A short list of helpful books and websites about China.
General introductions
G. Wright Doyle and Peter Xiaoming Yu, China: Ancient Culture, Modern Society. (brief chapters on Chinese traditional culture and contemporary society, with guides to further reading).
Rob Gifford, The China Road. (a lively journalistic account containing information about both Chinese history/culture and contemporary China).
Chinese History
John King Fairbank and Merle Goldman, CHINA: A New History.
Jonathan Spence, The Search for Modern China.
Modern Chinese Society
Jasper Becker, The Chinese: An insider’s look at the issues which affect and shape China today.
Peter Hessler, Oracle Bones: A Journey through Time in China.
Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn, China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power.
LEAD Consulting, editors, An Introduction to the Mainland Chinese Soul.
Kam Louie, editor, The Cambridge Companion to Modern Chinese Culture.
James and Ann Tyson, Chinese Awakenings: Life Stories from the Unofficial China.
Christianity in China
David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power.
Carol Lee Hamrin and Stacey Bieler, editors, Salt & Light: Lives of Faith that Shaped Modern China.
http://www.bdcconline.net (Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity)