Chinese

A free Chairman’s Bao alternative for your texts

Updated November 9, 2026

Read news and texts you choose, with Mandarin pinyin. A free alternative to The Chairman’s Bao graded library, with no card and no cap on imports.

The Chairman’s Bao is a graded news reader. Its lessons are written for learners and arranged by level. If you want a specific article, a class handout, or a news page that is not in that library, taihaa takes the text you bring and shows pinyin on Mandarin.

What you get in taihaa

Mandarin with pinyin, and Cantonese with Jyutping. They are separate languages.
Paste, upload a file, or import a public article URL. Copyright still applies to what you import, so keep it for your own study.
A YouTube link with subtitles becomes a lesson. 3 new video lessons a week on the free plan.
On Mandarin and Cantonese, Split (Fix word split) lets you tap between characters to break a compound into characters or join characters into one word.
A News tab with fresh Mandarin and Cantonese headlines, and a levelled library, including HSK 1–3 stories.
Tap a word, save it with the sentence, and review it at the end of the lesson.
Free, no card, with no cap on saved words or text imports.

Price, side by side

List prices and free-plan limits as published by each company in November 2026. Prices change, so this is a snapshot, not a ranking.

Tool	Price	Saved words	Imported lessons	Card to start
taihaa	Free; optional Plus $4.99/month or $39/year	Unlimited	Unlimited	No card
The Chairman’s Bao	$11/month, $88/year, or $450 lifetime	Free sample lessons; the full library is paid	Its own graded news lessons	Samples need no card

taihaa

Price: Free; optional Plus $4.99/month or $39/year
Saved words: Unlimited
Imported lessons: Unlimited
Card to start: No card

The Chairman’s Bao

Price: $11/month, $88/year, or $450 lifetime
Saved words: Free sample lessons; the full library is paid
Imported lessons: Its own graded news lessons
Card to start: Samples need no card

On 9 November 2026 The Chairman’s Bao plans page listed these USD prices: $11 a month, $27.50 every 3 months, $49.50 every 6 months, $88 a year, $154 every 2 years, and $450 lifetime. The cards describe full access to their website and app. Individual plans renew unless cancelled. The same day the homepage advertised 25% off individual subscriptions through 10 November 2026, code BOO25, so a checkout total can differ from the card. The homepage also offered free sample lessons after registration. Its lesson counter read 11,129.

Those plans sell access to lessons The Chairman’s Bao publishes. The plans page does not describe importing a page you found. Du Chinese is a different library, covered in the free Du Chinese alternative.

See a free Du Chinese alternative and a free Mandarin reading app with pinyin.

Questions

Is there a free Chairman’s Bao alternative for my own articles?

taihaa is free with no payment card. You import a text you choose, or open the News tab and the levelled library, and read Mandarin with pinyin. As of 9 November 2026 The Chairman’s Bao listed $11 a month, $88 a year, or $450 lifetime for its own lesson library.

Does taihaa include The Chairman’s Bao lessons?

No. taihaa does not sell or host that library. You read texts you import, taihaa’s own levelled lessons, or headlines in the News tab. Sample lessons on The Chairman’s Bao site stay on that site.

Is taihaa really free?

Yes. taihaa is free, with no payment card. There is no cap on saved words or text imports (paste, file, or URL), and all 9 languages are included. YouTube video lessons are 3 a week on the free plan. Taihaa Plus is optional and adds AI features and more natural voice.

Keep reading