0for select words, and some fantastic artwork to help visualize the story.<\/p>\n

However, what really stands out is that it\u2019s beginner-friendly because it chooses simplified, translated versions of popular stories or characters. It has carefully chosen titles like “Sherlock Holmes and the Scandal in Shanghai,”<\/a>\u00a0“The Secret Garden”<\/a> and “The Prince and the Pauper.”<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, these stories are adapted to fit<\/em> Chinese culture\u2014for example, Sherlock is named \u9ad8\u660e (g\u0101o m\u00edng), and the setting is in Shanghai instead of London.<\/p>\n

Best of all, they’re centered around a certain set of vocabulary. Some books are written with only 400 words in mind, which is accessible for beginners.<\/p>\n

Best for Lower Intermediate: Chinese Breeze<\/a>\"chinese<\/h3>\n

Level:<\/strong> Beginner to intermediate<\/p>\n

Chinese Breeze is another popular series of Chinese readers among Chinese learners.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it presents Chinese stories in a similar manner to Mandarin Companion, the style of the stories is a little different. The Mandarin Companion series is more geared towards classic fiction, but the Chinese Breeze series is more varied in genre, with titles such as “Whom Do You Like More?”,<\/a> “Secrets of a Computer Company”<\/a> and “Green Phoenix.”<\/a><\/p>\n

In terms of illustrations, the Mandarin Companion series feels more modern and fresh.<\/p>\n

While it doesn’t have expansive grammar explanations like the Mandarin Companion series, it\u2019s still a good series of Chinese readers for beginner or intermediate students.<\/p>\n

Best for Modern Stories: Graded Chinese Reader<\/a>\"Graded<\/a><\/h3>\n

Level:<\/strong> Intermediate to advanced<\/p>\n

The Graded Chinese Reader is similar in presentation to the two series above. However, I\u2019d place its level higher. Most stories are not written specifically for Chinese learners\u2014instead, they are taken from real stories written by contemporary Chinese writers.<\/p>\n

Some example story titles include: “People’s Fish” by Su Tong, “The Beauty of Ice and Snow” by Mo Yan, “Buddha’s Warrior Won’t Change” by Bi Shumin and “White Flower All Over” by Liu Qingbang. As you can see, these have a much heavier Chinese flavor than the first two series.<\/p>\n

Coupled with audio, the Graded Chinese Reader series is great for Chinese learners who really want to challenge themselves with some difficult but guided reading material.<\/p>\n

Best for Chinese Culture:\u00a0 Tales and Traditions<\/a>\"Tales<\/a><\/h3>\n

Level:<\/strong> All levels<\/p>\n

Tales and Traditions is an interesting series because it covers all levels but its stories are very much centered on Chinese culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a matter of fact, a lot of these stories are actually stories that explain the origin of chengyu (Chinese idioms)<\/a>, sayings and mystical tales like \u676f\u5f13\u86c7\u5f71 (mistaking the reflection of a bow for a snake), \u671d\u4e09\u66ae\u56db (three in the morning and four in the evening), \u4e09\u4eba\u884c\u5fc5\u6709\u6211\u5e08 (one out of every three must be my mentor), \u76d8\u53e4\u5f00\u5929\u5730 (Pangu creates the Universe).<\/p>\n

It’s recommended for Chinese learners who aren\u2019t only interested in learning new Chinese words but also about Chinese culture.<\/p>\n

Best Full-Length Story: The Lady in the Painting<\/a>\"The<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Level:<\/strong> Beginner<\/p>\n

The Lady in the Painting is an entire story all on its own\u2014unlike some of the graded readers in this list, where every chapter is a different story. Because the plot is interesting, I thought it\u2019s worth mentioning in this list.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t ruin the story by telling it here, but alongside each chapter, there are glossaries, as well as grammar notes explaining key sentence structures that are introduced with each chapter.<\/p>\n

It’s great for Chinese learners who want a Chinese reader that’s comprised of one complete story.<\/p>\n

Best for Literary Essays: Readings in Chinese Culture<\/a>\"The<\/a><\/h3>\n

Level:<\/strong> Upper intermediate to advanced<\/p>\n

This is a series that’s made up not only of short prose and texts, but also poems. It really puts Chinese learners to the test because it presents material that’s more literary.<\/p>\n

