my China experience
About China
From 2014 when I began learning the Chinese language, until I finished my Master’s Degree in 2019, I lived in Beijing. It was a journey into Chinese culture and mega-city living, delicious food and travel opportunities, bureaucratic challenges and the fast pace of change. I hope to share my experiences and recommendations here as a break from my research and an opportunity to express my own thoughts and recommendations on a country that has changed my life.
A basic understanding of China is useful as it becomes a bigger part of the world we live in. If you want to be able to contextualise what is reported in the news or to hold an informed conversation about China, or if you want to go further and have an appreciation of the history and culture while you are travelling or living there, these podcasts are the resources you need.
Podcasts
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The Sinica podcast
- This is a great production hosted by Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn has continued for over a decade. Both host this show with the background and wisdom to easily carry the conversational interviews they have that cover a vast array of topics, from the development of the tobacco industry, the self help industry and international relations. I was first introduced to this program when I was frequenting the Bridge Cafe in WuDaoKou where informative talks were held each month, I was particularly keen to attend this event because Kaiser was was to give a talk after recording an episode with my good friend Assistant Professor Eric Hendricks-Kim. - The China History Podcast
- Another long-running podcast of more than ten years, Laszlo Montgomery narrates tales of the many interesting periods, peoples and characters that China has seen over its long history.
- The Three Kingdoms Podcast and The Water Margin Podcast
- The translated editions do not always tell the full story. John Zhu contextualises and gives an entertaining run in these audiobooks. This is his passion project and you can really feel his entheusism while he retells the English versions of a couple of the most important works of Chinese literature.
- The Little Red Podcast
- A podcast hosted by an Australian academic Graeme Smith and former BBC and NPR journalist Louisa Lim. Very interesting variety of guests including academics and individuals whose lives have been profoundly influenced by their time in P.R.China. Overall, it is a very critical podcast, bordering on negative.
- GuShi FM
- For those with intermediate to advanced Chinese language skills, this is a series of every-day stories recorded by local Chinese, similar to This American Life, but with less curation and input from the host AiZhi, the frequency of episodes means there will be something for everyone.
Literature Resources
The first book I read in Chinese was 《活着》by the author 余华, his writing style is easy to pick up for beginners, I started reading this book 4 months into my Chinese language studies. The language is easy to pick up and story is engaging, helping someone new to the Chinese language stay motivated and learn new words and language patterns outside of the classroom.
Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise,
Scott Rozelle, Natalie Hell
University of Chicago Press, 29 Sept 2020