Chinese Paragraphs to Read: 12 Graded Passages with Pinyin
Below are 12 original Chinese paragraphs to read, graded into three levels: four beginner passages (about 40–60 characters each, built almost entirely from HSK 1–2 vocabulary), four intermediate (80–120 characters), and four advanced (150+ characters). Each comes with a pinyin line with full tone marks, an English translation, and two or three word glosses. Start at the level where you understand nearly everything without looking at the pinyin — comfort, not struggle, is what builds reading ability. I wrote every passage specifically for this page, so they read like real life, not like a textbook drill.
- 12 original graded paragraphs: 4 beginner (HSK 1–2, ~40–60 characters), 4 intermediate (~80–120), 4 advanced (150+), each with pinyin, translation, and glosses.
- Read the characters first — cover the pinyin line and use it only to check pronunciation afterward.
- The right paragraph is one where you know ~98% of the words. One unknown in twenty is learning; one in five is decoding.
- The paragraphs are in simplified characters; glosses show traditional forms where they differ (饭/飯).
- Paragraphs are a warm-up, not a diet — when a level feels easy, move to full graded stories at that level.
How should you read these paragraphs?
Cover the pinyin, read the characters, and only then check yourself. If your eyes can see pinyin, they will read pinyin — it's faster, and your brain always takes the faster route — so the characters never get processed. Read the hanzi line first, guess unknown words from context, then uncover the pinyin to verify pronunciation and the translation to verify meaning. The full weaning schedule is in how to read Chinese without pinyin, and if the tone marks themselves are still shaky, start with our guide to how to read pinyin.
One honest level-check before you start: read the first paragraph of a section. If you hit more than two or three unknown words, drop down a level — there's no prize for struggling. All passages are in simplified characters with traditional forms in the glosses where they differ; in our app every story renders in either script, with pinyin or zhuyin.
Beginner Chinese paragraphs with pinyin (HSK 1–2)
These four use roughly the first 300 words of HSK vocabulary; anything beyond that is glossed. That's less vocabulary than it sounds: measured across the 658 graded stories in the Literate Chinese catalog (July 2026), the 100 most frequent characters already cover 56.7% of all graded text, and the top 300 cover 80.1% — the words you meet here are the ones you'll meet everywhere. (The full frequency table is in the 100 most common Chinese characters.)
1. A morning routine
Beginner · ~40 characters
我每天早上六点起床。我先喝一杯水,再吃早饭。我喜欢吃面包和鸡蛋。七点半我坐公共汽车去上班。
Wǒ měi tiān zǎoshang liù diǎn qǐchuáng. Wǒ xiān hē yì bēi shuǐ, zài chī zǎofàn. Wǒ xǐhuan chī miànbāo hé jīdàn. Qī diǎn bàn wǒ zuò gōnggòng qìchē qù shàngbān.
I get up at six every morning. First I drink a glass of water, then I eat breakfast. I like eating bread and eggs. At seven thirty I take the bus to work.
Words to know: 起床 qǐchuáng — to get up · 早饭 (早飯) zǎofàn — breakfast · 上班 shàngbān — to go to work
2. Doudou the dog
Beginner · ~45 characters
我家有一只小狗,它叫豆豆。豆豆很喜欢吃,不喜欢跑。妈妈说:“它不是狗,是一只小猪!”我们都笑了。
Wǒ jiā yǒu yì zhī xiǎo gǒu, tā jiào Dòudou. Dòudou hěn xǐhuan chī, bù xǐhuan pǎo. Māma shuō: “Tā bú shì gǒu, shì yì zhī xiǎo zhū!” Wǒmen dōu xiào le.
My family has a little dog called Doudou. Doudou loves eating and doesn't like running. Mom says: "That's not a dog, it's a little pig!" We all laughed.
Words to know: 只 (隻) zhī — measure word for animals · 猪 (豬) zhū — pig · 笑 xiào — to laugh
3. Saturday shopping
Beginner · ~45 characters
星期六我和朋友去买东西。我买了一件红色的衣服,很好看,也不贵。朋友买了很多吃的。我们中午吃了饺子。
Xīngqīliù wǒ hé péngyou qù mǎi dōngxi. Wǒ mǎi le yí jiàn hóngsè de yīfu, hěn hǎokàn, yě bú guì. Péngyou mǎi le hěn duō chī de. Wǒmen zhōngwǔ chī le jiǎozi.
