This book is in the Chinese Reading for Practical Purposes: Step by Step series. It is at Reading Level-2. It can be used by learners at HSK Level 3 ~ 5. People who have learned 1,000 Chinese characters or have studied Chinese for more than half a year can also read this book after class or study by themselves.

There are 20 articles altogether, all of which are idioms selected from Chinese ancient fables or fairy tales. The time limit and number of words for each story are given before reading it. In addition to the annotations in pinyin, English, Korean and Japanese for the new words, the corresponding pinyin is also provided for each story. Three columns are designed after the story. In the first part, "Have you understood it"?, four questions are raised to check how well the learners read; in the second part, "Can you use it?", two sample sentences on how to use this idiom are given, the purpose of which is to help learners master the usage of the idiom. The third part, "Synonym idioms", helps students to learn by associating this word with other words. All the new words are annotated in Korean and Japanese and are indexed in the last part of the book for learners.

This book is 17cm*22cm in size. It is dual-color printed with funny illustrations and lively format, which will make you have a good time when reading it. An attached CD provides the recording for each lesson.

Peng Zhiping is Vice President and Associate Professor of the College of Advanced Chinese Training, Beijing Language and Culture University. He has published many textbooks, one of which is Chinese Reading Course. He was the main lecturer in a DVD entitled A Demonstration of Chinese Classroom Instruction - Reading. Besides, Prof. Peng was one of the Executive Editors of Guide to Chinese Proficiency Test HSK Elementary and Intermediate Learners (Revised Edition for Ethnic Groups) and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Road to Success.