New Oriental’s e-commerce ‘live streaming’ product pitches in China are credited with moving books onto the bestseller charts.

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

‘The Square-Faced Teacher’

In looking at August’s bestseller charts in China, our associates at Beijing OpenBook have been talking about the social-media marketing effectiveness of live-streamed programs that function as interactive real-time podcasts to engage consumers and generate sales.

One such series in particular, New Oriental‘s Oriental Selection, is hosted by Dong Yuhui—also known as “Michael”—an English-language tutor who mixes English into his live-streamed presentations on books. Descriptive engagement seems to be the specialty of this 30-year-old who has been nicknamed (affectionately), the “square-faced teacher.” As our colleagues describe this new media personality’s approach, he largely jumps past the hucksterism seen in other live-streaming sales settings, and instead focuses on describing the world of a book “through delicate and beautiful language.”

The format is interesting because in it, several hosts or anchors will appear to introduce and either talk about books or speak with their authors, the audience interacting with likes, comments, and, of course, purchases. As OpenBook’s research team puts it, “This form of live broadcast deepens consumers’ understanding of writers and works, and they can establish emotional and spiritual resonance with an author and the characters in a book.”

It’s a bit beyond the bedroom booktuber of years ago, in other words, and less vested in the amateur fandom of BookTok. Dong works with a “family” of fellow-hosts in the Oriental Selection “room.” And August’s chart-topper, The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Jijian, is thought by OpenBook’s researchers to have been placed atop the rankings by its exposure (and a sellout) on Oriental Selection.

“Compared with simple text introductions,” OpenBook’s commentary tells us, “the anchors may be more likely to achieve the goal of being closer to consumers and responding to consumer needs through accurate, direct, and vivid expressions and interaction with audience during live-streaming.” Like so many such digitally enabled approaches, Oriental Selection appears to play on a level of authenticity on the part of its hosts to connect with viewers and potential buyers.

During August and in talk-show mode, OpenBook’s records show, New Oriental hosted a particularly strong round of authors, including Liang Xiaosheng (In the World, a three-volume set from China Youth Press) and Mai Jia (A Wavy Life from Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House), both of which joined The Last Quarter of the Moon from the People’s Literature Publishing House on the August Top 30 list in fiction.

Suffice it to say, it seems that the “square-faced teacher, host Dong Yuhui is the man to know if you’re a publisher or author in China looking for exposure online.

New Oriental, traded on the New York Stock Exchange (EDU) as well as on the HKEX, is a provider of private educational services in China which in August opened an app for live-streamed e-commerce  programming in 11 categories, as Asian-media news articles rhapsodize about “live streaming” being “all the rage.”

And also note that—apparently independent of live-streaming visibility—Da Bing’s new Take Care from Beijing Union Publishing Company moved right onto the charts at No. 2 in August, the latest work of an author who is said to have tens of millions of unit sales of his previous books. The readers have waited three years for this new title, the conclusion of Da’s Xiaolanshu series.

Below, then, are OpenBook’s overall lists from August of bestsellers in fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books, followed by its lists of bestselling fiction and nonfiction in China by authors from outside the country.

At the end of our article, as always, you’ll find notes on how the lists are constructed.

