This book is a senior Chinese learning textbook, which is suitable for Chinese language students of the third year and above. The book includes 2 sections, namely: five thousand years of Chines nation and the world of humanities. Each section consists of 5 lessons, and each lesson includes the text, new words, extended reading, dialogue, word usage and sentence patterns and exercises, etc.

The selection of the texts is based on Chinese history and culture, but also on the similarities and contrasts between Chinese and foreign culture. Topics involved in the texts include the formation of the universe, Chinese traditional festivals, Chinese historical and cultural celebrities, idiom stories, and traditional culture. Classical and contemporary writer works can be found in this textbook. Texts and extended readings focus on the written language training; dialogues and idiom stories on the spoken language training. Enriched in humanities, this textbook can not only train students' language skills, but also enhance students' understanding of Chinese history and culture.

Zhirong Wang received her B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature from Peking University. She joined Columbia University and has taught all levels of Chinese language courses. She has authored several publications on Chinese language including  An Elementary Chinese Reader (1 and 2) (Beijing University Press, 2004).     

The book is designed to help Chinese language students improve their language skills and deepen their understanding of China’s traditional ideology and culture at the same time. In this way,the knowledge can enhance their understanding of Chinese learning,yielding twice the result with half the effort.