HSK 3 Chinese stories
with reading practice.
Read richer Chinese stories about travel, work, friendship, and classic idioms while building speed beyond sentence-by-sentence study.
- STORIES
- 42
- WITH QUESTIONS
- 42
- SUPPORT
- Pinyin + audio
- TRANSLATION
- English
Three HSK 3 stories to start with
A clever child uses a boat, a waterline, and stones to weigh an elephant.
→月亮上的玉兔The Jade RabbitA gentle moonlit story about the white rabbit who still looks down on the human world.
→雨天的书店The Bookshop on a Rainy DaySheltering from the rain, a reader finds a ten-year-old note hidden inside a secondhand novel.
→HSK 3 reading passages and stories
42 stories currently include three comprehension questions.
月亮上的玉兔
The Jade Rabbit
亡羊补牢
Mend the Pen After Losing a Sheep
画蛇添足
Drawing Legs on a Snake
刻舟求剑
Marking the Boat to Find a Sword
掩耳盗铃
Covering One's Ears While Stealing a Bell
曹冲称象
Cao Chong Weighs an Elephant
自相矛盾
The Spear and the Shield
对牛弹琴
Playing the Lute to a Cow
拔苗助长
Pulling Seedlings to Help Them Grow
叶公好龙
Lord Ye Loves Dragons
朝三暮四
Three in the Morning, Four at Night
手机没电了
My Phone Died
第一次坐高铁
My First High-Speed Train Ride
第一次看房
My First Apartment Viewing
一个人去看医生
Going to the Doctor Alone
第一次参加中国婚礼
My First Chinese Wedding
南辕北辙
Driving North to Go South
铁杵成针
Grinding an Iron Rod into a Needle
雨天的书店
The Bookshop on a Rainy Day
一张旧照片
An Old Photograph
与虎谋皮
Asking a Tiger for Its Skin
手机落在出租车上了
My Phone Was Left in the Taxi
曾子杀猪
Zengzi Kills the Pig
凿壁偷光
Borrowing Light Through the Wall
在图书馆借书
Borrowing Books at the Library
找不到的公交卡
The Missing Bus Card
周末学做菜
Learning to Cook on the Weekend
一封中文邮件
A Chinese Email
第一次参加面试
My First Job Interview
耳机里的会议
The Meeting in the Headphones
第一次去银行办卡
My First Bank Card
机场里找不到的行李
Missing Luggage at the Airport
楼下漏水了
Water Is Leaking Downstairs
买椟还珠
Buy the Box and Return the Pearl
买错日期的电影票
The Movie Ticket for the Wrong Date
拿错的黑皮鞋
The Mixed-Up Black Shoes
三人成虎
Three People Make a Tiger
望梅止渴
Quenching Thirst with Thoughts of Plums
邯郸学步
Learning to Walk in Handan
爸爸也不会
Dad Can't Draw Either
窗边的座位
The Window Seat
照片里少了谁
Who's Missing from the Photo?
Read the whole story
Track motives, consequences, time order, and less familiar vocabulary from context.
Use support carefully
Show pinyin or English when it solves a real reading problem, then hide it again for your second pass.
Check comprehension
Try a full first pass without English, answer the questions, and replay only the sentences that remain unclear.
HSK 3 reading practice questions
What is a HSK 3 story?
A HSK 3 story is a short Chinese reading text recommended for learners working at that level. Shanhai Story assigns levels editorially by checking vocabulary, grammar, sentence length, cultural terms, and the overall reading load; these are not official exam passages.
How many HSK 3 stories are available here?
This collection currently has 42 free HSK 3 Chinese stories. 42 include three comprehension questions, and every story includes pinyin, audio, English translation, and key vocabulary.
Should I keep pinyin visible?
Use pinyin when pronunciation is blocking you. On the second read, hide it and check which characters and words you can recognise without support.
How should I use the comprehension questions?
Answer the questions before opening the English translation. If an answer is wrong, reread the relevant Chinese sentence and replay its audio before trying again.
Which HSK 3 story should I read first?
Start with The Jade Rabbit (月亮上的玉兔). Read once for the main event, answer the three questions, and then replay only the sentences that were unclear.