OpenBook’s Fiction Bestsellers, August 2022

July 2022 Ranking	August 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787020139590	2019-06	The Last Quarter of the Moon	Chi Zijian	People’s Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	2	9787559664129	2022-08	Take Care	Da Bing	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
2	3	9787530221532	2021-10	To Live (2021 Edition)	Yu hua	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
10	4	9787506331746	2005-05	Distant Savior	Dou Dou	The Writer’s Publishing House
8	5	9787544291170	2017-08	One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel García Márquez	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
3	6	9787536692930	2008-01	The Three-Body Problem	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
5	7	9787500601593	2005-08	Red Crag	Luo Guangbin, Yang Yiyan	China Youth Press
9	8	9787020002207	1998-07	Dream of the Red Chamber	Cao Xueqin	People’s Literature Publishing House
11	9	9787544766500	2017-01	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	Yilin Press
6	10	9787536693968	2008-05	The Dark Forest	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
7	11	9787229030933	2010-11	Death’s End	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
14	12	9787540487645	2018-06	Moments We Shared	Zhang Jiajia	Hunan Literature & Art Press
30	13	9787506394314	2017-04	White Deer Plain	Chen Zhongshi	The Writer’s Publishing House
4	14	9787530221396	2021-06	Ordinary Word (3 Volumes) (2021 Edition)	Lu Yao	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
13	15	9787530219218	2019-02	A Wavy Life	Mai Jia	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	16	9787513349437	2022-08	In The Beginning Year	Wang Shuo	New Star Press Co.Ltd
Not Ranked	17	9787515350264	2018-01	In the World (3 Volumes)	Liang Xiaosheng	China Youth Press
Not Ranked	18	9787544291163	2017-08	Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Edition)	Keigo Higashino	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
12	19	9787020008742	1998-07	Water Margin	Shi Nai’an,Luo Guanzhong	People’s Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	20	9787020127573	2017-10	White Deer Plain	Chen Zhongshi	People’s Literature Publishing House
22	21	9787533966102	2021-12	Life and Death are Wearing Me Out	Mo Yan	Zhejiang Literature & Art Press
20	22	9787506368698	2013-06	The World Under the Sky	Dou Dou	The Writer’s Publishing House
25	23	9787572602825	2021-08	Always Have, Always Will	Zhang Jiajia	Hunan Literature & Art Press
27	24	9787533963354	2022-02	Memories of Jiang Nan	Wang Xufeng	Zhejiang Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	25	9787544786966	2021-06	The Catcher in the Rye	Jerome David Salinger	Yilin Press
17	26	9787020008735	1998-07	Journey to the West	Wu Cheng’en	People’s Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	27	9787530218792	2021-07	Life (2021)	Lu Yao	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
24	28	9787208061644	2006-04	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
28	29	9787229100605	2015-10	The Three-Body Problem (Collector’s Edition)	Liu Cixin	Chongqing Publishing House
29	30	9787544298995	2020-09	Miracles of the Namiya General Store (2020 Edition)	Keigo Higashino	Nan Hai Publishing Co.

---

OpenBook’s Nonfiction Bestsellers, August 2022

July 2022 Ranking	August 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
2	1	9787511320506	2012-08	Su Shu	Huang Shigong, Ding Minxiang	China Overseas Chinese Press
4	2	9787561346259	2009-05	Yi Ching is Really to Understand	Zeng Shiqiang	Shaanxi Normal University Press
3	3	9787201161693	2020-08	Counselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure	Robert de Board	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	4	9787521733679	2021-09	The Most Tender Upbringing: Be a Gentle but Steadfast Parent	Oh Eun-young	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
5	5	9787530848890	2010-01	Understand the Ways of the World Day by Day	Zhang Yan	Tianjin Science & Technology Press
Not Ranked	6	9787508689586	2018-07	Economics Lecture Notes	Xue Zhaofeng	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
Not Ranked	7	9787503572692	2022-03	Xi Jinping in Shanghai	Party School of the Central Committee of C.P.C	Central Party School Press
8	8	9787111495482	2015-04	The Courage to Be Disliked	Ichiro Kishimi	China Machine Press
22	9	9787010246758	2022-06	Xi Jinping’s Footsteps (5 volumes)	Editing Group of This Book	People’s Publishing House
7	10	9787557027063	2022-04	If History were a Group of Cats: Song, Liao, Jin Dynasty and the Western Xia Regime	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
Not Ranked	11	9787544334792	2011-01	Close to The Buddha	Khenpo Sherab Zangpo Rinpoche	Hainan Publishing House
16	12	9787520802130	2018-05	Do Their Own Psychological Doctor	Mo Yu	China Business Publishing House
9	13	9787222204331	2021-11	Details of Law	Luo Xiang	Yunnan People’s Publishing House
1	14	9787559659385	2022-04	Minimalist Learning	Liao Heng	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
28	15	9787555262688	2021-04	Danshari	He Quanfeng	Qingdao Publishing House
Not Ranked	16	9787111691020	2021-09	The Underlying Logic: How to See the Essence of Things	Liu Run	China Machine Press
10	17	9787508653389	2015-07	The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War Ⅱ	Iris Chang	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
14	18	9787559662132	2022-06	Succeed by Others’ Strength	Jin Qiang Da Shu	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
26	19	9787208171336	2021-08	In the Affair: Chinese Government and Economic Development	Lan Xiaohuan	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
12	20	9787513349116	2022-05	A Lifelong Journey	Yu Minhong	New Star Press Co.Ltd
15	21	9787557025847	2021-11	If History were a Group of Cats: Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms	Fei Zhi	Guangdong Tourism Publishing House
13	22	9787544276986	2019-10	Educated: A Memoir	Tara Westover	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
11	23	9787540484880	2018-01	The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo	Lin Yutang	Hunan Literature & Art Press
6	24	9787020116133	2016-06	Red Star Over China	Edgar Snow	People’s Literature Publishing House
17	25	9787521603774	2019-08	The Faith as Premise of Freedom	Luo Xiang	China Legal Publishing House
18	26	9787559313652	2017-09	If History were a Group of Cats: Xia, Shang and Western Zhou Dynasty	Fei Zhi	Heilongjiang Fine Arts Press
Not Ranked	27	9787555262800	2017-12	The Power of Insensitivity	Junichi Watanabe	Qingdao Publishing House
27	28	9787508680965	2017-12	Predictably Irrational (Revised Edition）	Dan Ariely	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
24	29	9787111551287	2016-10	Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise	Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool	China Machine Press
Not Ranked	30	9787550268517	2016-07	Positive Discipline	Jane Nelsen	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.

