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HSK 4 Chinese Reading Practice

Stories and articles where at least 9 in 10 words are HSK 4 or below.

Choose a levelRead at your level

Every reading sits at the level where most of its words are taught

HSK 167 readings HSK 232 readings HSK 328 readings HSK 435 readings HSK 519 readings HSK 620 readings

All readings at HSK 4

Page 2 of 3 · 13–24 of 35

Story · 2 min audio后羿射日Hou Yi shoots the nine sunsTen suns take turns in the sky, one a day, until they get bored and all come out at once. The earth starts to burn.HSK 4

Story · 3 min audio梁山伯与祝英台The Butterfly LoversA girl dresses as a boy to go to school. Her best friend shares her desk for three years and never guesses.HSK 4

Story · 2 min audio孟姜女哭长城Lady Meng Jiang cries down the Great WallHer husband is taken to build the Great Wall. She walks a thousand miles with his winter clothes, and her tears bring the wall down.HSK 4

Article · 2 min audio什么是“面子”？What is face (mianzi) in Chinese culture?Two friends almost come to blows over who pays the bill. What they are really fighting over is face.HSK 4

Article · 2 min audio“关系”是什么意思？What does guanxi mean?No appointments left with the famous doctor. Then a colleague mentions her friend’s cousin.HSK 4

Article · 2 min audio“内卷”是什么意思？What does 内卷 (involution) mean?A student rode his bike with an open laptop on the handlebars, and China found its word of the year. Why does everyone stand up in the cinema?HSK 4

Article · 2 min audio中国的高铁有多长？How big is China's high-speed rail?Join every high-speed line in China end to end and it would go round the Earth, with ten thousand kilometres to spare. It all began in 2008.HSK 4

Story · 2 min audio一片草叶Lu Ban and the saw: a Chinese legendChina's greatest carpenter has a palace to build and not enough time to cut the trees. Then a blade of grass cuts his hand.HSK 4

Story · 2 min audio1985年的信The letter from grandpa: a Chinese short storyGrandma gets a letter from Grandpa, written in 1985 and lost in the post ever since. It asks her one question, and she answered it forty years ago without knowing.HSK 4

Story · 3 min audio陈老师的新名单The retired teacher: a Chinese short storyAfter thirty-eight years in the classroom, Teacher Chen wakes on her first day of retirement with nothing to do. Then her old students start turning up everywhere.HSK 4

Article · 2 min audio中国的龙为什么不喷火？What does the Chinese dragon mean?In western stories the dragon burns villages and is killed by a hero. In China people dance with it in the street. They are not the same animal at all.HSK 4

Article · 2 min audio纸是蔡伦发明的吗？Who invented paper? Cai Lun and the older paperA letter to the emperor so heavy two men had to carry it. Then a palace official made paper cheap. But was he really the first?HSK 4