Du Chinese vs The Chairman's Bao: which graded reader should you use?
One, then the other — they do the same job at different levels. Du Chinese is graded stories with audio, where reading starts to feel possible at around 300 words. The Chairman's Bao is graded news, useful from about HSK 3. Start with Du Chinese; move across when the stories get easy.
Which job each one does
Every study plan that works covers five jobs — sequencing, lookup, retention, input and correction — and no app covers all five. Two tools doing the same job are a choice; two doing different jobs are a pair. Each side below is the same assessment as its row in the full comparison table, including what it is missing.
Du Chinese
In this pairing: Input for the early stages: short graded stories with native audio, tap-to-define and a pinyin toggle you switch off as you improve.
Good at: The shortest path from "I know some words" to "I can read": graded stories with native audio, tap-to-define and a pinyin toggle you can turn off as you improve.
What it is missing: Reading and listening only, and the free tier is a sample rather than a course. You still need something that makes you produce language.
Use it if: You have around 300 words and reading real sentences still feels impossible.
A few lessons are free and refreshed each week; the library behind them is a subscription.
The Chairman's Bao
In this pairing: Input for intermediate readers: graded news, so the vocabulary is what people are reading this month rather than textbook dialogue.
Good at: Graded news, so the vocabulary is what people are actually reading this month rather than textbook Chinese from a decade ago.
What it is missing: One register — news — and it only starts being useful around HSK 3. Below that there is not much here for you.
Use it if: You are intermediate, bored of textbook dialogues, and want reading that is about something.
Subscription. Some articles are readable without one, but the graded library is the product.
Where Du Chinese and The Chairman's Bao differ
| Du Chinese | The Chairman's Bao | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free tier + paid | Subscription |
| What you read | Graded stories and dialogues. | Graded news articles. |
| Where it starts being useful | Around 300 words — built for the jump from knowing words to reading sentences. | Around HSK 3. Below that there is not much here for you. |
| Register | Everyday and narrative Chinese. | One register — news — which is both its point and its limit. |
| Free tier | A few lessons, refreshed each week: a sample rather than a course. | Some articles are readable without a subscription, but the graded library is the product. |
| What keeps you reading | Stories: you read on to find out what happens. | Topicality: the articles are about something current. |
What both of them are missing
Neither makes you produce anything. Reading and listening build recognition, and recognising a sentence is a long way from being able to say one — so both need pairing with something that makes you speak, and with a review habit for the words you keep meeting.
If you can only have one
Du Chinese below HSK 3, The Chairman's Bao above it. If you are unsure which side you are on, read one graded story: if you stop for the dictionary more than about once a sentence, you are on the Du Chinese side.
Want the whole plan rather than one decision? The full comparison sets 17 ways to learn Chinese side by side, and its four-question picker turns your goal, time, budget and device into an ordered study plan.
Frequently asked questions
Du Chinese or The Chairman's Bao: which is better?
One, then the other — they do the same job at different levels. Du Chinese is graded stories with audio, where reading starts to feel possible at around 300 words. The Chairman's Bao is graded news, useful from about HSK 3. Start with Du Chinese; move across when the stories get easy.
Should I use Du Chinese and The Chairman's Bao together?
One after the other rather than side by side. Both do input, but at different stages: Du Chinese first, then The Chairman's Bao once it gets easy.
What do Du Chinese and The Chairman's Bao both leave out?
Neither makes you produce anything. Reading and listening build recognition, and recognising a sentence is a long way from being able to say one — so both need pairing with something that makes you speak, and with a review habit for the words you keep meeting.
Which should I choose if I can only have one?
Du Chinese below HSK 3, The Chairman's Bao above it. If you are unsure which side you are on, read one graded story: if you stop for the dictionary more than about once a sentence, you are on the Du Chinese side.
Is there a free alternative to Du Chinese?
For the reading itself, yes: this site has free graded readers with switchable pinyin and tap-to-define, and a sentence bank searchable by word. What a paid library adds is depth — enough material at your level that you never run out — and native audio on every lesson.
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