Webnovels are digitally published, serialized novels, and are massively popular in China. Here, the word ‘serialized’ refers to the unique way in which these webnovels are presented to their audiences — instead of being one big release, webnovels have chapters that are published regularly over a period of time. Many of the most popular webnovels are even traditionally published physically or as ebooks near-verbatim, some recent examples of which include 《鬼吹灯》, 《盗墓笔记》, 《明朝那些事儿》 and 《香蜜沉沉烬如霜》. Likewise, donghua (动画 Chinese animation), manhua (漫画 Chinese comics), TV shows, and movies are often adapted from webnovels.
In recent years, webnovels have also gained popularity outside of China, frequently being officially- or fan-translated. For example, one of the top webnovel platforms, 起点, has been translating and publishing many through their international platform “Webnovel” for a number of years. Similarly, another big name, 晋江文学城, will be rolling out a long-awaited English platform soon.
<aside> <img src="/icons/book-closed_red.svg" alt="/icons/book-closed_red.svg" width="40px" /> To find original Chinese webnovels check the suggested platforms recommended on the Digital Books and Webnovel Services page.
</aside>
Not at all. In fact, paid webnovels on popular platforms such as 起点, 晋江 and 长佩 probably most closely mirror their traditionally published fellows.
Authors must first be noticed by an editor and enter into a contract with the webnovel publishing company before being able to monetize their work. Depending on the type of contract, either the author or the publishing company will hold the right to the wenovel.
In the case when the publishing company holds the rights, they are responsible for promoting it, handling adaptation/traditional publishing deals, and distributing it to other platforms. Although authors won’t receive 100% of the money their novel makes through this model, they have all the messy details handled for them — not to mention guidance from a professional editor.
Nevertheless, some authors under contract continue to occasionally release free novels to boost their readership. Some contracts still have the publishing companies treating these the same as they would with a paid webnovel, such as the free 青梅屿 by 回南雀 (a signed author) that has received physical, audiodrama and manhua adaptations.
Of course, these platforms and companies also offer other authors a space to publish their works, but they are barred from charging money for their chapters. Many, though, still take this route — it is one of the simplest ways to get noticed by editors and gain readers. The competition is stiff even for the latter, and only a small fraction of authors end up getting signed.
Reading broadly is always beneficial for any learner, as doing so gives valuable exposure to nuances of the language. Webnovels are no exception to this rule and have been getting popular amongst Chinese learners for a number of good reasons.
Physical Chinese books can be expensive to purchase outside of China, and not easily available in all regions. Reading digitally is much more accessible — especially considering that many webnovel platforms support foreign telephone numbers, emails, and payment methods.
What’s more, webnovels cost (sometimes literal) pennies. Below are a couple of examples.
开端 by 祈祷君 (total characters: 261,800 / ~ 380 pages)
| Store | Paperback | Digital |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon (US) (International) | ~$18 | ~$10 |
| Books.com.tw (Taiwan) | NTD236 (~$8) | |
| Jingdong (Mainland) | RMB30 (~$5) | |
| 晋江文学城 (Original Webnovel Platform) | - | 608 coins (~$1) |
‣ by 南派三叔 (total characters: 1,475,000 / ~ 2,441 pages)
| Store | Paperback | Digital |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon (International) | ~$120 | |
| Books.com.tw (Taiwan) | NTD2360 (~$80) | |
| Taobao (Mainland) | RMB250 (~$37) | |
| 起点中文网 (Original Webnovel Platform) | - | 6500 coins (~$10) |
A stark difference — and the paperback prices don’t even include shipping! Factor in the fact that some webnovel platforms offer ways to earn chapters for free, the answer cost-wise is pretty clear.
Many webnovels are written using simpler, more informal language, making them more approachable to learners. Chapters are often in the 3,000-4,000 character range, a much less daunting number than those of paperbacks, where this sometimes rises to 5 digits!
Webnovels give authors more space to express themselves; novels traditionally published are generally much more influenced by the wishes of editors, government, and publishers than quickly-released digital content.
