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A story every day, at your level.
No subscription needed
- One daily story and one Beginner story, every day
- The cartoon of the week
- Chats with 灯灯 and friends, and 老师, every week
- Flashcards of the words you tap
Stories from China, in Chinese you can read.
Hundreds of real stories from China, new every day. Every word you tap joins your review queue.
Your first story is waiting.
Free to start — no payment needed.
Try the reader · switch levels · tap any word
Today’s storyTap any word
广东潮州鸵鸟跑到马路上
Ostrich on Road in Chaozhou, Guangdong
An ostrich from a villager's home in Chaozhou, Guangdong ran out.
The owner did not keep a good eye on the ostrich.
9 2 0
Around 9:20 in the morning, it ran out of the house and later onto the road.
There were many cars on the road at the time, and a dog was chasing it.
Several times, cars almost hit it—it was very dangerous.
1 1 3 0
At 11:30, the owner finally found it.
No one was injured, and no cars were damaged.
In the end, the ostrich returned home safely.
Tap any word above for pinyin and meaning.
Every story is edited by a person
Three new stories every day. In the app, the words you tap become your review practice.
The edition for November 3今日故事
Read real stories from China.
3 new every day, each written at three levels. Switch the level to see the same story change.
Messages聊天
Chat like a local.
灯灯 and friends text you every day, in Chinese at your level.
亮亮 · Liangliang
Morning! I had a jianbing. So good!
Look, Dengdeng had one too, and started dancing!
0:05
哈哈，太可爱了！Haha, so cute!
Cartoons动画
Level up your listening.
Dengdeng Originals cartoons, with every word of the captions a tap away.
北京野生动物园举办抓“毛毛虫”大赛 · Easy
灯灯
Liangliang, a kind of caterpillar recently appeared in Beijing.
Tap a word to pause on it
How words stick复习
Learn every word you tap.
Flashcards and fill-in-the-blank, made from your words.
Studying for HSK? The HSK 3.0 words for every level, 1 to 7–9.
- HSK 1
- HSK 2
- HSK 3
- HSK 4
- HSK 5
- HSK 6
- HSK 7–9
Practice
1 of 3
Beginner stories入门
Start from your first words.
Hundreds of Beginner stories. One free every day.
New to Chinese? Start with the free guideBeginner
HSK 1–2
Easy
HSK 1–3
Medium
HSK 3–4
Hard
HSK 5+
Not sure where to start?你的水平
Pick the sentences you can read, and Dengdeng suggests a starting level. You can change it any time.
Pricing价格
Free to start.
Start free. Pro opens every story, cartoon and practice tool.
Dengdeng Pro
Every story, cartoon and practice tool.
- Monthly
- / month
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- / year
Prices for
- Every daily story, the full archive and every Beginner story
- Every cartoon
- Chats with 灯灯 and friends, and 老师, with no weekly limit
- Every practice tool
Your exact price, any free trial, and billing options are shown in the app before you subscribe.
Questions常见问题
Before you start.
Anyone who wants to read Chinese, from early learners to people preparing for HSK or moving past lesson apps. Dengdeng is on the App Store for iOS and on Google Play for Android. The level check on this page helps you pick a starting point.
No. Tap any word you don’t know, and its pinyin and English meaning appear. Beginner stories are short and simple, with pinyin over every word, for your first months of Chinese.
The daily stories come at three reading levels. As a rough guide against HSK 3.0 vocabulary, Easy is around levels 1–3, Medium around 3–4, and Hard from level 5 up. If Easy is still too hard, Beginner is a separate set of short stories, around HSK 3.0 levels 1–2. Start where most sentences are readable, and switch at any time.
The words you tap go into Your words. A few new words start each day, from Your words and any decks you learn, such as HSK 3.0. They come back as flashcards and fill-in-the-blank sentences when they are due. Scheduling runs on FSRS-5, tuned conservatively. The method page has the details.
Read the full methodologyDengdeng Pro has monthly and yearly subscriptions. Prices vary by country and store. The pricing section shows the store prices for your country, and you can pick another country. Your exact price and any available trial are shown in the app before you subscribe. Pro includes generous use of 老师 and the chats with Dengdeng and his friends for your own learning. Very heavy use slows down for the rest of the day.
