Mandarin The Wild vs The Chairman’s Bao
Both give you graded Chinese articles with audio and a tap-for-meaning dictionary. Mandarin The Wild is free, and its card also works on the real news.
We make Mandarin The Wild. We checked The Chairman’s Bao’s own pages on 16 October 2026, and we say where it is the better choice.
What Mandarin The Wild does
The Library has more than 200 graded stories and articles, from HSK 1 to 6, each with a recording in two voices, all free. Tap or point at any word for its card: the meaning it has in that sentence, its pinyin as it is read there, its parts and its sound. Here is the card for one word in a real sentence.
我每天早上看一会儿中文新闻。
news
Also written 新聞
When graded articles get easy, read the news itself: the same card works on any Chinese news site in Chrome or Edge, and in YouTube captions. Keep a word and it goes to your Backpack with its sentence; Review brings it back by sight and by sound.
What The Chairman’s Bao does
The Chairman’s Bao is a news-based graded reader on the web, iPhone and Android: more than 11,000 lessons in six levels, each written from a news story, with human audio, a one-tap dictionary, flashcards, grammar explanations and reading and listening exercises. The Chairman’s Bao.
Sample lessons are free when you register. Full access is a subscription: $11 a month, $88 a year or $154 for two years. The Chairman’s Bao: student plans.
Side by side
| What you want to do | Mandarin The Wild | The Chairman’s Bao |
|---|---|---|
| Read graded articles with recordings | Yes. More than 200 stories and articles, HSK 1 to 6, two voices, free. | Yes. More than 11,000 news lessons in six levels; all of them with a subscription. The Chairman’s Bao |
| Tap a word for its meaning | Yes. One meaning, picked for the sentence. | Yes. A one-tap dictionary. The Chairman’s Bao |
| Read real Chinese news sites and YouTube | Yes. Point at any word, in Chrome or Edge. | No. Inside its own lessons only. The Chairman’s Bao |
| Read your own text | Yes. Paste it into the reader, or add links and files to Immersion. | No. Its own lessons. The Chairman’s Bao |
| Keep and review words | Yes. Backpack and Review, by sight and by sound, with a free account. | Yes. Its flashcards. The Chairman’s Bao |
| Grammar notes and exercises in each lesson | No. The card gives a pattern’s meaning where the reader finds one. | Yes. The Chairman’s Bao |
| Price | Free to look up, read the Library and review. | Free samples; $11 a month or $88 a year. The Chairman’s Bao: student plans |
Where The Chairman’s Bao is the better choice
If you want a new news lesson at your level every day, with grammar explained and exercises after it, The Chairman’s Bao has far more of them than our Library. Teachers can also get it for a class. The Chairman’s Bao.
Which to choose
If you want structured news lessons and don’t mind paying, The Chairman’s Bao is a good one. If you want graded reading for free, and then help with the real news and the rest of the Chinese web, use Mandarin The Wild. They work together too: read a lesson there, then open the same story on a Chinese news site with our card.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to The Chairman’s Bao?
Mandarin The Wild’s Library has more than 200 graded stories and articles with recordings, free, and its word card also works on real Chinese news sites in Chrome and Edge.
How much does The Chairman’s Bao cost?
On its plans page: $11 a month, $27.50 for three months, $49.50 for six months, $88 a year or $154 for two years. Sample lessons are free when you register.
Can I read real Chinese news with a pop-up dictionary?
Yes. Mandarin The Wild’s extension explains any word you point at on a Chinese news site, in the meaning it has in that sentence.
Is Mandarin The Wild free?
Looking words up, the Library with its recordings, and Review are free. Looking up needs no account; a free account keeps your words.
Sources
Checked on 16 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.