Part 1 : A general introduction to China. Land -- People -- Languages -- History -- Religion -- Customs -- Music and performing arts -- Fine arts and architecture -- Literature -- Storytelling in China -- Part 2 : Food, games, and crafts. Food -- Jiaozi (dumplings) -- Hongzao niagao (New Year's cake with dates) -- Laba zhou (the twelfth month congee) -- Zongzi (dumplings in bamboo or reed leaves) -- Zhima shaobing (sesame cake) -- Yuanxiao (rice dumplings) -- Dandanmain (Sichuan noodle) -- Yuebing (moon cake) -- Bqan douya (bean sprout salad) -- Suanlatang (hot and sour soup) -- Jiang niurou (multiflavored beef) -- Fanqi chao jidan (stir-fried tomato and eggs) -- Games. Laoying zhuo xiaoji (eagle and chicks) -- Tiaoma (horse jumping) -- Zhuangguai (leg bumping) -- Jiguchaunhua (drum and flower) -- Diushoupa (drop the handkerchief) -- Crafts. Cutting a Chinese knot -- Tying a Chinese knot -- Making a lantern -- Folding a Chinese boat.

Part 3 : The tales. Animal tales. Monkey fishing the moon -- A frog in a well -- A fox and a tiger : who is the real king of the jungle? -- A tiger that first sees a donkey -- Wolf "mother" -- A monkey and a tiger -- Magic tales. Nezha fights sea dragons -- A beauty on a painting scroll -- The field-snail fairy -- Dragon princess -- The magic lotus lantern -- Monkey king the iron fan princess -- A cricket boy. Tales of love and romance. The butterfly lovers -- A forsaken wife and her unfaithful husband -- A peacock flying southeast -- Cowherd and weaving girl -- Meng Jiang wails at the Great Wall -- A romance of Zhang Gong and Cui Yingying -- Xu Xuan and his white-snake wife -- Myths, legends, and immortals. Guanyin, goddess of mercy -- Mazu, mother goddess of the sea -- A dancing crane -- Eight immortals crossing the sea -- Bao Zheng and the fox fairy -- Mulan fights in the guise of a male soldier -- Women generals of the Yang family and Commander-in-chief Mu Guiying -- Gun and Yu conquer the deluge. Moral tales. Laozi's prophecy -- A compassionate scholar and an ungrateful wolf -- Painted skin -- Monkey king strikes white-bone demon three times -- A foolish old man tries to remove three mountains -- The twin sisters and the magic Malan flower -- A man with a dog's leg -- Tales of how things came to be. The origin of the world -- The origin of human beings -- The origin of Chinese New Year and its customs -- The origin of the twelve zodiac animals -- The origin of the Duanwu festival -- The origin of the mid-autumn festival -- The origin of kitchen god and the Jizao festival -- Proverbial tales. A steed lost is more horses gained -- A professed dragon lover -- Number is security -- Forgot how to walk back home -- Waiting for a rabbit to bump into a tree -- Fishing for a sword dropped into a river from a moving boat -- No Sycee buried here but three hundred Liang -- The invincible spear versus the impenetrable shield -- A smile worth a thousand ounces of gold -- Reducing an iron rod to a sewing needle -- An unfolded map reveals a dagger -- A king who "eats bitter" -- Appendix A : Chinese proverbs -- Appendix B : motifs and tale sources.