The Monkeywalk Global Network

China: An Introduction

As you are no doubt aware, there’s a lot of great information on the net about China. The resources listed below just happen to be our favorites.If you haven’t seen any of these, they really are worth a look. (This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather recommendations based on our own experiences and interests.)

China Facts and Figures

CIA World Factbook: China

Great source of general information on China’s geography, people, government, economy, a regional map, and more. The CIA also publishes a list of China’s chiefs of state.

Interactive China Maps

A service of the South China Morning Post (a Hong Kong newspaper), this page provides nice interactive maps of China’s provinces.

Chinese History and Culture

Library of Congress country study of China

For the real history buffs out there. This work was completed in the late 1980’s and does not contain anything on recent developments.

Common Knowledge about Chinese History, Common Knowledge about Chinese Geography, and Common Knowledge about Chinese Culture

This set of three books is a great source of general knowledge. They are easy to read and contain both Chinese and English text, as well as numerous color illustrations throughout. (Several illustrations on each page is typical.) The content is fairly modern, as these books were published in 2001.

Chinatown Online Culture Menu

Introductory information on Chinese legends, customs, festivals, music, and more.

News From and About China

China Daily

Daily English language newspaper published in China. You’ll see this paper a lot while in China. The print version is very small (16 pages or so) compared with American newspapers.

China Today

Monthly magazine devoted to Chinese society, business, and culture.
Great photography and interesting articles.

Shopping

ChinaSprout

Caters specifically to adoptive parents of Chinese children. Our favorite shopping site.

Cheng & Tsui

Asian language learning resources, including books, tapes, and games