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China Q & A Centre
Newspapers/agenciesChina's press is not free. Newspapers are constantly bombarded by circulars from the Communist leadership telling them what to cover, what to emphasise and what to leave out. But things have improved since the 1970s. Far more subjects, including non-political topics, are now covered, and newspapers are now allowed to print bad news as well as good news (within set limits). They are a good source for official government policy.China Daily: the first official English-language daily, also has weekly offshoot China Business Weekly covering business stories in more detail and another daily, the Shanghai Star, all in good English. Chinanews: Beijing-based Chinese-language news agency China Youth Daily: Beijing-based Chinese-language daily, toes the official line like other papers but lets its readers decide on staff performance and occasionally digs deeper into real life--and finds more dirt--than other newspapers (according to an excellent BBC TV documentary shown in March 2000) Green Times: Beijing-based Chinese-language environmental newspaper covering green issues and also health and safety at work--more critical and informative than the general run of newspapers in China Guangming Daily: old-established Chinese-language daily newspaper for highly literate people, as it uses a much larger number of Chinese characters than the People's Daily Internet Times: Chinese-language newspaper for Internet professionals People's Daily Online: The official Communist line, in English Wen Hui Bao: Shanghai-based Chinese-language semiofficial daily newspaper Xinhua (New China News Agency): the official Communist Party Chinese-language news agency, also in English, Japanese, French, Spanish and Portuguese Television and radioChina Central Television (CCTV): the main national TV centre in Beijing (also in EnglishTVnet: Chinese-language news and information about television and movies in China Chinese EmbassiesCanada: in both English and Chinese (French Canadians may prefer the France site...)France: in French USA: good all-round source for Chinese foreign policy United Kingdom: also a good source for Chinese foreign policy South Africa: less information than the Washington embassy, but this site does welcome you with the Chinese national anthem State Statistical Bureau of the People's Republic of China: under construction. Warning: this site is often asleep. Politics and Foreign RelationsConstitution of the People's Republic of ChinaThe Cox Report Falun Gong Falun Gong in Li Hongzhi's own words Official announcements banning Falun Gong Human rights China Labour Bulletin Human Rights in China Laogai Research Foundation Taiwan Lee Teng-hui's Deutsche Welle interview China's response to Lee Universal Declaration of Human Rights in languages used in China Chinese ¦ Hmong (Miao) ¦ Korean ¦ Mongolian ¦ Tibetan ¦ Uygur (Uighur) ¦ Uzbek ¦ Yi ¦ Zhuang WTO accession China's WTO Agreement with the USA [15/3/2000] Leadership thinkingMao ZedongSELECTED WORKS, 1926-1971 CCPCC Statement on the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution [16/5/1966] Quotations (Little Red Book) Deng Xiaoping SELECTED WORKS, 1938-1992 Jiang Zemin Report to 15th CCP Congress [12/9/1997] Speech to America China Society [30/10/1997] Speech at Harvard University [1/11/1997] Speech in Hong Kong on 1st anniversary of handover [1/7/1998] PRC 50th Anniversary speech [1/10/1999] Toast to Queen Elizabeth [19/10/1999] |
Search enginesChinasite: over-large classified list--a heroic attempt to include everything, so it may take a long time to find what you want, especially since many of the sites listed are useless or defunctGoyoyo: semi-portal search engine (based now in Chongqing and Hong Kong, as well as in Beijing) in Chinese and English versions. The index is better than the search engine, which doesn't always work. Sohu: Chinese-language semi-portal, but with a search engine that you can use in Chinese or English SurfChina: English-language search engine (that finds what you want, though it may be mixed in with lots of things you were not looking for) plus clean, user-friendly index. Offers slightly out-of-date statistics free. For better data, you have to pay. Visiting ChinaChina Tourism: excellent English-language source for everything from domestic airline schedules to thousands of hotels, bookable online, to area telephone codes to time zones to exchange rates...ChinaNow: see under Portals, next column. National Tourism Administration of China: official site in both Chinese and English China Travel System: English-language guide to 30 cities, with hotels, local attractions and monthly temperature averages Visit China 2000: English-language online tour-booking service Learning ChineseMany reputable universities provide Chinese lessons, but most of these seem to be designed for students of linguistics or students who are already attending classes, so they tend to be incomplete or to contain material that is confusing for the beginner. Please let me know if you find other sites that are as user-friendly as this:Conversational Mandarin Chinese Online: standard introductory language lessons (introductions, family, work, address, time, weather, food) with sound LiteratureSelected Stories of Lu Xun: the complete text, in English, all on one page (takes a minute or so to download). Turn off the TV, turn down the lighting, and read these stories by China's greatest modern writer.The Romance of the Three Kingdoms: the whole novel, chapter by chapter, in English translation, plus reviews, historical background, illustrations, companion reading suggestions, video sales...this site is really comprehensive. America through the spectacles of an oriental diplomat: fascinating book written in 1914 by Wu Tingfang reflecting Chinese perceptions of the American way of life, including manners, education, the status of women, business methods, freedom and equality, clothes, entertainment, sport and, of course, Sino-US relations. |
PortalsChina.com: major English/Chinese language portal based in Hong Kong. Economic content practically nil. OK for horoscopes.ChinaNow: Chinese- and English-language portal covering Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (supersedes Shanghaied.com). Excellent for both expatriate residents and tourists. Enticing sections include "Find hidden restaurants". ChinaOnline: Chicago-based English-language portal: nice, clean site with some good content, but has started to fill pages with official news stories. ChinaPages: Chinese and English language business portal: mostly B2B advertising. News items tend to be adverts for firms like the Ningbo Xinda Screw Compressor Co. Ltd. Inside China Today: neat, comprehensive, updated daily, all in English Muzi: a pleasant online community, in danger of degenerating into a dating site MyWeb: Beijing-based Chinese language portal, originally from San Francisco. As the name suggests, personalised and adaptable to user requirements. Sina: another Beijing-based Chinese language portal, with a user-friendly Yahoo-type menu. Very broad (but not always deep) coverage. Virtual China: New York-based English language portal providing daily coverage of China focusing on the Internet industry, plus some interesting sections on culture and the arts. And don't miss Jennifer Yang's spicy Sichuanese recipes! www.online.sh.cn: Shanghai-based Chinese language portal. Very much a local online illustrated newspaper, only slightly marred by irritating animated .gif adverts. Yahoo!China: needs no introduction, all in Chinese. Economics, business, trade and financeThere are numerous sites in China claiming to provide economic data. Unfortunately, most suffer from terminal defects: they take ages to load, or are defunct, or hopelessly out-of-date, and often contain worthless data or no data at all. Please let me know if you find good sites and I'll include them in this list.ChinaWeb: up-to-date English-language market data and stories, largely but not exclusively, from the South China Morning Post, also in full-form and simplified Chinese The Chinese Finance Association: a surprisingly good and up-to-date source of economic news, all in English--ignore the dull grey background. The excellent newsletter is available on site or you can subscribe to an email version. infobank Chinese-language news portal oriented towards business and economic news. There is an English-language search page, but the results come up in Chinese. Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC): a well-designed site covering foreign trade and investment, with basic statistics and the full text of many laws and regulations. The only government web site worth visiting: most others have no content whatsoever. China Center for Economic Research: based in the prestigious Peking University (Beida), the CCER organises seminars and conferences on the Chinese economy and publishes working papers for PDF download from this site. The director is the prize-winning economist Justin Lin Yifu. |
 Very useful Hong Kong links you just can't do without them |
 A few Macau links there are only a few because Macau is SO small |
 Taiwan page Anti-war articles and some links |
Last updated 11 February 2001.
