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Books Set in SOUTH CHINA
It's hot and humid, tempers burn quick and high and its seas have been a source of political contention and war for centuries. Combined with a growing number of factories in the region, numerous drug-trafficking villages and rampant prostitution, South China sets a unique storytelling backdrop that stands far apart from all the multitudes of books about Hong Kong, Shanghai or Beijing.
This list hosts the best fiction and nonfiction books set in Southern China - primarily in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong province - including any books about Canton and Cantonese culture, and possibly including Hunan, but EXCLUDING Hong Kong and Macau (of which there already is another popular list for) unless a significant portion of the story takes place on the mainland side of the border.
This list hosts the best fiction and nonfiction books set in Southern China - primarily in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong province - including any books about Canton and Cantonese culture, and possibly including Hunan, but EXCLUDING Hong Kong and Macau (of which there already is another popular list for) unless a significant portion of the story takes place on the mainland side of the border.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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South China Morning Blues
by
Ray Hecht (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 63 ratings
score: 799,
and
8 people voted
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| 2 |
|
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China
by
3.93 avg rating — 9,519 ratings
score: 491,
and
5 people voted
|
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| 3 |
|
Adventure, romance and war in the Far East: The Iris Hay-Edie Diary: A historical memoir
by
4.27 avg rating — 161 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 4 |
|
Pearl River Drama: Dating in China - A Memoir
by
Ray Hecht (Goodreads Author)
3.44 avg rating — 27 ratings
score: 197,
and
2 people voted
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| 4 |
|
Pearl of China
by
3.86 avg rating — 8,568 ratings
score: 197,
and
2 people voted
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| 6 |
|
White Ghost Girls
by
3.27 avg rating — 1,178 ratings
score: 188,
and
2 people voted
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| 7 |
|
How Does One Dress to Buy Dragonfruit? True Stories of Expat Women in Asia
by
4.21 avg rating — 76 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 7 |
|
Asia's Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific
by
3.95 avg rating — 2,946 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
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| 7 |
|
China's Wings: War, Intrigue, Romance, and Adventure in the Middle Kingdom During the Golden Age of Flight
by
Gregory Crouch (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 222 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 7 |
|
A-Ma Alchemy of Love (AoL Mindfulness, #1)
by
Nataša Pantović (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 57 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 7 |
|
Mandarin Preferred
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 7 |
|
Whispering Shadows (The Rising Dragon, #1)
by
Jan-Philipp Sendker (Goodreads Author)
3.67 avg rating — 2,198 ratings
score: 100,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 13 |
|
Unsavory Elements: Stories of Foreigners on the Loose in China
by
Tom Carter (Editor)
3.59 avg rating — 197 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 13 |
|
At Least We Lived : The Unlikely Adventures of an English Couple in World War II China
by
Emma Oxford (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 8 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 13 |
|
A Businessman's Guide to the Wholesale Markets of Guangzhou
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 13 |
|
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
by
Lisa See (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 122,268 ratings
score: 99,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 17 |
|
Asian Godfathers
by
3.96 avg rating — 809 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
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| 17 |
|
A Dictionary of Maqiao
by
4.03 avg rating — 449 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 17 |
|
Bang Hong Kong
by
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 98,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 20 |
|
Middle Kingdom Underground: Short Stories From the People's Republic of
by
3.44 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 20 |
|
Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip
by
4.26 avg rating — 8,041 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 20 |
|
Poorly Made in China: An Insider's Account of the China Production Game
by
Paul Midler (Goodreads Author)
4.09 avg rating — 2,426 ratings
score: 97,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 23 |
|
Cantonese Culture: Aspects of Life in Modern Hong Kong and Southeast Asia
by
3.21 avg rating — 14 ratings
score: 96,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 24 |
|
Whispers and Moans: Interviews with the men and women of Hong Kong's sex industry
by
3.88 avg rating — 41 ratings
score: 95,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 25 |
|
Tai-Pan (Asian Saga, #2)
by
4.31 avg rating — 57,867 ratings
score: 94,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 26 |
|
Candy
by
3.30 avg rating — 1,655 ratings
score: 92,
and
1 person voted
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| 27 |
|
The China Price: The True Cost of Chinese Competitive Advantage
by
3.71 avg rating — 386 ratings
score: 91,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 28 |
|
Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China
by
3.73 avg rating — 9,323 ratings
score: 90,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 29 |
|
Eating Smoke: One Man's Descent Into Crystal Meth Psychosis in Hong Kong's Triad Heartland
by
Chris Thrall (Goodreads Author)
3.60 avg rating — 771 ratings
score: 89,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 30 |
|
The Piano Teacher
by
3.36 avg rating — 23,729 ratings
score: 87,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 31 |
|
The Honourable Schoolboy (George Smiley, #6; Karla Trilogy, #2)
by
3.99 avg rating — 25,555 ratings
score: 86,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 32 |
|
Love in a Fallen City
by
3.94 avg rating — 4,386 ratings
score: 85,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 33 |
|
A Many-Splendoured Thing
by
3.82 avg rating — 564 ratings
score: 84,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 34 |
|
Gweilo: Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood
by
4.19 avg rating — 2,141 ratings
score: 83,
and
1 person voted
|
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| 35 |
|
Fragrant Harbour
by
3.81 avg rating — 2,135 ratings
score: 82,
and
1 person voted
|
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Tags:
asia, asian, canton, cantonese, china, chinese, dongguan, drugs, factories, fiction, guangdong, guangxi, guangzhou, hainan, hong-kong, macau, memoirs, non-fiction, novels, pearl-river-delta, prd, prostitution, shenzhen, south-china, south-china-sea, southern-china
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