What We Are Reading Today: Eyes on China by Chih-p’ing Chou, Jincheng Liu, and Xin Zou

Updated 25 January 2019
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What We Are Reading Today: Eyes on China by Chih-p’ing Chou, Jincheng Liu, and Xin Zou

  • Textbook presents an on-the-ground perspective of what a visitor to China today might see and experience

Eyes on China is the ideal textbook for students entering the third year of a four-year course of Chinese language study and those who are ready to move from an intermediate to advanced level. 

Bridging the gap between informal spoken Chinese and more formal written Chinese, this textbook presents an on-the-ground perspective of what a visitor to China today might see and experience.

Unlike other advanced-level textbooks, which typically feature essays, articles, and reviews from Chinese newspapers and magazines, the selections included here have all been written by the authors expressly for this book, according to a review on the Princeton University Press website. 

They cover a range of timely China-related topics, including the problem of air pollution, corruption, infrastructure development, the development of high-speed rail, the prevalence of knock-off products in the marketplace, new tech trends, the contemporary art scene, and the relationship between mainland China and Taiwan. Each chapter’s featured text is accompanied by grammar structure explanations, a vocabulary list, and other useful tools.


Adelaide Writers’ Week cancelled after backlash over disinviting Palestinian author

Updated 13 January 2026
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Adelaide Writers’ Week cancelled after backlash over disinviting Palestinian author

  • Writers withdrew after AWW dropped Randa Abdel-Fattah
  • Abdel-Fattah slams board’s apology, ‘adds insult to injury’

DUBAI: The Adelaide Writers’ Week 2026, a milestone event in the Australian literary calendar, has been cancelled after more than 180 authors and speakers dropped out in protest at the decision to disinvite the Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah.

The Adelaide festival board announced that the event, which was scheduled to begin on Feb. 28, would no longer go ahead.

According to The Guardian on Tuesday, all the members of the board have resigned, with the exception of the Adelaide city council representative, whose term expires in February.

The decision to cancel the AWW entirely came five days after the board announced it had dropped Abdel-Fattah, citing “cultural sensitivities” after an attack at Bondi Beach, that resulted in the death of several people, including Jews.

On Tuesday, the board apologized to Abdel-Fattah “for how the decision was represented.”

“(We) reiterate this is not about identity or dissent but rather a continuing rapid shift in the national discourse around the breadth of freedom of expression in our nation following Australia’s worst terror attack in history,” it added.

“As a board we took this action out of respect for a community experiencing the pain from a devastating event. Instead, this decision has created more division and for that we express our sincere apologies,” the board stated.

In a statement, Abdel-Fattah said she rejected the board’s apology, accusing it of being “disingenuous” and saying it “adds insult to injury.”

She added: “The board again reiterates the link to a terror attack I had nothing to do with, nor did any Palestinian.

“The Bondi shooting does not mean I or anyone else has to stop advocating for an end to the illegal occupation and systematic extermination of my people — this is an obscene and absurd demand.”

Several people were killed in last month’s shooting on Bondi Beach, where a Jewish Hanukkah celebration was also taking place.

Sajid Akram and his son Naveed have been accused of opening fire at the famed surf beach, killing 15 people in a shooting spree reportedly inspired by the Daesh group.