Du Chinese vs The Chairman's Bao: Which Reader to Choose?

Choose Du Chinese if you're a beginner or you'd rather read stories; choose The Chairman's Bao if you're intermediate, you want news and current affairs, and you'd like more lessons for less money. Both are good graded readers, with native-speaker audio, tap-to-look-up words and six levels. The difference is mostly what you read: Du Chinese is built around short stories and multi-chapter series, and The Chairman's Bao around simplified news articles.

A word on bias: we make Mandarin Mosaic, which has its own graded reader, Chinese Articles. Neither Du Chinese nor The Chairman's Bao is ours, and we mention our app only at the end. Prices and features are from each company's own website and app store listing, checked on 25 October 2026.

Du Chinese vs The Chairman's Bao at a Glance

What You Read: Stories vs News

This is the real choice, so decide it first.

Du Chinese is mostly stories and everyday scenes: dialogues, short articles on Chinese life and culture, and serialised graded stories that run from 6 to 22 chapters. Stories are easier to keep reading, because you want to know what happens next. They also repeat characters and vocabulary from chapter to chapter, which is how words stick. It has short courses too, such as a pinyin starter.

The Chairman's Bao is built on news. Its writers take real stories (Chinese politics, business, technology, sport, odd news) and rewrite them at six levels, so you learn the vocabulary of newspapers and current affairs. That's exactly what you need if you want to read Chinese news one day, or you're studying Chinese for work. The flip side is that news can feel dry, and the lowest levels have to squeeze real events into a few hundred simple words.

If you're not sure which you'd stick with, try a few free lessons of each. The one you open without being reminded is the right one.

Levels: Which Is Better for Beginners?

Both have six levels, but neither maps its levels exactly to the HSK exam. Du Chinese marks HSK words in its texts, and The Chairman's Bao has long described its levels as running from about HSK 1 to HSK 6 and beyond. Treat both as rough guides and judge by how a lesson feels: you should know most of the words already (see our guide to comprehensible input for why).

For complete beginners, Du Chinese is the gentler start. Its Newbie readings are very short, and it hides pinyin only for words below the level you're reading, so you get help where you need it. Stories at the lowest level are also easier to make simple than news.

From around HSK 3 upwards, The Chairman's Bao pulls ahead. It has far more lessons at each level and adds new ones every day, so you won't run out, and its news vocabulary is the kind you need to move towards real Chinese media. Our HSK vocabulary lists show what each level covers if you want to check where you are, or take our Chinese level test.

Study Tools: Audio, Dictionary and Flashcards

The basics are the same in both: tap any word for its meaning and pinyin, play the whole text or a single sentence, and save new words to review later.

• Audio. Both use recorded native speakers, not text-to-speech. The Chairman's Bao says its recordings are slower at lower levels; Du Chinese has an audiobook mode for listening without the text.
• Grammar. Both explain grammar points inside the reading. The Chairman's Bao's notes use example sentences from the article.
• Exercises. The Chairman's Bao has reading and listening comprehension questions and writing practice with stroke order. Du Chinese is more of a pure reader; it keeps you reading rather than testing you.
• Flashcards. Both turn saved words into flashcards. Many learners export them to Pleco or Anki instead; our Chinese Anki decks guide covers that side.
• Characters. Both support Simplified and Traditional, and both let you turn pinyin off when you're ready to read characters alone, which you should do as early as you can.

Overall, The Chairman's Bao has more study features, and Du Chinese is the cleaner, quicker app to read in. Neither is a full course: they won't teach you Chinese from zero.

Price: The Chairman's Bao Is Cheaper

On their own websites, in US dollars:

• Du Chinese: $14.99 a month, $79.99 for six months, or $119.99 a year (about $10 a month).
• The Chairman's Bao: $11 a month, $27.50 for three months, $49.50 for six months, or $88 a year (about $7.33 a month).

So The Chairman's Bao costs about a quarter less, and it has more lessons. In-app prices on the App Store and Google Play can differ from the website and vary by country, so check before you buy. Both have free lessons to try first, and both renew automatically until you cancel. The Chairman's Bao also sells school subscriptions with a teacher portal; Du Chinese has school plans on request.

Which Should You Choose?

• Choose Du Chinese if you're a beginner (around HSK 1–3), you like stories, or you want the simplest, most pleasant reading app for ten minutes a day.
• Choose The Chairman's Bao if you're intermediate (around HSK 3 and up), you want news and current-affairs Chinese, you want exercises with your reading, or price matters.
• Use both in turn if you like: Du Chinese for the first year, then The Chairman's Bao once its lower levels feel easy. There's little point paying for both at once.

Our verdict: Du Chinese is the better first reader; The Chairman's Bao is better value once you're past the beginner stage.

A Third Option: Read in Mandarin Mosaic

Both apps give you something to read. What they don't do well is make sure the words you meet stay with you: you save words, but review is up to you.

Mandarin Mosaic, our app, starts from the other end. It teaches vocabulary in whole sentences, each with just one new word, and schedules reviews with spaced repetition, so words you've met keep coming back until you know them. Its Chinese Articles reader gives you graded news at your level, and Article Generation writes new articles using the words you're learning. It has audio, HSK-levelled lessons, and Simplified or Traditional characters. It isn't a story library like Du Chinese or a news service like The Chairman's Bao, so many learners use it alongside one of them, for the vocabulary they keep meeting. Our post on sentence mining apps explains the method.

For more reading options, see our guide to Chinese graded readers and study books, our look at LingQ for Chinese, and our list of Mandarin learning websites.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Du Chinese Better Than The Chairman's Bao?

For beginners, usually yes: its lowest levels are gentler and its stories are easier to keep reading. For intermediate learners, The Chairman's Bao is usually better, with many more lessons, daily news and lower prices.

Is Du Chinese Free?

Partly. The app is free to download with a selection of free lessons; the full library of 3,000+ readings needs a subscription, from $14.99 a month on its website at the time of writing.

How Much Does The Chairman's Bao Cost?

On its website, $11 a month, or $88 a year (about $7.33 a month), with three- and six-month plans in between. It has free sample lessons, and in-app prices can differ.

What Is a Good Alternative to Du Chinese?

The Chairman's Bao if you want news; LingQ if you want to import your own texts; physical graded readers such as Mandarin Companion if you'd rather read books; and Mandarin Mosaic if you want the vocabulary to stick through sentences and spaced repetition. Our Duolingo alternatives roundup covers more apps.

What Level Do You Need to Start?

You can start Du Chinese with only pinyin and a few dozen words. For The Chairman's Bao, it helps to know HSK 1–2 vocabulary (a few hundred words) first, so even the lowest level isn't mostly new words.

Want the words you read to stick? Mandarin Mosaic teaches Chinese through real sentences with one new word at a time, with audio, graded articles and spaced repetition, in Simplified or Traditional characters. It's on iPhone and Android, and at the time of writing Premium's first month is free, with a limited free plan. Get it on iOS or Android.

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