The era of Cheap China is over. How do we know this? Good looking whores are much more expensive than they used to be.
So begins Shaun Rein’s new book The End of Cheap China. It’s a provocative beginning, but feels out of place in a book whose ... Read More
Imagine, author Mara Hvistendahl invites us in the beginning chapters of Unnatural Selection, that the entire population of women in the United States has gone missing. “The country’s malls and supermarkets, its highways and hospitals, its boardrooms and classrooms exclusively filled with men. Imagine the bus or the subway ... Read More
Overseas Asians who have discovered the depths of family roots going back to the motherland will find Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan’s A Tiger in the Kitchen a uniquely appetizing cultural memoir that conveys the feeling of telling tales around the dinner table. This tiger has little to do with Amy ... Read More
Jonathan Fenby’s new book, which he calls a “one-stop account” of China today, has come out just in time to cash in on China’s 2012 leadership transition. At least, that’s what he must be hoping, because like other “one-stop” shopping solutions (Wal-Mart? Carrefour?) the book leaves you ... Read More
Beijing today is often cited as a place changing at unprecedented speed. But, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the 1935 novel The Maker of Heavenly Trousers, which Penguin Books re-released this February, the expat reader will find a multitude of ... Read More
Didn’t get Yu Hua tickets? Never fear--there's still a lot of good events to attend. We’ve compiled a list of the best BLF events you may have missed.
Foreign Concession
Skip a trip to Suzy Wong’s and get a real dose of the sexiness of 1930s ... Read More
You were born in a bustling city, and one day are made to uproot yourself, and your whole family, to begin again in the poverty-stricken countryside. Any amenities you might have become used to, like toilet paper, your new neighbors have never seen or heard of before.
This is the ... Read More
This year, like last year, the dates for the Capital M Literary Festival (Feb. 25-Mar. 4) and the Bookworm International Literary Festival (BLF, Mar. 9-23) almost overlap. Despite this, the two festivals don’t share any authors or put on any events together. Why does Beijing, which has a distinct ... Read More
Yu Hua's China in Ten Words talk has completely sold out at the Bookworm (both events, in fact) and his essay collection has commanded great attention from both literary watchers and government censors alike. We take a closer look at his latest work.
Recounting history often turns the people ... Read More
As China continues to see a mass migration of people from the countryside to bustling urban centers, it makes sense that fiction writers too should focus on the alienation and difficulties of living in an urban jungle. Xuecun Murong’s Leave Me Alone follows the lives of university buddies Chen ... Read More
From February 25 to March 23, Beijing will be awash in words, with not one, but two literary festivals bringing a slew of writers, poets and intellectuals to town—the Capital M Literary Festival (Feb. 25-March 4) and the Bookworm International Literary Festival (BLF) (March 9-23).
Pre-order Festival Tickets for ... Read More
Capital M's elegant interior will be the fitting stage for a engaging literary festival that starts from February 25. While you can show up on the day and hope for a seat, we recommend getting your tickets either by popping into Capital M before the festival or grabbing them ... Read More
Tickets for the Bookworm's 2012 International Literary Festival are now on sale to the general public. Although the festival doesn't kick off until mid-March, popular events tend to sell out quickly--and indeed a few already have. Tickets are available exclusively at the Bookworm from 9am to 9pm. Unfortunately ... Read More
In 1992, General Motors, the largest automobile company in the world, came to China to break into the car market. At the time, the number of cars sold in China was miniscule―less than the total sold in the U.S. state of Michigan. However, GM knew that the sales ... Read More
Level up your knowledge of Chinese cuisine with these six cookbooks covering everything from the Cultural Revolution to the best wines to pair with an Asian-style meal.
The Regional
Rhyme-time brother and sister duo Mary Kate and Nate Tate ate their way through—and blogged—over 9,700 miles of ... Read More
From self-published Internet pieces to short stories in literary journals to novels on store bookshelves, a new chapter of Chinese literature is being written. But rare is the chance to read pieces from contemporary literature’s best-known figures in decent English-language translation. Pathlight: New Chinese Writing is a quarterly journal ... Read More
A scholarly exploration of a conflict which even today rankles British-Chinese diplomatic relations, The Opium War: Drugs, Dreams and the Making of China is an engaging piece of work, where the lead-up to and consequences of the first Opium War are meticulously laid out. Supplementary materials, such as maps of ... Read More
The problem with being a book snob— and, yes, we admit we qualify—is that style matters. Form matters. Cadence matters. Content, yes, but only if the writer knows how to write. In Cecilie Gamst Berg’s travel book, Don’t Joke on the Stairs, all of that is thrown ... Read More
They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but they should also say don’t judge a book by its author. Midnight Walking, a new teen comic-horror novel, is written by a 17-year-old Beijing international high school student. Since the publisher makes this fact part of the book ... Read More
Mastering Wine for the Asian Palate is first and foremost an extremely good introduction to wine. But the author makes her work unique by using it to expand the vocabulary of wine, creating a guide that is more accessible to Asian audiences. Instead of saying a wine tastes like blackcurrants ... Read More
Foodie Mary Kate Tate just published the ultimate Chinese cookbook, Feeding the Dragon. We caught up with her to get the inside scoop on her book and the journey of creating it.
Why did you start this project?
The idea came about 10 years ago, when my brother, Nate, who ... Read More
Well, it looks like Western capitalism will last through the end of the year, after all. But with more malls opening daily to serve Beijing’s fast spenders and speculation of a “double dip” recession on the horizon, real life looks startlingly similar to Chan Koonchung’s vision of the ... Read More
Chinese rock is a divisive issue among expat music lovers. Some land in China, see a live rock show and—shocked that the genre even exists here—place Chinese rock solidly in their musical blind spots, singing the praises of bands and musicians and refusing to hold any of it ... Read More
Canadian author and artist Douglas Coupland may be best known for coining the phrase “Generation X” with his novel “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture,” but since then he has produced an impressive body of work that examines how technology affects human relations and interactions, human sexuality, social trends ... Read More
The latest addition to a growing trend of blogs turned into books gives readers a taste of the humor, horror and affection of having an immigrant parent. The blog My Mom Is a Fob is the brainchild of Californian ABCs Teresa and Selena Wu. The book features all-too-real dialogues involving ... Read More
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Middle 8th: The New Sanlitun Village Location Has Creative Zest
By JPDM
I tried the new Middle 8 location last night. We tried to make a reservation... >>