On Saturday my friend and I went shopping. I bought a red piece of clothing — it looks great and wasn't expensive. My friend bought lots of food. At noon we ate dumplings.
Words to know: 件 jiàn — measure word for clothing · 贵 (貴) guì — expensive · 饺子 (餃子) jiǎozi — dumplings
4. Caught in the rain
Beginner · ~45 characters
今天下大雨。我没有带伞,只能在商店门口等。半个小时以后,雨停了。我回到家,太阳出来了。天气真会开玩笑!
Jīntiān xià dà yǔ. Wǒ méiyǒu dài sǎn, zhǐ néng zài shāngdiàn ménkǒu děng. Bàn ge xiǎoshí yǐhòu, yǔ tíng le. Wǒ huí dào jiā, tàiyáng chūlái le. Tiānqì zhēn huì kāi wánxiào!
It poured today. I hadn't brought an umbrella, so I could only wait at the shop entrance. Half an hour later the rain stopped. The moment I got home, the sun came out. The weather really knows how to tell a joke!
Words to know: 带伞 (帶傘) dài sǎn — to bring an umbrella · 停 tíng — to stop · 开玩笑 (開玩笑) kāi wánxiào — to joke
Intermediate Chinese paragraphs with pinyin
Around 80–120 characters each, with everyday grammar you'll see constantly: 把, 越来越, resultative verbs, and dialogue inside narration. If the beginner set felt slow, this is probably your level.
5. Reading on the metro
Intermediate · ~100 characters
上个月我换了新工作,公司离家很远,每天要坐四十分钟的地铁。刚开始我觉得很累,后来我发现地铁上的时间其实很有用:我可以看书、听音乐,或者用手机学中文。现在我每天都在地铁上看完一个小故事,一个月看了三十个,比在家学得还多。
Shàng ge yuè wǒ huàn le xīn gōngzuò, gōngsī lí jiā hěn yuǎn, měi tiān yào zuò sìshí fēnzhōng de dìtiě. Gāng kāishǐ wǒ juéde hěn lèi, hòulái wǒ fāxiàn dìtiě shang de shíjiān qíshí hěn yǒuyòng: wǒ kěyǐ kàn shū, tīng yīnyuè, huòzhě yòng shǒujī xué Zhōngwén. Xiànzài wǒ měi tiān dōu zài dìtiě shang kàn wán yí ge xiǎo gùshi, yí ge yuè kàn le sānshí ge, bǐ zài jiā xué de hái duō.
Last month I changed jobs. The company is far from home — a forty-minute metro ride every day. At first it just felt tiring, but then I realized the metro time is actually useful: I can read, listen to music, or study Chinese on my phone. Now I finish one little story on the metro every day — thirty in a month, more than I ever managed at home.
Words to know: 地铁 (地鐵) dìtiě — metro (in Taiwan the MRT is 捷运/捷運 jiéyùn) · 其实 (其實) qíshí — actually · 有用 yǒuyòng — useful
6. The sweetest dinner
Intermediate · ~95 characters
昨天晚上我第一次给女朋友做饭。我在网上找了一个菜谱,看起来很简单。可是我把糖当成了盐,放了满满两勺。女朋友吃了一口,安静了几秒钟,然后认真地说:“这是我吃过的最甜的西红柿炒鸡蛋。”我们最后点了外卖。
Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒ dì yī cì gěi nǚpéngyou zuò fàn. Wǒ zài wǎngshàng zhǎo le yí ge càipǔ, kàn qǐlái hěn jiǎndān. Kěshì wǒ bǎ táng dàngchéng le yán, fàng le mǎnmǎn liǎng sháo. Nǚpéngyou chī le yì kǒu, ānjìng le jǐ miǎozhōng, ránhòu rènzhēn de shuō: “Zhè shì wǒ chī guo de zuì tián de xīhóngshì chǎo jīdàn.” Wǒmen zuìhòu diǎn le wàimài.