---

OpenBook’s Children’s Bestsellers, August 2022

July 2022 Ranking	August 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Chinese Publisher
2	1	9787516528495	2022-04	Comic Math Loved by Children (6 volumes)	Yakov Perelman, QINGLAN TUSHU	Aeronautics Industry Press
1	2	9787110103074	2022-02	Science Comics Loved by Pupils (4 volumes)	Sunbook	Popular Science Press
3	3	9787570711888	2021-12	Ultraman Series Photo Book for 55th Anniversary	Tsuburaya Productions	Anhui Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
4	4	9787513936668	2021-11	First Introduction to Law for Children	Cao Zhaopeng	Democracy and Construction Press
Not Ranked	5	9787555225560	2015-12	Teenagers Read Historical Records	Zheng huihe, Zhang Jiahua	Qingdao Publishing House
Not Ranked	6	9787502086855	2021-07	Why shouldn’t I? (10 volumes)	Little Red Sail	Emergency Management Press
Not Ranked	7	9787568183826	2021-11	Say No Loudly: Children’s Self-Protection Picture Book (8 volumes)	Chen Junhong	Northeast Normal University Press
Not Ranked	8	9787533264062	2010-12	Let’s Get Mung Beans, Momma!	Zeng Yangqing, Wan Huaguo	Tomorrow Publishing House
7	9	9787568290685	2020-11	The Classic of Mountains and Rivers for Kids	Xu Pingping	Beijing Institute of Technology Press
Not Ranked	10	9787566716347	2019-05	Souvenirs entomologiques (2nd Edition) (10 volumes)	Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre, Cai Xiaobai	Hunan University Press
27	11	9787570222551	2021-08	Tree Boy	Zhao Lihong	Changjiang Literature & Art Press Co.,Ltd.
12	12	9787556864454	2022-04	Treasure Hunting in Inner Mongolia	Jingding Comic	21st Century Press Group
8	13	9787536574366	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Stratego	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
9	14	9787536574397	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Clever Little Prodigy	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
15	15	9787533299224	2018-10	Fantastic Mr. Fox	Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake	Tomorrow Publishing House
10	16	9787536574380	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: Who’s the Smart Guy?	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
23	17	9787201077642	2013-01	The Little Prince	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
11	18	9787536574373	2016-01	Mi Xiaoquan’s Brain-teaser: The Great Adventure of the Castle	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	19	9787530599679	2021-09	The Art of War in Comics (3 volumes)	Sun Wu, Han Jing	Tianjin People’s Fine Arts Publishing House
Not Ranked	20	9787576220469	2022-01	World Memory Champion teaches you to memorize ancient poems (extension)	Wang Feng, Liu Su	juacp Press
Not Ranked	21	9787122398161	2021-12	Kids Riddles	Wu Jiping, Zhao Min	Chemical Industry Press
Not Ranked	22	9787519013295	2016-07	Dream of the Red Chamber	Cao Xueqin	The Publishing House of the China Literary Federation
Not Ranked	23	9787576214703	2021-09	World Memory Champion teaches you to memorize ancient poems (Textbook Version)	Wang Feng, Liu Su	juacp Press
19	24	9787521726473	2020-12	A Dog Named Money	Bodo Schafer	CITIC Publishing House Co.,Ltd
Not Ranked	25	9787556830411	2017-10	The Cricket in Times Square	George Selden, Garth Williams	21st Century Press Group
Not Ranked	26	9787533259617	2009-03	Charlie and the Chocolate Factory	Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake	Tomorrow Publishing House
30	27	9787536587694	2018-04	Mi Xiaoquan School Experience: I am a Pupil	Bei Mao	Sichuan Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	28	9787534256301	2009-09	Dreaming of Being a Wolf King (2018 Edition)	Shen Shixi	Zhejiang Juvenile and Children’s Publishing House
6	29	9787544288590	2018-06	Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (2018 Edition)	Tetsuko Kuroyanagi	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	30	9787534486579	2015-11	Zeng Guang Xian Wen	Zhou Xitao	Jiangsu Fine Arts Press

