China, what’s it all about, eh? Wouldn’t you like to know how it got to where it is today? Wouldn’t you like to hear some of the magnificent stories from its 5,000 year history?

But where do you start? I am fascinated by Chinese history but my knowledge is piecemeal. There’s just so much of it! You can get lost in Wikipedia immediately. “Who’s that guy? What war is that? I never even heard of the dynasty. What part of the country is that in?”

I listen to a lot of podcasts, lectures and talks online while I am doing housework, cooking and any menial task. So I went looking for a history of china series. And, boy, did I find one.

As fas as I can tell, Chris Stewart is an American teacher living in Shanghai. He is a “China history nut”. He started making an episodic, narrative history of China and uploading them over a year ago.

He started way back in the mythic history and is moving forward chronologically, with the occasional aside to discuss sources or technology or whatever.

There’s between two to four released a month. He’s done 76 so far. Each is around 30 minutes long, though some are pushing 50 mins. There must be at least 40hrs of content.

So he must be just about done, right? Coming up to the 20th Century..? Nope! He’s only up to 589 CE!

The first few episodes are a little clunky in places and the jokes are little nerdy and lame (endearingly so). But the tone and content are good and then they continue to improve. Chris finds his voice (and a new microphone) really quickly. For an amateur broadcaster doing this for the love of the subject, it is excellent.

I urge you to check out the History of China Podcast on Soundcloud (there’s probably other ways to listen, I dunno).

This is The History of China Podcast Website . Here you can find descriptions on the content and go to a specific era of interest. You can also download the episodes. And you can show your appreciation by donating some money.

Follow Chris on Twitter

Go check it out!