Last night I cooked for my girlfriend for the first time. I found a recipe online that looked simple. But I mistook the sugar for salt and added two heaping spoonfuls. My girlfriend took one bite, went quiet for a few seconds, then said solemnly: "This is the sweetest tomato-and-egg stir-fry I have ever eaten." In the end we ordered delivery.
Words to know: 菜谱 (菜譜) càipǔ — recipe · 当成 (當成) dàngchéng — to mistake for · 外卖 (外賣) wàimài — food delivery (Taiwan: 外送 wàisòng); tomato is 西红柿 (西紅柿) xīhóngshì on the Mainland, 番茄 fānqié in Taiwan
7. Night market in Taiwan
Intermediate · ~105 characters
去年我去台湾旅行,最喜欢的地方是夜市。晚上七点以后,街上到处都是人。我吃了牛肉面、臭豆腐,还喝了一大杯珍珠奶茶。卖奶茶的老板听说我在学中文,就慢慢地跟我聊天,还教我说“好好吃”。在台湾,人们坐捷运、骑机车,说话很客气,我觉得特别亲切。
Qùnián wǒ qù Táiwān lǚxíng, zuì xǐhuan de dìfang shì yèshì. Wǎnshang qī diǎn yǐhòu, jiē shang dàochù dōu shì rén. Wǒ chī le niúròumiàn, chòudòufu, hái hē le yí dà bēi zhēnzhū nǎichá. Mài nǎichá de lǎobǎn tīngshuō wǒ zài xué Zhōngwén, jiù mànmàn de gēn wǒ liáotiān, hái jiāo wǒ shuō “hǎo hǎochī”. Zài Táiwān, rénmen zuò jiéyùn, qí jīchē, shuōhuà hěn kèqi, wǒ juéde tèbié qīnqiè.
Last year I traveled to Taiwan, and my favorite place was the night market. After seven in the evening the streets are packed. I ate beef noodles and stinky tofu, and drank a huge cup of bubble tea. When the tea-stand owner heard I was learning Chinese, he chatted with me slowly and taught me to say "hǎo hǎochī" — "SO delicious." In Taiwan people ride the MRT and scooters and speak so politely; the whole place felt warm to me.
Words to know: 夜市 yèshì — night market · 捷运 (捷運) jiéyùn — the Taiwan MRT (Mainland metro: 地铁/地鐵 dìtiě) · 机车 (機車) jīchē — scooter (Taiwan usage; the Mainland says 摩托车/摩托車 mótuōchē)
8. Grandma learns voice messages
Intermediate · ~105 characters
我奶奶今年七十岁,上个星期她学会了用手机发语音。现在她每天早上给全家人发消息:“吃早饭了吗?多穿点衣服!”昨天她还学会了发照片,给我发了二十张她种的花。爸爸说手机太吵了,可是我知道,他每一条都认真听完了。
Wǒ nǎinai jīnnián qīshí suì, shàng ge xīngqī tā xuéhuì le yòng shǒujī fā yǔyīn. Xiànzài tā měi tiān zǎoshang gěi quánjiā rén fā xiāoxi: “Chī zǎofàn le ma? Duō chuān diǎn yīfu!” Zuótiān tā hái xuéhuì le fā zhàopiàn, gěi wǒ fā le èrshí zhāng tā zhòng de huā. Bàba shuō shǒujī tài chǎo le, kěshì wǒ zhīdào, tā měi yì tiáo dōu rènzhēn tīng wán le.
My grandma is seventy this year, and last week she learned to send voice messages. Now she messages the whole family every morning: "Have you eaten breakfast? Put on more clothes!" Yesterday she also learned to send photos, and sent me twenty pictures of the flowers she grows. Dad says the phone is too noisy — but I know he listens to every single message to the end.
Words to know: 语音 (語音) yǔyīn — voice message · 消息 xiāoxi — message, news (Taiwan often says 讯息/訊息 xùnxí) · 吵 chǎo — noisy
Advanced Chinese paragraphs
These run 150+ characters with longer sentence chains, more abstract vocabulary, and some literary flavor — the register you meet in essays and serialized fiction rather than in dialogues.
