The 5 Best Chinese Parallel Text Books

A Chinese parallel text is a book, story or another type of reading material where Chinese writing and translations are presented together. This can include a combination of 汉字 (hàn zì) — Chinese characters, 拼音 (pīn yīn) — Chinese romanization and English translations.

I’ve found five awesome Chinese parallel text collections that even the pickiest book nerds will love—so you don’t have to do the guesswork yourself.

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1. “Lost in Reverie”

This beautiful collection of original poetry and prose poems from Chinese writer 邓楠 (dèng nán) — Deng Nan is an excellent Chinese parallel text to try. Deng Nan explores themes of melancholy, love, loss and the mysterious nature of memories.

This parallel text features English and hanzi side-by-side. Since there aren’t any pinyin translations included in this book, it may be best for intermediate and advanced learners.

It’s a short read at only 74 pages, which could make it ideal for those looking for light reading.

2. “Mandarin Chinese: Haiku Reader Series”

Who doesn’t love a good haiku? The traditional Japanese form of short and sweet poetry divided into formulaic syllables is also very popular in China and around the world.

This haiku series contains traditional and simplified hanzi, pinyin and English translations for each poem. For those struggling with pronunciation, Zhuyin/Bopomofo pronunciation guides are provided above every hanzi character in the book. There’s also a vocabulary guide available to save you the effort of running to your Chinese dictionary for more definition details.

To say the least, this is absolutely one of the best Chinese parallel texts out there for beginners.

It has 50 beautiful poems and gorgeous photography that anyone could enjoy. The book, while full of enchanting poetry of its own merit, was specifically written with Mandarin learners in mind.

Here’s a sample poem from the book:

黄褐色的道路通往蓝天
美丽的一切混杂了心碎
孤单的岛屿

huáng hé sè de dào lù tōng wǎng lán tiān
měi lì de yī qiè hùn zá le xīn suì
gū dān de dǎo yǔ

Tan path leads to blue
Beauty stirs my somber heart
Solitude’s island

You can search for other volumes from this haiku parallel text series on the author’s Amazon page.

3. “Learn Chinese with Bilingual Stories”

This handy little paperback is perfect for intermediate learners who don’t want something too easy or too difficult to read.

This is another parallel text designed specifically for learners. The book contains three separate stories that range from crime thrillers to love stories to sci-fi adventures. The author suggests reading the book four times to effectively connect vocabulary words to their definitions.

“Learn Chinese with Bilingual Stories” is designed for intermediate readers, so only simplified hanzi and English translations are available. Each page is split in two for its respective language, so it’s very easy to translate each vocabulary word or phrase in real-time.

4. “Contemporary Chinese Short-Short Stories: A Parallel Text”

If you love modern Chinese literature, this compilation of beautiful stories will surely snatch at your heartstrings. If you want to be more well-rounded when it comes to your knowledge of Chinese culture, then this is definitely a book to check out.

Each chapter is centered around a concept in Chinese culture or a tendency in its people, such as 礼 (lǐ) — ritual tendencies, 仁 (rén) — benevolence, 面子(miàn zi) — saving face and much more.

I would recommend this book to an intermediate or advanced reader, as there’s no pinyin available.

5. “Short Stories in Chinese: New Penguin Parallel Text”

This jam-packed compilation text has eight separate stories. This book was made with Chinese and English students in mind and many of the stories have been translated into English for the very first time.

The stories cover simplicity, farming, urban society and much more. There’s also a notable amount of Chinese slang from various Mandarin-speaking areas, which can help you sound more natural when you speak.

“Short Stories in Chinese: New Penguin Parallel Text” includes both simplified hanzi and English translations from page to page. Some of the stories are actually pretty brief and simple, so beginners may benefit from giving this a read.

What Are Chinese Parallel Texts and Why Should I Use Them?

Chinese parallel texts are fantastic for learning new Chinese words or brushing up on reading comprehension. Since all of the necessary translations are in place, you can quickly and easily figure out the meaning of a new word or phrase.

This type of learning tool is great for beginners, intermediate and advanced Chinese learners. While reading Chinese parallel texts shouldn’t substitute a course or more intensive form of Mandarin learning, it can certainly be a helpful aid for practicing reading Chinese.

For a similar type of practice to Chinese parallel texts, you can watch videos in Chinese with subtitles. This has the benefit of giving you a visual context for the language.

Similarly, FluentU is a language learning program that teaches Mandarin using Chinese videos pulled from various Internet sources like YouTube.

Now that you’re all stocked up on some killer Chinese parallel texts to read, you’ve taken one major step toward improving your comprehension and reading skills. Plus, you’ll definitely learn a thing or two about Chinese culture from these awesome reads.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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