My top ten Chinese language media sites
For intermediate and advanced learners of Chinese
When I first hit publish on RealTime Mandarin five years ago, I had no system for finding Chinese news content.
Every week, I would spend hours, sometimes days, wading through Chinese news sites trying to find one story worth reading and writing about.
I’d get lost in pop-ups, propaganda, and misleading promotional content.
Or even worse… When I did eventually find an interesting story, it would disappear!
By the time I’d found something worth using, I was exhausted. And I hadn’t even started learning yet.
Sound familiar?
If the answer is “yes” then you’re not alone.
When I chat with new members of RTM Plus, this is consistently one of the biggest challenges faced by intermediate to advanced learners: finding interesting and engaging news content at the right level.
This is also why “Find” is the first step in my FLUENT System — how to source the right news content for learning, suited to your interests.
Because with over five years of weekly publishing, scanning hundreds of sites every week, I know exactly where to look.
Don’t forget you still have time to join RTM Plus and get your personalised study plan to kick-start your Mandarin learning again, and my list of 100 top Chinese language media sites!
(Deadline to join is midnight Saturday 28 Feb; only available to members on the annual plan)
Here are my top 10 Chinese language media sites
In my Media Master List I’ve collected 100+ high quality Chinese language media sites.
Including media outfits on the Mainland, and outside of China.
Here are 10 of the sites I use most regularly:
Mainland China
1. LifeWeek (三联生活周刊)
Deep, thoughtful analysis of social trends and current affairs. Its WeChat account publishes daily, with a featured section highlighting the most-read pieces — great for spotting what Chinese readers are actually talking about.
2. 36Kr (36氪)
My go-to for tech, business, consumer trends, and youth culture. Aggregates the best WeChat public accounts in one place (so great way to find new WeChat accounts too). Clean layout, excellent app, and consistently high-quality content.
3. The Paper (澎湃)
Non-state, clean layout, bigger text, no flashing ads. Covers more sensitive topics than most similar sites — and censored content tends to stay up longer here too.
4. Huxiu (虎嗅)
Non-state “new media” covering business, society, and international affairs. Insightful, well-written, and easy to navigate. One of the best sources for understanding social trends as they emerge in China.
5. Netease (网易 wǎngyì)
One of China’s major non-state outlets — and in my view the only mainstream site worth looking at. It covers stories which others self-censor. It’s still a nightmare to navigate, so a pro tip is Google news topics plus “163” to find content faster.
6. Yicai (第一财经)
Shanghai-based financial media. A great source for business, economics, and public policy as reported from inside China. Easy to navigate, data-driven, and well-written.
Outside the Firewall
7. China Digital Times (中国数字时代)
US-based. Archives articles published in China that were later removed or censored. My go-to when a story disappears. Also publishes original Chinese-language editorial and opinion.
8. The Initium (端传媒)
Singapore-based, no censorship, supports both simplified and traditional characters. Essential for topics that are being discussed in real life but blocked on the mainland.
9. Lianhe Zaobao (联合早报)
Singapore’s largest Chinese-language newspaper. Balanced, well-informed China coverage from a Southeast Asian perspective — useful for a view that’s neither mainland nor Western.
10. DW 中文 (德国之声)
The exception to my rule of avoiding foreign media in Chinese. DW produces original Chinese-language reporting — not translations — written by Chinese experts. Uncensored, rigorous, and genuinely useful.
Now you have a starting point…
But finding the right content is just Step 1 of the FLUENT System.
The next five steps are what turn what you read into language you can actually use — vocab that sticks, context that makes sense, and conversations you can actually navigate.
That’s what RTM Plus does every week.
And this Sunday, when you join on the annual plan, I’ll help you build your own personalised implementation plan so you know exactly how to apply all six steps to your own learning.
Join RTM Plus and unlock your personalised study plan today:
Andrew
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P.S. — Can’t make it live?
No problem — you’ll get the full recording plus a 1:1 call with me at a time that works for you to refine your study plan.
P.P.S — This is the only time I’ll be running this webinar for free.
Future sessions will be paid. Join by midnight Saturday to secure your spot.
P.P.P.S — Here’s what RTM Plus members are saying about their experience:
“I very much enjoy and admire RTM Plus, which is essential reading on contemporary China and Chinese. Through it I rediscover old friends and encounter delightful new acquaintances. It often makes me wistful for nights spent in the rowdy company of revellers in “Old Peking”
— Geremie R. Barmé, pre-eminent Sinologist, and Editor of China Heritage
“This really is a wonderful platform for people like me who want to keep their Mandarin current and refreshed, while staying informed about what ’s happening in China”
— Madelyn Ross, President Emeritus · US-China Education Trust
“RTM's weekly podcasts, along with word lists, examples of usage, and exercises, have been a boost to my Chinese. As a lawyer with an almost-exclusively Chinese clientele, RTM increases my ability to conduct meetings in Mandarin and to communicate more effectively.”
— Todd Platek, author, and immigration attorney, specialising in Chinese-American issues.
“The best and most efficient way I’ve found to maintain my Chinese reading, and learn new idiomatic language. Because it’s drawn from Chinese media reports and online language, it’s also an excellent resource for keeping up with current events in China”
— Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor, The China Week