These two jokes prove that bad news has a way of getting worse.
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Joke: 成功的秘密 – The Secret of Success
Ever wonder what the secret to success really is? A curious student keeps digging for answers, but the teacher’s answer wasn’t what he was expecting.
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Fable: 叶公好龙 – Lord Ye Loves Dragons
In this classic short story, it turns out Lord Ye (叶公) doesn’t like dragons as much as he thinks he does.
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Famous story: 《故乡》- Hometown by Lu Xun
If you’ve ever returned home after many years of absence to find that you had changed and grown, while everyone else had stagnated, this famous short story by Lu Xun, one of China’s greatest all-time writers, is for you.
Prayer, patience, and a clever workaround for fasting season gave birth to some of the world’s finest beer. This piece of non-fiction describes how and why the monks of medieval Europe were so fond of brewing.
Ever wondered if expensive wine actually tastes better? In this short story, Li Ming puts it to the test with a simple taste comparison.
Ever cleaned your whole house before the cleaner shows up? Yeah, that’s a thing. This post has every word you ever wanted to know about doing chores.
Today’s reading, Autumn Remembrance, was written by Shi Tiesheng in 1981 and describes a paralyzed young man’s slow, painful realization, only after her death, that his mother had been quietly dying of cancer while absorbing his rage and dedicating her final years entirely to keeping him alive.
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Short story: 在树下 – Beneath the Tree
This sad little story is told from the perspective of a tree, looking down on a couple in love.
Ever wonder who we should thank for those late-night reheated leftovers? Believe it or not, the microwave oven was born from a melted chocolate bar and one curious engineer who couldn’t stop asking ‘why?’ Here’s how a tiny detail changed kitchens around the world.
In this dialogue, two soldiers from warring countries discover they have more in common than they thought.
What treasures could possibly be hiding in a box Grandma never opens? Turns out it’s a whole lifetime of adventures—from Egyptian pyramids to Icelandic green lights. But Grandma’s favorite place might surprise you.
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Biography: 曹操 – Cao Cao
Meet Cao Cao, Chinese history’s ultimate bad guy – but was he really as bad as his reputation makes him out to be?
There’s nothing worse than technology failing you right before a deadline.
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Famous essay: 《背影》by Zhu Ziqing
Of all the essays Chinese students read in school, this might be the one they remember longest. 《背影》, or My Father’s Back, is barely 1,500 characters, and almost nothing happens in it. A young man is leaving his hometown after his grandmother’s funeral. His father insists on seeing him off at the train station. That’s the essay. But the author describes the scene in a simple, beautiful way that encapsulates a father’s love for his son.
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 lifetime, Wang was a prolific poet, and also traveled widely as a civil servant / official, working for the emperor. I picked up this poem from Phil H.’s Tang Poetry Substack, which you should absolutely subscribe to if you want to practice reading the classical poets, but I made a different translation of the text.
Ever had your brain convince you that you’re definitely about to be mugged? We’ve all been there – heart pounding, palms sweating, ready to fight or flight. But sometimes, the ‘villain’ chasing you has a very different agenda than you imagined.
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Short story: 最后一个苹果 – The Last Apple
This little story shows what happens when a family of three each decides to save the last treat for someone else.
What can a barber learn from fifty years of cutting hair? Turns out, quite a lot about human nature.
An article about diet and nutrition from Xinhua News, with a side of sneaky kiwi advertising.