9. Why I kept going
Advanced · ~185 characters
很多人问我为什么坚持学中文。说实话,一开始只是因为工作需要,可是学着学着,我发现自己真正喜欢上了这门语言。汉字像一幅幅小画,每个字背后都有故事;声调像音乐,同一个音,不同的调,意思就完全不一样。当然,学习的过程并不轻松。我也有过想放弃的时候,特别是发现自己学了两年,还看不懂报纸的那天。后来我改变了方法:不再死记单词,而是每天读一个适合自己水平的小故事。慢慢地,阅读从“作业”变成了“享受”。现在回头看,那个决定改变了一切。
Hěn duō rén wèn wǒ wèishénme jiānchí xué Zhōngwén. Shuō shíhuà, yì kāishǐ zhǐshì yīnwèi gōngzuò xūyào, kěshì xué zhe xué zhe, wǒ fāxiàn zìjǐ zhēnzhèng xǐhuan shàng le zhè mén yǔyán. Hànzì xiàng yì fú fú xiǎo huà, měi ge zì bèihòu dōu yǒu gùshi; shēngdiào xiàng yīnyuè, tóng yí ge yīn, bùtóng de diào, yìsi jiù wánquán bù yíyàng. Dāngrán, xuéxí de guòchéng bìng bù qīngsōng. Wǒ yě yǒu guo xiǎng fàngqì de shíhou, tèbié shì fāxiàn zìjǐ xué le liǎng nián, hái kàn bu dǒng bàozhǐ de nà tiān. Hòulái wǒ gǎibiàn le fāngfǎ: bú zài sǐjì dāncí, érshì měi tiān dú yí ge shìhé zìjǐ shuǐpíng de xiǎo gùshi. Mànmàn de, yuèdú cóng “zuòyè” biànchéng le “xiǎngshòu”. Xiànzài huítóu kàn, nà ge juédìng gǎibiàn le yíqiè.
People often ask why I've stuck with Chinese. Honestly, at first it was just for work — but somewhere along the way I found I genuinely loved the language. Characters are like little paintings, each with a story behind it; tones are like music — same sound, different pitch, completely different meaning. Of course the process isn't easy. I wanted to quit too, especially the day I realized that after two years I still couldn't read a newspaper. Then I changed my method: no more rote-memorizing word lists — instead, one small story at my level every day. Slowly, reading turned from "homework" into "pleasure." Looking back now, that decision changed everything.
Words to know: 坚持 (堅持) jiānchí — to persist · 死记 (死記) sǐjì — to memorize by rote · 享受 xiǎngshòu — enjoyment, to enjoy
10. Moving home
Advanced · ~175 characters
我在大城市工作了五年,去年决定搬回老家。朋友们都不理解:大城市机会多、工资高,为什么要回去?我的答案很简单:生活不只是工作。在城市里,我每天挤一个小时的地铁,晚上加班到九点,周末只想睡觉。回到老家以后,我的工资少了三分之一,可是我每天可以走路上班,中午回家吃妈妈做的饭,晚上有时间跑步、看书。最重要的是,我又开始做自己喜欢的事情了。有人说这是逃避,我倒觉得,知道自己要什么,才是真正的勇敢。
Wǒ zài dà chéngshì gōngzuò le wǔ nián, qùnián juédìng bān huí lǎojiā. Péngyoumen dōu bù lǐjiě: dà chéngshì jīhuì duō, gōngzī gāo, wèishénme yào huíqù? Wǒ de dá'àn hěn jiǎndān: shēnghuó bù zhǐshì gōngzuò. Zài chéngshì li, wǒ měi tiān jǐ yí ge xiǎoshí de dìtiě, wǎnshang jiābān dào jiǔ diǎn, zhōumò zhǐ xiǎng shuìjiào. Huí dào lǎojiā yǐhòu, wǒ de gōngzī shǎo le sān fēn zhī yī, kěshì wǒ měi tiān kěyǐ zǒulù shàngbān, zhōngwǔ huí jiā chī māma zuò de fàn, wǎnshang yǒu shíjiān pǎobù, kàn shū. Zuì zhòngyào de shì, wǒ yòu kāishǐ zuò zìjǐ xǐhuan de shìqing le. Yǒu rén shuō zhè shì táobì, wǒ dào juéde, zhīdào zìjǐ yào shénme, cái shì zhēnzhèng de yǒnggǎn.
