SOURCES 源
A brief introduction to places to find books and podcasts, and some tools I've found useful for studying Mandarin over the years.
Your usual bookstore, website or podcast app may already have what you're looking for, but for many books and podcasts you'll need to look elsewhere.
The platforms introduced below are a good place to start, and generally have a wide selection of Chinese-language content available.
Note that these are suggestions only - Xuanzang is not affiliated with any of these links, and you should exercise the usual caution when visiting unfamiliar sites to make downloads or purchases.
Get Books
In Chinese-speaking countries, you'll find independent bookstores and chains in any city.
Overseas, large stores in international or student cities may stock a limited range - Foyles in London, for example, has a small selection of Chinese-language fiction and non-fiction, as well as study materials.
In the majority of situations, online sellers such as those below offer convenient access to the widest selection.
If you're new to reading books in Chinese languages, here's a quick explainer on text formats.
Books.com.tw 博客來
Physical and digital books and magazines, in traditional and simplified editions. International shipping available, and collection from 711 stores in certain countries.
Rakuten 樂天市場
Physical and digital books in traditional characters. International shipping available. Second-hand books available.
Sanmin 三民書局
Physical and digital books, in simplified and traditional characters. International shipping available, and collection from Circle-K stores in Hong Kong.
TAAZE 讀册生活
Physical and digital books, in traditional characters. International shipping available. Second-hand books available.
Taobao 淘寶 & TMall 天猫
These two ecommerce giants from Alibaba 阿里巴巴 are roughly equivalent to eBay and Amazon. Find books either from official retailers or a marketplace of small stockists.
Get Podcasts
Some of the apps below are available on major download platforms, but for others you may need to visit their sites directly for download options.
Searches with traditional 繁體 and simplified 簡體 characters may return different results, so if you can't find a particular series, switch the character set and try again.
KKBOX
Taiwan-based podcast platform available on the App Store, Google Play, and Windows. A streaming option is also available - see download options here.
LIZHI 荔枝
Guangzhou-based podcast platform established in 2010. There are direct download links for Andriod and iPhone on the front page of the website.
Pocket Casts
Free app available on the App Store and Google Play. The app has useful playback control features such as volume boosting for quiet audio, and speed adjustment.
Ximalaya 喜馬拉雅
Shanghai-based podcast and audiobook platform established in 2012. There are direct download links for Andriod and iPhone on the front page of the website.
Get Fluent
Xuanzang is oriented towards native Chinese-language content and places to get hold of it.
But - if you're looking for study materials or guidance on how to improve your Chinese, below is a short list of apps and tools I've found useful over the years.
Some of the platforms below provide paid as well as free services. You may find the added content worth the price, but it's 100% possible to reach an advanced language ability without it.
Hacking Chinese
Olle Linge has built an excellent site and community at Hacking Chinese.
I used his site for many years in the past, which is full of guidance on different approaches to the language, and the many tools available to help improve specific skills such as reading and writing.
Anki
Anki is a flashcard platform that uses spaced repition software - see Benny Lewis' explainer if you're new to the concept.
It can be used for all kinds of subjects - it's supposedly popular with medical students for learning clinical terms - and is especially useful for building vocabulary in a foreign language.
Either download flashcard decks created by others, or build your own over time and add new terms as you come across them.
Anki is free on desktop systems and Android, but there is a one-off fee for the iPhone version.
iTalki
iTalki is a platform for connecting language teachers and students for online lessons.
For popular languages there are many teachers available across different time zones and a range of budgets, and it is often possible to have a trial lesson with a teacher first before committing to more time with them.
The site used to offer a free language exchange option, where users could find partners to practice conversation in their native languages.
That seems to no longer be available, but would be worth seeking out on another platform - free conversation practice from anywhere in the world and the chance to make friends in your target language is an incredible thing.
Lang-8
Lang-8 is a platform for improving writing skills in foreign languages.
Users write entries in their target language, and native speakers then correct mistakes and provide feedback - the more entries you work on in your native language, the more likely your own entries will receive corrections.
Unfortunately Lang-8 no longer accepts new registrations, but the same company has an app called HiNative that appears to offer similar features.
Pleco
Pleco is a Chinese dictionary app, available on the App Store and Google Play. The free version is excellent, and the premium version is well worth the price.
You can easily view definitions from multiple dictionaries at once, including several with definitions in Chinese (useful for an immersive approach). The app has audio support, example sentences, and a flashcard function.
I began using Pleco over a decade ago for Mandarin, and still use it on a daily basis for that and more recently Cantonese as well.
It is without doubt the single most useful tool I have made use of, and has made the process of learning to read and expand vocabulary far more smooth and enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.