Intermediate Reading Practice

A summary of this summer’s popular classic, The Odyssey.

Ever bluffed your way into a job you couldn’t actually do? Well, meet Mr. Nanguo, who faked playing an instrument for ye Idioms

The phrase we’ll learn today is used to describe a situation when someone tries so hard to hide or deny something that t Idioms

This idiom, which means “to make an example of someone,” comes up a lot in conversations about power, politics, and the Idioms

A plant that eats bugs and can count to two? Sounds like science fiction, right? Meet the Venus flytrap, a tiny green hu Academic / Science

Prayer, patience, and a clever workaround for fasting season gave birth to some of the world’s finest beer. This piece o Academic / Science

Ever wonder who we should thank for those late-night reheated leftovers? Believe it or not, the microwave oven was born Academic / Science

Meet Cao Cao, Chinese history’s ultimate bad guy – but was he really as bad as his reputation makes him out to be? Biography

Today’s post is a very short Tang Dynasty poem written by Wang Wei (王维, c. 701–761), also known as Mojie. During his lif Poems and Songs

What would you do if everything you drew came to life? Meet Ma Liang, a poor orphan boy with big dreams and zero art sup Children's Stories

Today’s post summarizes The Chicken Feather Letter, a classic Communist children’s novel written in July 1945, while he Politics & Communism

If you want to read Chinese ghost stories and tomb raiding novels like Gui Chui Deng, you’ll have to learn the tomb-raid Academic / Science

Think Columbus was the ultimate explorer? Well, a Chinese admiral beat him to the high seas by nearly a century – and he Academic / Science

Ever told someone their cooking was ‘delicious’ when it really wasn’t? Congratulations, you’re a liar – but maybe that’s Essays

In this non-fiction essay, we learn why dinosaurs disappeared from the earth. Academic / Science

Isn’t it weird that most cultures have an ancient flood myth? China actually has a couple of them, but this one is the m Myths & Fables

This is the story of Xu Wei, the tragic genius who has been likened to China’s Van Gogh. Biography

This is the fable that sits at the heart of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival – sort of like how the story of Santa sits a Myths & Fables

This is one of several famous fables about military strategist Zhuge Liang, a real historical figure who has become lege Myths & Fables

Ever caught yourself daydreaming about what you’d do with a million bucks? You’re definitely not alone. This text follow Essays

Today, we’re reading the first chapter of a beloved 1958 children’s novel by 张天翼 (Zhāng Tiānyì), “The Secret of the Magi Children's Stories Novels

In this passage, we get to read a retelling of one of China’s most beloved myths. Myths & Fables

In ancient China, where men held all the power, one remarkable woman didn’t just break the glass ceiling – she shattered Biography

This Chinese fable tells the tale of an impatient farmer who learned the hard way that some things just can’t be rushed. Idioms

This very famous story of star-crossed lovers is the tale behind the Chinese Qixi Festival, sometimes called Chinese Val Myths & Fables

In Chinese, the idiom “买椟还珠” is used to describe a situation when someone gets distracted by frivolities that don’t matt Idioms

This story embodies old-school Asian views on filial piety (孝顺), or the virtue of honoring one’s parents. The story focu Children's Stories

Ever met someone who thinks their tiny bubble is the entire universe? Well, meet a little frog who’s absolutely convince Idioms

This famous herdsman’s folksong is one of my favorite Chinese poems ever. It originates in the Northern Dynasties, nearl Poems and Songs

Ever get really worked up over something, only to realize it was all in your head? Idioms

Get ready for some serious wanderlust vibes. This song, released by Taiwanese singer Chyi Yu (Qiyu) in 1979, captures th Poems and Songs

Would you let a beautiful stranger move into your home after meeting them once on a dark night? Yeah, probably not the b Myths & Fables

This lesson is kind of cool – and highly experimental. I took a very complicated and advanced article from Chinese media News

A quick history of the Silk Road. Academic / Science

Two ants tackle the same problem, but one does it recklessly, while the other exercises patience. Who do you think succe Myths & Fables

Ain’t no such thing as free lunch! This well-known Chinese fable is a sharp warning against laziness and wishful thinkin Idioms

In this short fable, we find out that the biggest is not always the strongest. Myths & Fables

The moral of this short story, of course, is that faith burns more brightly the more people share it with each other. Myths & Fables

An elder monk gives a younger monk a quick lesson in following the spirit of the law, rather than the letter of the law. Myths & Fables

A tragic, dreamlike little essay from writer Zhang Ailing (张爱玲, English name Eileen Chang) about love and destiny. This Essays

