A New Year's Reunion

By Yu Liqiong (author), Zhu Chengliang (illustrator)

Candlewick Press

The book tells the story of Miaomiao, a Chinese girl whose family unites only once a year when the father, a representative of China's 200 million migrant workers, returns home to celebrate the Chinese lunar New Year. With firecrackers and dragon dances, it's the happiest time for Miaomiao, but all too soon it is time for her father to go away again. The touching illustrated tale, which shows how a family's love is strong enough to endure over time and distance, won the prestigious Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book Award in 2009. It is sure to resonate with every child who misses relatives when they are away.

Shang Yun-Xiang Style Xingyiquan: The Foundations and Subtleties of Xingyiquan Training

By Li Wen-Bin with Shang Zhi-Rong and Li Hong (Translated by Lu Mei-Hui)

Blue Snake Books

A modern classic, Shang Yun-Xiang Style Xingyiquan is essential for Xingyiquan practitioners and a useful guide for any practitioner of the Chinese martial arts. While focusing on Shang-style Xingyiquan, this book clearly breaks down the fundamentals of the movements and forms found in all of Xingyiquan. With hundreds of original photographs and step-by-step explanation of movements, Li goes into great detail to explain to readers of all levels the finer points of Xingyiquan training.

Sanyan Stories: Favorites From a Ming Dynasty Collection

By Feng Menglong

University of Washington Press

The celebrated Sanyan - three collections of vernacular stories - were compiled and edited by Feng Menglong (1574-1646), one of the most renowned connoisseurs of popular literature in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) period. The stories he collected were pivotal to the development of Chinese vernacular fiction and their importance has been compared to that of Boccaccio's Decameron and the stories of One Thousand and One Nights. Through the tales one can have a glimpse of the bustling world of China before the end of the Ming Dynasty.