---

Foreign Author Fiction Bestsellers, August 2022

July 2022 Ranking	August 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Author nationality	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787544291170	2017-08	One Hundred Years of Solitude (50th Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel García Márquez	Colombia	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
2	2	9787544766500	2017-01	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	United States of America	Yilin Press
8	3	9787544291163	2017-08	Journey Under the Midnight Sun (2017 Edition)	Keigo Higashino	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	4	9787544786966	2021-06	The Catcher in the Rye	Jerome David Salinger	United States of America	Yilin Press
5	5	9787208061644	2006-04	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini	United States of America	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
6	6	9787544298995	2020-09	Miracles of the Namiya General Store (2020 Edition)	Keigo Higashino	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
4	7	9787506394864	2017-09	Sophie’s World (New Edition)	Jostein Gaarder	Norway	The Writer’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	8	9787540485337	2018-03	Tsubaki Stationery Store	Ito Ogawa	Japan	Hunan Literature & Art Press
10	9	9787532175512	2020-05	13 Steps	Kazuaki Takano	Japan	Shanghai Literature & Art Press
12	10	9787521200836	2018-08	Thiaoouba Prophecy	Michael Desmarquet	Australia	The Writer’s Publishing House
7	11	9787573500977	2022-04	Crystal Spiral	Keigo Higashino	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
15	12	9787559614711	2018-01	Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit	Jeanette Winterson	Britain	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
14	13	9787544297059	2020-03	Love in the Time of Cholera (3 Million Sold Anniversary Edition)	Gabriel García Márquez	Colombia	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
9	14	9787544282086	2016-02	The Moon and Sixpence	William Somerset Maugham	Britain	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	15	9787544291224	2017-08	After School (2017 Edition)	Keigo Higashino	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	16	9787544269452	2022-01	Malice (2022 Edition)	Keigo Higashino	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	17	9787533936020	2017-02	The Moon and Sixpence	William Somerset Maugham	Britain	Zhejiang Literature & Art Press
19	18	9787201112695	2017-03	Siddhartha	Hermann Hesse	Germany	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	19	9787530217054	2017-12	The Alchemist	Paulo Coelho	Brazil	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	20	9787544281102	2016-01	Newcomer	Keigo Higashino	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.