There are several volumes in this series, and some sample chapter titles include: \u4e3a\u4ec0\u4e48\u5c0a\u656c\u8001\u4eba (Why Respect the Elderly?), \u661f\u661f\u7684\u7231\u60c5\u6545(Celestial Love Story) and \u957f\u57ce\u6545\u5bab\u5175\u9a6c\u4fd1 (Great Wall, Imperial Palace, Terracotta Warriors).<\/p>\n

An excellent choice for upper intermediate to advanced learners who really want to challenge their Chinese reading ability with higher-level prose.<\/p>\n

Best Advanced: Capturing Chinese<\/a>\"capturing<\/h3>\n

Level:<\/strong> Advanced<\/p>\n

Out of all the Chinese Readers presented here, this is the most challenging series. Taken from texts written by famous contemporary writer \u9c81\u8fc5 with titles such as \u795d\u798f (Best Wishes), \u963fQ\u6b63\u4f20 (The True Story of Ah Q) and \u5450\u558a (Call to Arms), as well as essays and short stories by revolutionary authors, it presents material on par with prose studied by Chinese high school students.<\/p>\n

Coupled with comprehensive annotations to explain vocabulary and the cultural aspects of these works, the series is excellent for the advanced Chinese learner with ample Chinese reading experience, who wants to further their Chinese proficiency by reading contemporary prose.<\/p>\n

Must-Use Chinese Graded Reader Apps<\/h2>\n

Aside from books, you can try out Chinese graded reader apps, which come with handy features, like pop-up dictionaries and audio. The three apps below are among the best, and they constantly have new content that’ll keep you busy:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Best for Reading News: The Chairman’s Bao<\/a>\"the<\/h3>\n

Level:<\/strong> All levels<\/p>\n

Available on:<\/strong> Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Web<\/a><\/p>\n

The Chairman\u2019s Bao is a Chinese graded reader app that teaches you a lot about modern Chinese culture because its material is based on actual Chinese news clips and articles. As one of the most popular apps for Chinese learners, it has a lot of diverse content, with topics like traditional festivals, the gig economy in China and viral online trends.<\/p>\n

The articles are categorized by HSK level<\/a>, from HSK 1 to 6 (and beyond). Reading a news article on the app is very convenient because of all the digital tools. You can click on any word for a pop-up definition and even listen to a native speaker reading the article out loud, with the speed adjusted depending on your level.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about passive reading, either\u2014each news sample comes with grammar notes plus reading and listening exercises.<\/p>\n

Best for Diverse Learner Material: Du Chinese<\/a>\"du<\/h3>\n

Level:<\/strong> All levels<\/p>\n

Available on:<\/strong> Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a> |\u00a0Web<\/a><\/p>\n

For more diverse materials outside of news articles, Du Chinese is another Chinese graded reader app that has been around for a while. It lets you read and listen to different types of content, and there are more than 2,000 lessons, with several new ones added every week.<\/p>\n

Levels are roughly based on the HSK, with levels from newbie to master. Each article comes with human-spoken audio. Aside from being able to check the meaning of each word with a tap, you can also look at full sentence translations that are actually written by humans. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether you want to read about everyday life or explore Chinese history and literature, you\u2019ll find interesting content here. There are even lesson series that are adapted from popular movies and short stories. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Best for Chinese Webnovels: Readibu<\/a>\"readibu<\/h3>\n

Levels:<\/strong> Upper intermediate and advanced\u00a0<\/p>\n

Available on:<\/strong> Android<\/a> | iOS<\/a><\/p>\n

Readibu makes reading Chinese webnovels way more approachable for learners. The world of Chinese webnovels<\/a> is vast and among the best (and most addictive) reading resources at an advanced level, and you can get started tackling them with Readibu.<\/p>\n

The app sorts webnovels into different categories, like romance, science fiction, mystery, wuxia and mystery, and assigns levels to these. If webnovels sound intimidating, you can always get started with short stories and essays, which are rated at least HSK 4.<\/p>\n

Once you open a webnovel, Readibu lets you tap on any word and access a pop-up dictionary. It can also break down each word into pinyin and read text out loud.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not really limited to webnovels\u2014you can load your own articles or Chinese books into it and get a guided reading experience!<\/p>\n

Our Criteria for Choosing Chinese Readers<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s how I chose the Chinese graded readers above:<\/p>\n