读书 · Read · NihaoLingo

The pale blue glass facade of Changsha South Railway Station, seen from the plaza outside under a bright sky.

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妈妈的纸条

Mom's Note

HSK 4· 4 min read

A wide valley near Turpan filled with rows of grapevines trained over wooden trellises, with dry brown hills in the background.

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小云的葡萄

Xiaoyun's Grapes

HSK 2· 2 min read

Hangzhou's city skyline seen across the calm water of West Lake, with green hills in the background.

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安安的新学校

Annan's New School

HSK 3· 2 min read

Whitewashed old houses with dark tiled roofs line a narrow canal in Zhouzhuang water town, small wooden boats moored along the water's edge.

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盘扣

The Frog Buttons

Native· 5 min read

A red Moleskine diary notebook lying closed on a desk next to a pen.

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乐乐的暑假日记

Lele's Summer Diary

HSK 2· 2 min read

A mother steadies a young child on a bicycle as the child learns to balance and pedal outdoors.

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学骑车

Learning to Ride a Bike

HSK 3· 2 min read

Two triangular slices of red watermelon with black seeds and pale green rind, on a red tray

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小明的西瓜

Xiaoming's Watermelon

HSK 1· 1 min read

A close-up front view of a single sunflower's golden petals surrounding a dark brown seed head.

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阳台上的向日葵

The Sunflower on the Balcony

HSK 4· 4 min read

A small tan and cream terrier walks across a grassy lawn carrying a yellow tennis ball in its mouth, with a red leash trailing behind it.

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小黄的球

Xiaohuang's Ball

HSK 1· 2 min read

A plate of Jiangxi-style duck stewed in beer, dark and glossy with sauce.

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处暑的鸭子

A Duck for the End of Heat

HSK 5· 4 min read

A train curving along a mountain viaduct above a dry river gorge, the kind of terrain the old Chengdu-Kunming line crosses through Sichuan's mountains.

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慢火车上的新书包

A New Backpack on the Slow Train

HSK 2· 3 min read

A neat stack of hardcover school books with blue and white cloth spines on a white surface

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旧挂历，新书皮

An Old Calendar, New Book Covers

HSK 2· 2 min read

A traditional raisin-drying house in Turpan, its upper walls built as a lattice of small square openings in mud brick to let the dry desert wind through.

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晾房的四十天

Forty Days in the Drying House

HSK 3· 3 min read

Neighbors dancing in an open lot at night outside a brightly lit shopfront, with parked cars in the foreground and lit apartment windows above.

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听不见的广场舞

The square dance you can't hear

HSK 4· 4 min read

A wide, empty stretch of ballastless high-speed rail track running straight into the distance under an open sky.

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声音里的裂纹

The Crack in the Sound

Native· 6 min read

A two-storey village school in Yutian County, Hebei: a long blue banner reading 「幸福在我心中幸福在我身边」 runs along the front wall above glazed notice boards, and the concrete yard in front of it is empty.

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没有人听的广播

The broadcast nobody listened to

HSK 3· 4 min read

A large round Qijiepan offering wheel for the Seven Sisters festival, with tiny figures re-enacting the Cowherd and Weaver Girl legend at its centre, flanked by embroidered garments and a red altar table with fruit and incense, in the Hong Kong Museum of History.

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巧云学摆七娘

Qiaoyun Learns to Arrange the Qiniang Display

HSK 5· 6 min read

A bowl of Lanzhou beef noodle soup with thin hand-pulled noodles, sliced beef and cilantro in a clear broth

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小海学拉面

Xiaohai Learns to Pull Noodles

HSK 4· 5 min read

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小猫找妈妈

The kitten looks for its mum

HSK 1· 3 min read

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三个苹果

Three apples

HSK 1· 3 min read

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去学校的车

The bus to school

HSK 1· 3 min read

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下雨天的伞

An umbrella on a rainy day

HSK 2· 4 min read

Lit food stalls lining a night market street in Beijing

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夜市

The night market

HSK 2· 4 min read

The top of the Xi'an city wall, wide enough to cycle along

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在西安的第一天

First day in Xi'an

HSK 3· 5 min read

A page of hand-brushed Chinese characters from a Yuan-dynasty album

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奶奶的信

Grandma's letter

HSK 3· 5 min read