Additionally, webnovels don’t have their length constrained by the weight a reader can comfortably carry nor genre to the set publishers are familiar with, meaning that many often explore unique concepts such as 无限流 (infinite flow), 仙侠 (xianxia) and 穿越 (transmigration).
Reading digitally also allows readers to leverage a pop-up Chinese-English or Chinese-Chinese dictionary tool, such as those offered by Readibu or Zhongwen. Without the ease this brings, learners reading novels that are rather difficult for them may struggle or lose motivation.
动漫 is an umbrella term used by many Chinese platforms to encapsulate both animation and comic-style entertainment media from all regions. Some platforms may further offer segmentation and filter options by country of origin.
There are currently three subcategories within this top-level category.
Manhua (漫画), sometimes known as Chinese comics, are stories told through coloured graphics and dialogues. In China, the term 漫画 is used to describe all graphical stories regardless of the original origin. In the overseas community, the term manhua is used to differentiate comics made in China from those produced in other countries.
With the rise in smartphones and tablets, many modern manhuas produced in China are designed “mobile-first” - meaning they are drawn, laid out and optimised for a mobile device (i.e. to be read from top to bottom, laid out for scrolling).
A few entertainment platforms such as Bilibili and Webtoons have released an international service serving manhua in their original language as well as translated versions.
Donghua (动画) is the term used by the overseas community to refer to animations made in China. In China, all animations regardless of country of origin are called 动画. Chinese animation has become quite popular with the overseas community in recent years, pushing many production companies to bring more and more China-produced animations to international platforms like Netflix and Youtube, as well as on their own international services such as WeTV and iQiyi.
Voiced comic (有声漫), also sometimes known as 漫剧 (manhua/comic drama), is a relatively new form of Chinese entertainment medium. It’s in between a manhua (漫画 - Chinese comic) and a donghua (动画 - Chinese animation). They are short, lightly animated and fully voiced videos created with images from the manhua.
As this form of entertainment is still in the early stages, the amount of content available is quite limited. Accessing and purchasing these can be challenging because they’re only available on a few Chinese media platforms. Chinese Biliblili Manga App (mobile only) 快看漫画 App (mobile only) and 猫耳FM have a section on voiced comics.
Audio-only media is becoming popular among the Chinese community, and they currently come in two forms: audiobooks (有声书) and audiodramas (广播剧).
An audiobook (有声书) is a recording of a book being read out loud by one or multiple people. Multicast highly-immersive audiobooks (多人有声剧) are becoming extremely popular in the audiobook scene and are becoming the new standard for audiobooks. Almost all recent licenced production by large studios will be recorded by a cast of multiple voice actors and produced with high-quality music and sound effects for an immersive experience.
Chinese platforms often use different terms to help differentiate the various different types of audiobooks. Unfortunately, the terminologies used are not completely consistent across all platforms. We have listed some to help you get started in differentiating the different types and find the content you’re interested in.
| Chinese term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 听书 | A term used by some media platforms to categorize the audiobook section. |
| 有声书 | Umbrella term for all audiobooks |
| 有声小说 | Audio recording of a fictional novel - typically produced with one narrator |
| 双人有声小说 | Duel cast audio recording of a fictional novel |
| 多人有声剧 | Multicast highly-immersive audio recordings of a book (usually of fictional work) - these typically are produced with sound effects and music. |
Audiodramas are dramas produced in an audio format only. Stories are often told through dialogues, music and sound effects with little to no narration - you can imagine these like a drama without visuals.
These are sometimes confused with multicast high-production audiobooks (多人有声剧). Even when produced by a large cast of voice actors, with high-quality music and sound effects, audiobooks at the core are always a recording of the original text - whereby you can often follow along with the text. Audiodramas on the other hand can be an original piece or an audio adaptation of the original work. When it’s an adaptation from the original work, it won’t necessarily follow the original exactly, and may even have scenes excluded or new scenes put in - similar to other adaptations such as dramas and movies.