Fully revised, chapters cover key aspects of life in the People's Republic of China, including religion, the history and impact of the Communist Party, familial relationships, ethnicity, gender, the media, the environment, and the education system, and provides a user-friendly and comprehensive introduction to issues affecting Chinese society today. It also includes handy pedagogical features such as a chronology of the People's Republic of China; a glossary; further reading suggestions, related novels, films, and autobiographies.

Updates for this edition include new chapters on China's emerging civil society, rapid urbanization and environmental degradation, along with a new introduction.

Xiaowei Zang is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Chair Professor of Social Sciences at City University of Hong Kong, China.

1. Introduction 2. Sources of Chinese identity 3. Rituals and the life cycle 4. Family and marriage 5. Gender and sexuality 6. Contested ground: Community and neighbourhood 7. Education 8. Status and Hierarchy 9. Ethnic minorities 10. Transformation of work in post-Mao China 11. Urbanization and its impacts on China 12. The mass media 13. Environmental protection 14. Civil society in a birdcage? 15. Government and changing state-society relations