Chinese Stories
Read 3 A1 Daily Life Chinese stories with learner-friendly audio, images, vocabulary, and comprehension practice.
Each of these 3 stories is written at the A1 level around daily life themes, so you build vocabulary in context while reading Chinese you can actually understand. Read once for the gist, then tap any unfamiliar word for an instant translation. Most stories here include native-speaker audio narration — read first, then listen again to connect spelling with pronunciation.

A note that popped out after the vending machine swallowed the coin
A heartwarming story about a daily interaction between a girl and a vending machine repairman through handwritten notes.

Why does the hallway light always go out at ten o'clock?
A girl named Meimei wonders why the hallway light turns off at 10 PM and discovers a kind old man's secret.

地铁失物招领处堆满的雨伞
A kind worker at the subway's lost and found office helps a young girl retrieve a special, sentimental umbrella.
Daily Life stories at other levels
Right topic, wrong difficulty? Read the same theme one level up or down.
How to read A1 Daily Life stories
At A1, look for high-frequency everyday vocabulary: greetings, family, food, places. These stories repeat core words on purpose, so re-reading the same story two or three times is one of the fastest ways to make beginner vocabulary stick.
Read each story twice: once for the main idea without stopping, then again while tapping the highlighted vocabulary. Finish with the comprehension quiz — if you get most answers right, you are reading at the right level. When a story starts to feel easy, move up a level using the links above.