Tea, time, and a curious mind — that's all you need to start understanding China.
Our mission
TeaTime Chinese is an independent, listener-supported podcast platform with one goal: make Chinese — and China — comprehensible. Since 2021, we've been telling stories about Chinese society, history, culture and literature in slow, simple Chinese, so that learners at every level can finally understand native content without subtitles.
Our story
What started as a small podcast recorded in a Beijing apartment has grown into a community of tens of thousands of learners across more than 80 countries. We believe language learning should be about real ideas, told well — not flashcards and grammar drills. Every episode, every letter, every article is built around that belief.
The team
Nathan launched TeaTime Chinese in 2021 to share the China he grew up between — the one you don't see on the news. He writes, records and edits every episode, and personally answers every letter from listeners.
Changrui designs, builds and maintains the TeaTime Chinese platform — from system architecture down to the smallest interface detail. The site you're using is his work.
What we believe
- Comprehensible input first. If you can't understand it, you can't learn from it.
- Stories over drills. A good story sticks; a vocabulary list doesn't.
- Independent & ad-free. No sponsors, no algorithms — just listeners supporting the work directly.
- Free at the core. The main podcast and articles will always be free to listen and read.
By the numbers
- 200+ episodes released
- 5+ million total listens across platforms
- 80+ countries represented in our community
- 0 ads, 0 trackers
Get in touch
Have a question, an idea, or a story you'd like us to tell? Write to us at hello@teatimechinese.com — every email is read by a human, and most get a reply.