I worked in a big city for five years; last year I decided to move back to my hometown. My friends didn't get it: big cities mean more opportunities and higher pay — why go back? My answer is simple: life is more than work. In the city I squeezed onto the metro for an hour each day, worked overtime until nine, and spent weekends wanting only to sleep. Back home my salary is a third smaller, but I walk to work, eat my mom's cooking at lunch, and have evenings for running and reading. Most importantly, I'm doing the things I love again. Some people call it running away. I'd say knowing what you actually want is the braver thing.
Words to know: 挤 (擠) jǐ — to squeeze, to crowd · 加班 jiābān — to work overtime · 逃避 táobì — to run away from, to avoid
11. The noodle shop downstairs
Advanced · ~175 characters
我家楼下有一家小面馆,老板是一对六十多岁的夫妻。十年来,他们每天早上五点开门,面的价格几乎没有涨过。熟客进门不用点菜,老板看一眼就知道:“老样子?”有一次我感冒了,说话的声音很奇怪,老板娘二话不说,在我的面里加了很多姜,还不肯收钱。后来我搬家了,离面馆有半个城市那么远,可是每个月我还是会回去吃一碗面。朋友笑我傻,为一碗面坐一个小时的车。他们不懂,我吃的不是面,是一种被人记住的感觉。
Wǒ jiā lóuxià yǒu yì jiā xiǎo miànguǎn, lǎobǎn shì yí duì liùshí duō suì de fūqī. Shí nián lái, tāmen měi tiān zǎoshang wǔ diǎn kāimén, miàn de jiàgé jīhū méiyǒu zhǎng guo. Shúkè jìn mén bú yòng diǎn cài, lǎobǎn kàn yì yǎn jiù zhīdào: “Lǎo yàngzi?” Yǒu yí cì wǒ gǎnmào le, shuōhuà de shēngyīn hěn qíguài, lǎobǎnniáng èr huà bù shuō, zài wǒ de miàn li jiā le hěn duō jiāng, hái bù kěn shōu qián. Hòulái wǒ bānjiā le, lí miànguǎn yǒu bàn ge chéngshì nàme yuǎn, kěshì měi ge yuè wǒ háishi huì huíqù chī yì wǎn miàn. Péngyou xiào wǒ shǎ, wèi yì wǎn miàn zuò yí ge xiǎoshí de chē. Tāmen bù dǒng, wǒ chī de bú shì miàn, shì yì zhǒng bèi rén jìzhù de gǎnjué.
Downstairs from my place there's a little noodle shop run by a couple in their sixties. For ten years they've opened at five every morning, and the price of a bowl has barely gone up. Regulars don't need to order — one glance and the owner asks, "The usual?" Once I had a cold and my voice sounded strange; without a word, his wife piled ginger into my noodles and refused to take my money. I've since moved half a city away, but I still go back once a month for a bowl. My friends laugh at me — an hour's ride for noodles. They don't understand: it isn't the noodles I'm eating, it's the feeling of being remembered.
