I visited this bookstore in Flushing’s Chinatown soon after I began my Mandarin studies, and boy, did I feel helpless! I could not read a word.

A friendly Chung Hwa employee helped me out, giving me advice on which books were best for novice Chinese language learners. So I bought a couple of kids’ books.

These were things I would never have been able to find in my local Barnes & Noble. If you are studying a foreign language and you live in a place that is home to foreign-language bookstores, I strongly recommend a visit to see what kinds of resources they have for you.

There is an upstairs at Chung Hwa that I didn’t make it to, but the employee told me that’s where the manga is. Not my thing, but many other people’s!