For those of you currently in China and wanting to buy the Chinese Breeze graded reader (300-500 characters) series, they can be had for only 11.20 RMB each at amazon.cn:

Level 1:

http://www.amazon.cn/%E6%88%91%E5%8F%AF%E4%BB%A5%E8%AF%B7%E4%BD%A0%E8%B7%B3%E8%88%9E%E5%90%97-%E8%B5%B5%E7%BB%8D%E7%8E%B2/dp/B001CNOVCC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335374522&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E6%88%91%E4%B8%80%E5%AE%9A%E8%A6%81%E6%89%BE%E5%88%B0%E5%A5%B9-%E5%88%98%E6%9C%88%E5%8D%8E/dp/B00127AJFQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335374578&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E5%90%91%E5%B7%A6%E5%90%91%E5%8F%B3-%E7%89%9B%E7%AB%A5/dp/B001CNU8GK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335374631&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E4%B8%A4%E4%B8%AA%E6%83%B3%E4%B8%8A%E5%A4%A9%E7%9A%84%E5%AD%A9%E5%AD%90-%E5%88%98%E6%9C%88%E5%8D%8E/dp/B0017RBS2E/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335374698&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E4%BD%A0%E6%9C%80%E5%96%9C%E6%AC%A2%E8%B0%81-%E6%B8%A9%E9%87%91%E6%B5%B7/dp/B001I45EEO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335374759&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E9%94%99%E9%94%99%E9%94%99-%E5%88%98%E6%9C%88%E5%8D%8E/dp/B00127AJG0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335374881&sr=1-1

Level 2:

http://www.amazon.cn/%E9%9D%92%E5%87%A4-%E5%88%98%E6%9C%88%E5%8D%8E-%E5%82%A8%E8%AF%9A%E5%BF%97/dp/B0027Z5B7I/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335374958&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E5%A6%88%E5%A6%88%E5%92%8C%E5%84%BF%E5%AD%90-%E7%8E%8B%E7%81%B5%E4%B9%A6/dp/B002YK4SMU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335375008&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E5%87%BA%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%A5%E5%90%8E/dp/B003ES4IJE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335375101&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E6%88%91%E5%AE%B6%E7%9A%84%E5%A4%A7%E9%9B%81%E9%A3%9E%E8%B5%B0%E4%BA%86/dp/B001P05D6A/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335375126&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%94%B5%E8%84%91%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8%E7%9A%84%E7%A7%98%E5%AF%86/dp/B001S2QP0S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335375173&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E5%A6%82%E6%9E%9C%E6%B2%A1%E6%9C%89%E4%BD%A0-%E8%B5%B5%E7%BB%8D%E7%8E%B2/dp/B002JCU3RC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335375194&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.cn/%E4%B8%80%E5%BC%A0%E6%97%A7%E7%94%BB%E5%84%BF-%E8%B5%B5%E7%BB%8D%E7%8E%B2/dp/B0049XXJ98/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335375220&sr=1-1


Level 3:

http://www.amazon.cn/%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87%E5%88%86%E7%BA%A7%E7%B3%BB%E5%88%97%E8%AF%BB%E7%89%A9-750%E8%AF%8D%E7%BA%A7%E2%80%A2%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%89%E5%8F%AA%E7%9C%BC%E7%9D%9B/dp/B005JRCAVQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335375586&sr=8-1

List based on the ISBN numbers mentioned at http://www.cheng-tsui.com/store/products/chinese_breeze.

That's an awesome price! I'd recommend them.

I've still got a handful of the easy ones that were passed on by Skritterers. I'm reading them very slowly, but if anyone in the UK wants them, let me know :)

Hi Catherine, I wouldn't mind them to borrow for a bit if you would be so kind, thanks, Matthew

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@Catherine: the total works out to less than 160 RMB (19 euro, $25) for 14 readers including MP3 CD. I wish I had ordered them while I was still in China last week.