---

Foreign Author Nonfiction Bestsellers, August 2022

July 2022 Ranking	August 2022 Ranking	ISBN	Release Date	Title (Translated)	Author	Author nationality	Chinese Publisher
1	1	9787201161693	2020-08	Counselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure	Robert de Board	Britain	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
8	2	9787521733679	2021-09	The Most Tender Upbringing: Be a Gentle but Steadfast Parent	Oh Eun-young	Korea	Yilin Press
3	3	9787111495482	2015-04	The Courage to Be Disliked	Ichiro Kishimi	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
4	4	9787508653389	2015-07	The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War Ⅱ	Iris Chang	United States of America	Yilin Press
5	5	9787544276986	2019-10	Educated: A Memoir	Tara Westover	United States of America	Shanghai People’s Publishing House
2	6	9787020116133	2016-06	Red Star Over China	Edgar Snow	United States of America	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
11	7	9787555262800	2017-12	The Power of Insensitivity	Junichi Watanabe	Japan	The Writer’s Publishing House
7	8	9787508680965	2017-12	Predictably Irrational (Revised Edition）	Dan Ariely	United States of America	Hunan Literature & Art Press
6	9	9787111551287	2016-10	Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise	Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool	United States of America	Shanghai Literature & Art Press
9	10	9787550268517	2016-07	Positive Discipline	Jane Nelsen	United States of America	The Writer’s Publishing House
Not Ranked	11	9787108009821	1998-07	1587, a Year of No Significance	Ray Huang	United States of America	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
16	12	9787521741124	2022-04	The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness	Eric Jorgenson	United States of America	Beijing Union Publishing Co., Ltd.
Not Ranked	13	9787801445445	2003-04	You Can Heal Your Life	Louise L.Hay	United States of America	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
19	14	9787522200514	2021-05	Nonviolent Communication	Marshall B.Rosenberg	United States of America	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	15	9787520711531	2019-11	A Compass to Fulfillment	Kazuo Inamori	Japan	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
20	16	9787505737488	2016-12	What Life Should Mean to You	Alfred Adler	Austria	Nan Hai Publishing Co.
Not Ranked	17	9787515902241	2012-07	Letters to Louise: The Answers are Within You	Louise L.Hay	United States of America	Zhejiang Literature & Art Press
Not Ranked	18	9787511375278	2018-08	The Advice of Perfect Life for Woman	Dale Carnegie	United States of America	Tianjin People’s Publishing House
15	19	9787511714152	2012-08	How to Talk so Teens will Listen and Listen so Teens will Talk	Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish	United States of America	Beijing October Art & Literature Publishing House
Not Ranked	20	9787210096528	2017-09	Mindset: The New Psychology of Success	Carol S.Dweck	United States of America	Nan Hai Publishing Co.

---

Notes on the Charts

OpenBook is a privately owned industry-data research firm based in Beijing. It functions somewhat as Nielsen and NDP do from the West, and Nielsen Book Research International has worked with OpenBook in Asian operations. With authoritative data and information resources, OpenBook is able to deliver consulting service to partners who would like to explore the Chinese book market and identify suitable partners.

As of January 1, 2020, OpenBook monitored more than 10,000 online and offline bookstores.

The online channel includes digital retailers such as large self-operated online stores, platform stores, and small- and medium-sized stores. The offline channels include 4,495 bookstores. Coverage includes most of the state-owned and influential privately owned bookstores in 30 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet are not included in OpenBook’s system.

In 2019, OpenBook tracked around 71.72 billion RMB in sales (US$10.1 billion).

Retail outlets include:

• Traditional bookstores
• Supermarkets
• Campus bookstores
• “Professional” stores, said to be small stores with a specific industrial or trade focus
• Airport stores

In addition, OpenBook is drawing data from online bookstores of three main types:

• The “Tmall” stores of Alibaba (Tmall is described as a marketplace of companies that create storefronts online to sell products including books)
• The “JingDong” Stores of JD.com (similar to Tmall as a marketplace of both individual companies and bookstores operated by JD.com)
• Ten independent online bookselling retailers

China has 500 or more publishers in operation today. Most of them, Jiang Boyan CEO James Bryant clarifies, are government-owned. Private publishers are required to generate ISBNs for their titles from a publishing company that is government-owned—which, in other words, creates a system in which all ISBNs are in one way or another registered through government channels. The government approves each book published in China.

---

More China bestseller reports from Publishing Perspectives are here, and more on the Chinese book publishing market is here.

More from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.