Words to know: 熟客 shúkè — regular customer · 二话不说 (二話不說) èr huà bù shuō — without a word of discussion · 姜 (薑) jiāng — ginger
12. Grandpa's letters
Advanced · ~185 characters
爷爷有一个木盒子,里面放着他和奶奶年轻时写的信。那时候没有手机,他在北方当兵,奶奶在南方教书,一封信要走半个月。爷爷说,正因为慢,每个字都要想很久才写下来;信寄出去以后,等待本身也变成了一种甜蜜。去年奶奶去世了,爷爷开始教我用毛笔写字。他说:“现在你们什么都快,吃饭快,说话快,连喜欢一个人都快。可是真正重要的东西,都是慢慢来的。”我不完全同意他的话,但我把它记在了本子上——用笔,一个字一个字地写。
Yéye yǒu yí ge mù hézi, lǐmiàn fàng zhe tā hé nǎinai niánqīng shí xiě de xìn. Nà shíhou méiyǒu shǒujī, tā zài běifāng dāngbīng, nǎinai zài nánfāng jiāoshū, yì fēng xìn yào zǒu bàn ge yuè. Yéye shuō, zhèng yīnwèi màn, měi ge zì dōu yào xiǎng hěn jiǔ cái xiě xiàlái; xìn jì chūqù yǐhòu, děngdài běnshēn yě biànchéng le yì zhǒng tiánmì. Qùnián nǎinai qùshì le, yéye kāishǐ jiāo wǒ yòng máobǐ xiě zì. Tā shuō: “Xiànzài nǐmen shénme dōu kuài, chīfàn kuài, shuōhuà kuài, lián xǐhuan yí ge rén dōu kuài. Kěshì zhēnzhèng zhòngyào de dōngxi, dōu shì mànmàn lái de.” Wǒ bù wánquán tóngyì tā de huà, dàn wǒ bǎ tā jì zài le běnzi shang — yòng bǐ, yí ge zì yí ge zì de xiě.
Grandpa keeps a wooden box of the letters he and Grandma wrote when they were young. There were no phones then — he was a soldier in the north, she taught school in the south, and a letter took two weeks to arrive. Precisely because it was slow, he says, every character was worth a long think before it was written; and once a letter was sent, the waiting itself became a kind of sweetness. Grandma passed away last year, and Grandpa has started teaching me to write with a brush. "Everything is fast for your generation," he says. "You eat fast, talk fast — you even fall in love fast. But the things that really matter all come slowly." I don't entirely agree with him — but I wrote it down in my notebook, with a pen, one character at a time.
Words to know: 当兵 (當兵) dāngbīng — to serve as a soldier · 等待 děngdài — to wait, waiting · 甜蜜 tiánmì — sweetness, sweet
How do you practice with Chinese paragraphs?
A paragraph is the perfect rep size — big enough to carry context, small enough to finish — but only if you work it, not just skim it. The routine that gets the most out of each passage:
- First pass, no pinyin. Read the characters and get the gist. Guess unknown words from context before touching the gloss — that guessing muscle is the one that eventually reads native text.
- Second pass, check yourself. Uncover the pinyin and translation. Note where your pronunciation or meaning was off; those are your two or three new words for the day.
- Third pass, read for speed. Same paragraph, no stops. When it flows, read it aloud once — welding sound to characters is free listening practice.
- Come back tomorrow. A one-minute re-read the next day does more for retention than ten minutes of flashcards on the same words.
And know what paragraphs are for: a level check and a daily warm-up, not a full diet. Twelve passages can show you your level; they can't give you the volume that actually grows it. When a section here feels easy, the next step is full graded stories at that same level — same difficulty, twenty times the reading volume, with audio and tap-to-look-up. If you're at the beginner tier, the step-by-step ramp is in Chinese reading practice for beginners.
Frequently asked questions
What level are these Chinese paragraphs?
The beginner set sticks to roughly HSK 1–2 vocabulary (about 300 words) with anything harder glossed. The intermediate set assumes around HSK 3 (600–1,000 words), and the advanced set suits learners around HSK 4–5 who are comfortable with longer sentence chains and some abstract vocabulary.
Are the paragraphs simplified or traditional Chinese?
The passages above are in simplified characters, and the glosses give traditional forms where they differ (like 饭/飯 and 捷运/捷運). Neither script is "the correct one" — in our app every story renders in Simplified or Traditional with pinyin or zhuyin, so you can read the same content in whichever system you're learning.
Should I read the characters or the pinyin first?
Characters first, always. If pinyin is visible, your eyes will read it instead of the hanzi, and the characters never get learned. Cover the pinyin line, read the characters, then use pinyin to verify pronunciation afterward.
How many unknown words are too many?
More than two or three unknown words per paragraph means the level above your comfortable one. Reading works best when you know roughly 98% of the words — at that density, unknown words are puzzles you can solve from context instead of walls that stop you.
Where can I find longer Chinese reading passages?
Graded stories are the natural next step — full narratives written at a controlled level. Literate Chinese has 650+ of them matched to the words you actually know, with audio in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin; there are also paper graded readers if you prefer books.
