Books

These are books I have read that are either by western authors who know China and who have set their books in China or some ex-pat Chinese who now write in English, or they are books which are written by Chinese authors whose work has been translated into English

Books listed are arranged in alphabetic order by author surname, in the case of Chinese authors, the surname usually comes before the personal name.

FICTION SET IN CHINA

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

Silhouettes of Peking by D. de Martel and L. de Hoyer

The Chinese Alchemist by Lyn Hamilton (crime)

Passing Under Heaven by Justin Hill

A Most Immoral Woman by Linda Jaivin

The Dim Sum of All Things by Kim Wong Keltner

Bad Traffic by Simon Lewis (thriller)

Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li

Excess Baggage by Karen Ma

The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell (crime)

Firemaker by Peter May (crime)

An Insular Possession by Timothy Mo

A Cup of Light by Nicole Mones

The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones

Missee Lee by Arthur Ransome

The Pool of Unease by Catherine Sampson (crime)

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Something Like a House by Sid Smith

The People’s Republic of Desire by Annie Wang

The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang (crime)

Paper Butterfly by Diane Wei Liang (crime)

The Maker of Heavenly Trousers by Daniele Varè

The Dragon’s Tale by Adam Williams

The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai by Ruiyan Xu

 

CHINESE FICTION (translated into English)

Under the Hawthorn Tree by Ai Mi

The Fat Years by Chan Koonchung (thriller)

Balzac & The Little Chinese Seamstress by Da Sijie

The Flowers of War by Geling Yan

The Uninvited by Geling Yan

Village of Stone by Guo Xiaolu

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Guo Xiaolu

Waiting by Ha Jin

The Bridegroom by Ha Jin

Hanging Devils by He Jiahong (crime)

K: The Art of Love by Hong Ying

Rickshaw Boy by Lao She

Empress Orchid by Anchee Min

The Garlic Ballads by Mo Yan

Leave Me Alone – a novel of Chengdu by Murong Xuecun

Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)

Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)

A Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)

A Loyal Character Dancer by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)

Don’t Cry, Tai Lake by Qiu Xiaolong (crime)

Northern Girls by Sheng Keyi

The Boat to Redemption by Su Tong

Madwoman on the Bridge by Su Tong (short stories)

Miss Chopsticks by Xinran Xue

Feathered Serpent by Xu Xiaobin

The Vagrants by Yiyun Li

Brothers by Yu Hua

To Live by Yu Hua

English by Wang Gang

When Playing for Thrills by Wang Shuo

The Civil Servant’s Notebook by Wang Xiaofang

The Ancient Ship by Zhang Wei

Grass Soup by Zhang Xianliang

Shanghai Baby by Zhou Wei Hui

The Picador Book of Contemporary Chinese Fiction

NON FICTION BOOKS – CHINA RELATED

Memoirs:

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Life & Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng

Four Sisters of Hofei by Anping Chin

China to Me by Emily Hahn

River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler

A Chinese Life by Li Kunwu  (Graphic memoir)

Maiden Voyage by Denton Welch

Falling Leaves: the Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline YenMah

Socialism is Great! by Zhang Lijia

The Diary of Ma Yan: the life of a Chinese schoolgirl

 

Biographies: [subject’s name in brackets]

Mao: the unknown story by Jung Chang [Mao Ze Deng]

The Corpse Walker: Real-Life Stories, China from the Bottom Up by Liao Yiwu

Burying the Bones by Hilary Spurling [Pearl S. Buck]

The Soong Dynasty by Sterling Segrave                                                                                      [The three Soong sisters: Ai-ling, Mei-ling & Ching-ling]

Bomb, Book & Compass by Simon Winchester [Joseph Needham] title in the USA: The Man Who Loved China

 

History & Sociology:

The Mummies of Urumchi by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

A Choice of Evils by Meira Chand

Factory Girls by Leslie T.Chang

Two Years in the Forbidden City by Princess Der Ling

Mao’s Great Famine by Frank Dikotter

The Dynasties of China by Bamber Gascoigne

Women at the Siege: Peking 1900 by Susanna Hoe

Foreign Devils on the Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk

What Does China Think? by Mark Leonard

The Corpse Walker by Liao Yiwu

The Opium War by Julia Lovell

The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor

China’s Urban Billion by Tom Miller

The Long March by Sun Shuyun

The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence

Wild West China: The Taming of Xinjiang by Christian Tyler

Life along the Silk Road by Susan Whitfield

Did Marco Polo Go to China? by Frances Wood

The Good Women of China by Xinran Xue

What the Chinese Don’t Eat by Xinran Xue

China Witness: Voices from a Silent Generation by Xinran Xue

 

Chinese Poetry:

Three Hundred Tang Poems –  Everyman Library; translated and edited by Peter Harris

 

Chinese Art & Culture:

Chinese Gods by Jonathan Chamberlain

Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs by C.A.S. Williams

 

Travel: 

Country Driving by Peter Hessler

A Bend in the Yellow River by Justin Hill

From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang & Tibet by Vikram Seth

Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud by Sun Shuyun

Teaching Little Fang by Mark Swallow

Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train through China by Paul Theroux

Behind the Wall: Journey Through China by Colin Thubron

Maiden Voyage by Denton Welch

Slow Boats to China by Gavin Young

Tao te Ching: an Illustrated Journey by Lao Ze

 

Horticulture:

The Chinese Garden by Maggie Keswick

The Garden Plants of China by Peter Valder

 

Food:

Musings of a Chinese Gourmet by F.T.Cheng

A Cook’s Guide to Chinese Vegetables by Martha Dahlen

Chinese Culinary Culture by Du Fuxiang & Li Xiaoqing

Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Peppers: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop

Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China by Jen Lin-Liu

The Food of China by Nina Simonds

 

Sport:

Bamboo Goalposts by Rowan Simons

 

Beijing:

City of Heavenly Tranquillity by Jasper Becker

The Last Days of Old Beijing by Michael Meyer

 

Reference:

State of China (Atlas) by Stephanie Donald