Chinese News on the Web
 

I want to start keeping up with news in China as part of learning to speak it. For now, I need either English news or subtitles, on the Web.

Anyone know of such a thing? CNN has a Chinese news show but it's all in Chinese.

Shanghai Daily is in English, sort of the USA Today of China, i get the paper version. Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China News

WSJ has excellent Asian/China coverage with US perspective but requires a subscription. Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - WSJ.com

The Economist has good Asia/China coverage from a European perspective. Economist.com

There is a host of Chinese portals in Chinese...163.com, Sohu.com etc

Just another possibility, see if there's a "meetup" group in your area. Do something, Learn something, Share something, Change something - Meetup.com

There are meetup groups in Houston for folks that are learning/want to practice speaking Japanese. I've read about them, they seem to include, not only lots of folks trying to learn Japanese, but also lots of Japanese who may be new to the area and use helping folks learn to speak Japanese as a way to meet new people and learn about the area.

Looks like there's a group for folks learning to speak Mandarin in Boston.
The Boston Mandarin Chinese Language Meetup Group (Boston, MA) - Meetup.com

Thanks Alf, good sources, I get The Economist, love it. the Shanghai Daily looks good, I'll make the site a regular part of my day.

Steve, thanks, that Meetup group looks like a great idea.

Thank you Gentlemen!

Try CCTV 9, then move to CCTV 4

Shaun are you learning Chinese? Tell me more.

Thanks Jordi, unfortunately I don't own a TV.

John, nothing to tell now. 4 weeks from now after I ship Spring, I wiil start a serious search in the best way to learn Chinese, and which dialect. Want to start getting engaged with China first via news and then when things settle down, research the best methods and then get to it.

I'm moving my production from India to China. I have a great Chinese production manager, but I really need to learn the language to do what I want to do.

Do you know Chinese? or have plans for learning it yourself?

seems like it will open more doors and China is definitely the future. a good investment.

I'm learning Mandarin Chinese, oral and written, and also studying brush calligraphy. Been doing it for 2 years, but progress is slowish because I don't study as hard as I should and am splitting time between the language study and the calligraphy practice, which unfortunately have not much in common. I already had some spoken Chinese from childhood, but never knew how to read or write.

You can get CCTV 9 online (CCTV.com English - CCTV-9 China Central Television - Latest news, reports, features in China and the World), Mandarin is the only way to go (for mainland China), Cantonese for Hong Kong. For now forget about the dialects, way too many ...

Just learn Mandarin, the dialects are not too useful for biz.

Good deal, thank you guys. I'm also in contact with my old gf who is from China, she's eager to help.

A new girlfriend in China who speaks little English and who is willing to teach you (Chinese) is the best way to learn....or so I've been told from all the other expats. You'll learn quickly if you just dive right into it. Shanghaiexpat .com will answer most of your questions. Good luck and and be wary of the Chinese business culture.