Reading and Learning Chinese - the first Chinese volume in the bilingual series Chinese Language and Culture has always fascinated the West. In our globalized world of economic networking, the vast, once legendary Middle Kingdom has become closer to us, providing even more reason to engage with the Chinese language. This selection of small popular classical and modern texts - prose and poetry - offers beginners simple reading material and insights into a foreign culture. If a word is missing, a glance at the German translation aids understanding. The simple beauty of the texts, the appeal and exoticism of the characters, complemented by illustrations, make reading and learning a pleasure. At the end of the book, there is a table for Pinyin, the Latin transcription of the Chinese language.