Cheng and Tsui's Integrated Chinese is a series of Mandarin Chinese textbooks. It was first published in 1997 and has become the most widely used textbook for English speakers learning Chinese.
Each lesson contains two "dialogues" (ie. conversations between the characters). There is a story of sorts going on, which stretches between the dialoges—something of a Soap Opera about Wang Peng, who everyone thinks is great, and a Love Triangle between him and his classmates Li You and Bai Ying'ai. Oh, and there's also Gao Wenzhong, who the writers frequently seem to forget about. Their families sometimes also make guest appearances, as does their teacher Chang Laoshi.
Tropes
- Big Applesauce: The main cast consists of one Chinese student, one Korean one, one American one, and one British one. The American one is from New York. (Likewise, the Chinese and Korean students are from Beijing and Seoul respectively. And the British one... well, we aren't actually told what city he's from.) Enforced Trope, because it's more useful for students to learn the Chinese names of large, famous cities than smaller ones.
- Dub Name Change: Truth in Television. Chinese and English are fundamentally different in their sound systems, writing systems, and naming systems. Thus, virtually everyone learning Chinese gets a Chinese name. This is reflected in the Chinese students in the book. Li You's English name is Amy Lee, and Gao Wenzhong's is Winston Gore. Bai Ying'ai is Korean, and her name is Baek Yeung Ae.
- Fake Static: In Lesson 16 when Li You gets asked out over the phone by a guy she met once, she pretends her phone's battery is dying.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: There are 4 main characters, 2 boys (Wang Peng and Gao Wenzhong) and 2 girls (Li You and Bai Ying'ai).
- Love Triangle: Gao Wenzhong likes Bai Ying'ai, who likes Wang Peng, who likes Li You, who likes him back. (Gao Wenzhong → Bai Ying'ai → Wang Peng ↔ Li You) It starts out with both girls liking Wang Peng, and then it becomes clear that Wang Peng likes Li You, and is uninterested in Bai Ying'ai.
- Real Time: The books are intended to be used by college students, with a new textbook being used for each semester. If the books are used that way, then the time in the books matches up with real time. For example, the first book ends with winter break, and the second book ends with summer break.
- Relative Error: Wang Peng thinks it's a picture of Li You's parents, but it's really a picture of Li You's mother and uncle.
- School of No Studying: Averted Trope. Many of the dialogues have the characters talking about school, tests, and studying. Enforced Trope, as it provides an opportunity to teach school-related vocabulary that students using the textbook can use in Chinese class.
