Inspired by an e-mail my dad recently sent out I've been thinking about what news and information sources I read about China on a regular basis. Basically I'm going to list a few publications that will keep you really up to date on China.
- The Wall Street Journal
The Journal does the most reporting on China of any western news source. The only newspapers to write more about China are the Chinese ones and they're not exactly reliable. The Journal does a pretty wide range of stories, though it still has more of a business focus, and has a very good blog as well. They've broken a few really big stories, they had a lot of the best Bo Xilia information.
-The New York Times
The Times doesn't write nearly as many stories about China as the Journal does, but pretty much every story they do write is really excellent. The quality of their China stories in the past year has been so high that I'm really excited every time I see a new one pop up on their website. They had a big story recently on the family money of former Premier Wen Jiabao.
-Sinocism
Sinocism is a newsletter and website, I believe I've mentioned before, that is one guys compilation of the best news and opinion about China from the past day. He gives an amazingly thorough overview of everything written about China. If you read every link in his e-mail you'd know everything happening in China, even just reading his short summaries is great.
-Caixin
Caixin is the best Chinese newspaper and website I've seen. The publish in both English and Chinese, there is more in Chinese but it's pretty good in English too. It's really surprising how critical and direct they can be about China and even the decisions of the government. You do see propaganda puff pieces from time to time, but overall it's very much worth checking out.
-Xinhua
Xinhua is propaganda, literally, it's a creating of the Propaganda and Public Information Departments. That being said it can be good to see what the Chinese governments view on world events is from their perspective. It's also not quite as silly or overblown as People's Daily English version or the incredibly jingoistic Global Times.
-reddit.com/r/china
Reddit's subsection on China stands in here for pretty much any expat forum on China. The information on all of these tends to be a pretty similar discussion of the best from various small expat websites and other interesting things happening in China.
-The Economist
The Economist does a section specifically on China in every issue and tends to cover a lot of stuff related to China in its other sections as well. There writing isn't the best but it does have a lot about China and it's usually a fun read.
-Foreign Affairs/Foreign Policy
Both of these magazines have less about China than The Economist but what they do have is much better. When they do have stories on China they tend to be really interesting stuff that you won't find anywhere else. It's only a pity that they sometimes go a while without any China stories. A special nod here to Foreign Policies blog, I've seen quite a few short but good stories showing up there in the last few months. It's worth keeping an eye on.
-Books
There are so many books worth reading on China I couldn't make a complete list here. Almost everything in the China section of the Kindle store is worth reading. A special note here to River Town, the definitive book on teaching English in China, The Party, the best book on the Chinese government I've ever read, and Prisoner of the State, the amazing first had account of rise and fall of Zhao Ziyang one of China's top leaders in the Deng Xiaoping era. But there are many many more on every conceivable aspect of China. Generally if you are interested the Amazon reviews will set you right.
-CPOL
I wasn't sure if I should include this one here as I've never actually read it. CPOL is an e-mail list created by a UC-Berkeley professor. It has a number of notable academics and government people discussing issues related to China. The problem is that despite having more than a thousand members they don't just let anyone read it. They are incredibly snobby about who they allow on and they don't want the e-mails shared, as if a list with this many people is really secret. If you can get it it would be worth reading it, but I can't really help you there.
Well that about wraps it up. If anyone has anything they really feel I've missed I'd love to hear about it. I'm always looking for new stuff on China.
- The Wall Street Journal
The Journal does the most reporting on China of any western news source. The only newspapers to write more about China are the Chinese ones and they're not exactly reliable. The Journal does a pretty wide range of stories, though it still has more of a business focus, and has a very good blog as well. They've broken a few really big stories, they had a lot of the best Bo Xilia information.
-The New York Times
The Times doesn't write nearly as many stories about China as the Journal does, but pretty much every story they do write is really excellent. The quality of their China stories in the past year has been so high that I'm really excited every time I see a new one pop up on their website. They had a big story recently on the family money of former Premier Wen Jiabao.
-Sinocism
Sinocism is a newsletter and website, I believe I've mentioned before, that is one guys compilation of the best news and opinion about China from the past day. He gives an amazingly thorough overview of everything written about China. If you read every link in his e-mail you'd know everything happening in China, even just reading his short summaries is great.
-Caixin
Caixin is the best Chinese newspaper and website I've seen. The publish in both English and Chinese, there is more in Chinese but it's pretty good in English too. It's really surprising how critical and direct they can be about China and even the decisions of the government. You do see propaganda puff pieces from time to time, but overall it's very much worth checking out.
-Xinhua
Xinhua is propaganda, literally, it's a creating of the Propaganda and Public Information Departments. That being said it can be good to see what the Chinese governments view on world events is from their perspective. It's also not quite as silly or overblown as People's Daily English version or the incredibly jingoistic Global Times.
-reddit.com/r/china
Reddit's subsection on China stands in here for pretty much any expat forum on China. The information on all of these tends to be a pretty similar discussion of the best from various small expat websites and other interesting things happening in China.
-The Economist
The Economist does a section specifically on China in every issue and tends to cover a lot of stuff related to China in its other sections as well. There writing isn't the best but it does have a lot about China and it's usually a fun read.
-Foreign Affairs/Foreign Policy
Both of these magazines have less about China than The Economist but what they do have is much better. When they do have stories on China they tend to be really interesting stuff that you won't find anywhere else. It's only a pity that they sometimes go a while without any China stories. A special nod here to Foreign Policies blog, I've seen quite a few short but good stories showing up there in the last few months. It's worth keeping an eye on.
-Books
There are so many books worth reading on China I couldn't make a complete list here. Almost everything in the China section of the Kindle store is worth reading. A special note here to River Town, the definitive book on teaching English in China, The Party, the best book on the Chinese government I've ever read, and Prisoner of the State, the amazing first had account of rise and fall of Zhao Ziyang one of China's top leaders in the Deng Xiaoping era. But there are many many more on every conceivable aspect of China. Generally if you are interested the Amazon reviews will set you right.
-CPOL
I wasn't sure if I should include this one here as I've never actually read it. CPOL is an e-mail list created by a UC-Berkeley professor. It has a number of notable academics and government people discussing issues related to China. The problem is that despite having more than a thousand members they don't just let anyone read it. They are incredibly snobby about who they allow on and they don't want the e-mails shared, as if a list with this many people is really secret. If you can get it it would be worth reading it, but I can't really help you there.
Well that about wraps it up. If anyone has anything they really feel I've missed I'd love to hear about it. I'm always looking for new stuff on China.
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