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The World of Chinese is a bi-monthly print magazine dedicated to everything Chinese. It covers topics including Chinese language, culture, food, and travel — it’s got everything you need to know about China today.

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Overseas readers: check out our New Online Store!

China Dispatch

China Dispatch is the bi-monthly digital version of our magazine giving you the lowdown all things China—views, news, culture, stories, and society—if it’s happening in China, we’ll let you know. A yearly subscription includes six issues of China Dispatch and an additional six supplement issues.

To subscribe to our digital version click this link to our iTunes store.

Box Sets and Back Issues

Whilst we are redeveloping our store, you can still order back issues of the magazines, as well as individual issues. There are currently box sets of the full six issues from years 2017, 2016, and 2015 available for $60/set including worldwide shipping, and individual issues available for years back to 2012 for $20/issue, which also includes worldwide shipping. To order, send an email with the sets/issues you desire and your shipping information to subscriptions@theworldofchinese.com, and we will send you an invoice which you may pay via PayPal.

We will be successively adding more complete information on box sets and individual issues over the coming days. We appreciate your patience. Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us. If you would like to subscribe to future issues, you can through the “subscribe” link at the top of the page.

2017 Box Set

This is a way to get the entire 2017 collection in one handy pack.

Learn about the towns that produce all your favorite goods, the men and women working to deliver them to you, Chinese fantasy fiction, how AI is progressing, a trend to hermit life, and China’s venture into a more digital society.

The World of Chinese, Nov-Dec 2017: Cloud Country

Millions have happily signed up for programs such as WeChat Wallet and Alipay, along with attendant social credit schemes, including the already-massive Sesame Credit. Soon, every purchase made in China that isn’t in cash (and these numbers are growing) will be itemized, tracked, geo-tagged, cached, and analyzed in a vast consumerist utopia (or capitalist conspiracy; or Orwellian experiment) in big data we’re calling the “Cloud Country.”

The World of Chinese, Sep-Oct 2017: Modern Hermit

This issue, TWOC follows some of these leisurely pursuits, from the reawakening of the hermit spirit, to the rise of the creative class and their effect on the country’s left-behind villages. We also look at the pressures that still exist on many parents, and the price that history has paid for this progress.

The World of Chinese, Jul-Aug 2016: Farming

China’s agricultural sector faces some very strange problems when it comes to getting your food to plate. From the organic revolution and food security to mechanizing China’s patchwork of farmland, the future of the country’s tables are in the fields. Also this issue, we look at how bullying has shaped the face of education in China, be they teachers or students.

Next, you can learn more about how the price of death has skyrocketed in the Middle Kingdom in recent years—from a family affair to a funerary festival. If your tastes run more to the artistic, head on over to our article “Still Life in the City” to see how suburban art districts are born.

Besides that we have the usual mix of news, views, and reviews you’ve come to expect from us here at TWOC. Enjoy!

The World of Chinese, May-Jun 2017: Courier Army

In this issue, TWOC looks behind the smart software to put a human face on the humble deliveryman. We hear tales of business and brotherhood, high risks and low rewards, that will certainly give pause for thought next time you curse your pizza for being five minutes overtime. Elsewhere, as hipster versions land abroad, we go in search of the authentic jianbing; return to the forgotten roots of overseas Chinese; take an unswerving look at the history of school uniforms; wonder whether knowledge has a price; and try to buy a live chicken. Well, our pizza was late…

The World of Chinese, Mar-Apr 2017: Fantasy

The Middle Kingdom has its own take on Middle Earth. Novoland isn’t run by hobbits or orcs; you’re far more likely to see winged beings or immortal spirits. But the schisms of Novoland also play out in reality, as its creators squabble over the direction and the economics of their collaborative project. We take a look at the state of fantasy literature in China and where it’s headed in the future.

Also this issue, we take a leisurely ride on one of China’s famed green trains. As these very slow trains are phased out for faster models, they—as well as their significance to Chinese social life—may reach their final stop than expected. We also look at the business of maternity matrons, as well as the hollowing out of China’s villages and the implications of leaving elderly residents behind.

In Diaspora, you’ll find a Chinatown within China, where overseas Chinese have left a complicated legacy, and Made in China tells the tangled history of China’s wired radio. There’s plenty to see in these pages and if you want more, check out our digital edition. In the meantime, sit back, relax, and enjoy the spring weather.

The World of Chinese, Jan-Feb 2017: Taobao Town

The rise of online shopping, selling, and logistics has perhaps been one of the most important changes to modern life in China, and the effect of e-commerce entrepreneurship in China’s rural areas has been transformative. Villages that once farmed now make, package, and ship their goods all around the country. We visit one of China’s official “Taobao villages” to learn more about how modern shopping has changed the countryside—for better or worse.

Also this issue, we’ll be looking at China’s indie film sector and how it can fund itself, how grads are changing the job market by opting for fulfilling careers rather than filling their wallets, and what life is like in a migrant night market in Nanjing. We’ve made some changes for the New Year. You’ll find new columns, such as Art Attack and our new science and technology section, Tech Support. Counterpoint has been resurrected, and Frontier profiles businesses on the cutting edge. With all of that new content, we still aim to bring you the news, views, and reviews you’ve come to expect from us here at TWOC.

Get your digital copy today, and have a happy Spring Festival.