In this HSK 3-4 story, a crafty fox (狐狸 hú li) escapes being eaten by playing a cunning trick on a mighty tiger (老虎 lǎo Idioms

Our last Communist-themed post for the week: a classic revolutionary-era story about the man himself, Chairman Mao. HSK Politics & Communism

It’s Communism Week at CRP! I’m kicking off with some classic stories about the good deeds of Communist folk hero Lei Fe Biography Politics & Communism

You can skip your Instagram yoga gratitude break today, here’s another one from Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan Essays

This is the legend that underpins the idiom “画龙点睛”, which typically describes the use of a couple of perfectly-chosen wo Idioms

Taiwanese Buddhist essayist Lin Qingxuan marvels at the wonders of nature, time, space, and reincarnation. This piece is Essays

A devout Christian explains the benefits of charitable giving to his neighbors. A short, 7-sentence read, but a little d Myths & Fables

In the first of a two-part post, we’ll look at a letter sent in 1987 from a group of elementary school students to the a Essays

A very sweet story about an old tree who sacrifices himself for the animals of the forest. Children's Stories

This one’s pretty cool, guys. Today, we’re going to take look at a short text that’s almost 2000 years old. This passage Idioms Myths & Fables

Feels like it’s been a hundred years since I threw something up here. Rest assured I carry the shame of an un-updated bl Children's Stories

Hey hey, lookie here, an excellent guest post submitted by native Chinese speaker Yang from Learn Mandarin Now. This sto Idioms

Happy Year of the Sheep! Couple of days ago, I stumbled across the Book “The Last Yin Yang Master”, aka “The Last Onmyoj Novels

Story behind the Chinese idiom 专心致志 zhuān xīn zhì zhì, which means “to do something with single-minded devotion”. Idioms

Hey, whaddaya know! A guest post. Been a while since we got one of these. Many thanks to Ryan, who submitted recently. R Academic / Science

This kid was asked to imagine the perfect desk-chair of the future – what it would look like, and what it would do – and Essays

Little Bear is sad to know his dream was just a dream… or was it? Children's Stories

Welp, I swore I would never do this again but I found this (and several other short stories) in Hainan Airlines’ in-flig Myths & Fables

Though the conclusion of this essay might fall a bit flat for all of us who are very used to having a telephone, this is Essays

In this essay, a child desperately (and very angrily) pleads their father not to smoke. Though this is classified as “In Essays

Well well well, lookie here. A guest post! Today we’ll be reading Rebecca Chua’s (Chinese name: 蔡幸彤) translation of an e Essays

You know the kind of person who loses something and immediately declares it was stolen? Yeah, that. Idioms

I set out to do a beginner post since I haven’t done one in a while, but no joy, I think I have to classify this as inte Essays

Here we’ll cover the back story behind the idiom “夜郎自大”, or “Yelang thinks highly of itself”. This idiom one refers to s Idioms

A cool introduction to one of the lesser-known deities, Shen Nong 神农 shén nóng, the God of Agriculture (and later called Myths & Fables

Seeing as how I just got back from a trip to the Wall myself, I figured I’d stay on that theme. This traditional and ver Myths & Fables

This is probably the longest text I’ve ever posted. The first few sentences are much more intermediate as we learn new v Myths & Fables

This is the backstory behind the Chinese idiom 鹬蚌相争 yù bàng xiāng zhēng, which translates to “The Sandpiper and the Clam Idioms

While we’re busy prepping for our holiday season, I figured I’d post something about a Chinese holiday. This is a cultur Essays

This short tale addresses the background story behind the Chinese idiom 一暴十寒, which literally translates to “One day of Idioms

Just in case you were wondering, below is a short intermediate essay on How to Make Friends. Essays

This is definitely my favorite find so far, as it falls solidly within my favorite Chinese story genre with my favorite Biography

This short story is about a magic pencil – whatever it draws comes to life. This story features beginner sentence struct Children's Stories

This not-too-dirty-but-not-really-clean joke comes from a great blog on the Sina blog network, the Chinese equivalent of Jokes

If you’re in need of a fable that demonstrates the dangers of kissing ass, you’re in luck. Myths & Fables

Huh, learn something new every day. My entire understanding of the postal service comes from Terry Pratchett’s “Going Po Academic / Science

This one-page lower-intermediate essay covers the biography of BingXin, a famous authoress from the early 1900’s. The es Biography

As vaguely sordid fables go, this one’s fairly tame, resulting only in some humiliatory retribution and a lost tail or t Myths & Fables