I've recently purchased some of the Chinese breeze books and I'm enjoying reading them. It's nice, after all my practice, to be able to read every character in a book. Although, sometimes I can understand every character, every word and still can't understand the meaning :)

I bought the first set of the easiest ones from Cheng & Tsui on line. The first set is for readers with a vocabulary of 300 words. Only a few additional words necessary to the story are added.

http://www.cheng-tsui.com/

http://www.cheng-tsui.com/search/node/Chinese+Breeze

@malaili2: some links for you:

http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/phpbbforum/chinese-graded-readers-best-way-to-learn-a-language-t140148.html
http://extras.zhongweb.org/2011/01/chinese-breeze-graded-readers/#.T5mJt6vDRH8
http://www.mandarinmentor.com/?page_id=84
http://www.perapera.org/chinese-reader/

This May 2008 newsletter of the Chinese Language Teachers Association (http://newsletter.clta-us.org/2008/0805/news0805.pdf) states some lofty goals for the Chinese Breeze series on page 19:

--
Chinese Breeze Graded Reader Series
《汉语风》中文分级系列读物
Published by Peking University Press 北京大学出
版社出版

Hànyǔ Fēng (Chinese Breeze) is a large and innovative Chinese graded reader series which offers over 60 titles of enjoyable stories at eight language levels. It is designed for college and secondary school Chinese language learners from beginning to advanced levels (including AP Chinese students), offering them a new opportunity to read for pleasure and simultaneously developing real fluency, building confidence, and increasing motivation for Chinese learning. Hànyǔ Fēng has the following main features:

 Eight carefully graded levels increasing from
8,000 to 30,000 characters in length to suit the
reading competence of first through fourth year Chinese students:

Level 1: 300 base words
Level 2: 500 base words
Level 3: 750 base words
Level 4: 1,100 base words
Level 5: 1,500 base words
Level 6: 2,100 base words
Level 7: 3,000 base words
Level 8: 4,500 base words

 Wide choice of topics to meet the diverse interests of learners
 Most useful words for actual communication
 Carefully controlled distribution of vocabulary, highly recycled base words in various contexts
 Easy to understand, low new word density, convenient new word glosses and indexes
 Mostly original stories crafted by professional writers teamed with pedagogical experts
 Attractive plots
 Authentic and engaging language
 Fully illustrated texts with appealing layouts
 A variety of activities with answer key
 Accompanying audio CDs with two speed (normal and slow) choices

The Hànyǔ Fēng (Chinese Breeze) readers are scheduled for publication in succession since November 2007 by Peking University Press. The following are the 5 titles (Level 1：300 word level) released already:

1. I really want to find her… 《我一定要找到她》
2. Wrong, wrong, wrong! 《错错错》
3. Two children seeking the Joy Bridge 《两个向上天的孩子》
4. Left and Right: the conjoined brothers 《向左向右》
5. Can I dance with you? 《我可以请你跳舞吗？》
--

However, it took them 4 years to come up with the first Level 3 book. The websites mentioned in the article above seem to be discontinued. Does anyone know if the same is true for the series? And if so, how to continue after doing the first two levels? Many sources still highly recommended them, but there seems to be a big gap between the 500 characters of this series and 1000 characters or more that other available Chinese graded readers require.

I think there is probably decreasing interest in the series at higher levels, which is why they've focused on lower levels with their limited resources. By the time a learner is to level 3-5 they should be comfortable tackling low level books intended for very early native readers, and beyond level 5 other forms of native content should be approachable - young adult level stories and later novels or newspaper articles; particularly with the help of Pleco's reader combined with tools that can give vocabulary sheets to study prior to reading a chapter. Not to mention that there are other graded reader series at a higher level, usually focusing on business or economic topics (or at least that I've seen).

From what I've read Chinese Breeze is a great resource for early learners, as they can do a lot to boost confidence, but at some point its necessary to take off the 'training wheels' and dive into genuine native content.

I discovered that the vocabulary for most of the Chinese Breeze graded readers is already present in Skritter (all but the last two books, in fact and compiled the following list:


Level 1 (300 words):

我可以请你跳舞？ (Can I Dance With You?)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=153773513

我一定要找到她…… (I Really Want to Find Her...)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=39337098

向左向右 (Left And Right: The Conjoined Brothers)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=98454740

两个想上天的孩子 (Two Children Seeking the Joy Bridge)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=39374583

你最喜欢谁？ (Whom Do You Like More?)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=98714981

错，错，错！ (Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=39367650


Level 2 (500 words):

青凤 (Green Phoenix)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=39383571

妈妈和儿子 (Mother and Son)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=39343099

出事以后 (After the Accident)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=39343099

我的大雁飞走了 (Our Geese Have Gone)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=154970936

电脑公司的秘密 (Secrets of a Computer Company)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=39380555

如果没有你 (If I Didn’t Have You)
http://www.skritter.com/vocab/list?list=39380582

一张旧画儿 (An Old Painting)
-missing-


Level 3 (750 words)

第三只眼睛 (The Third Eye)
-missing-

Is there a list of the 300 words that you're supposed to have to read the level 1 books?