In this accessible new study, Toby Lincoln offers the first history of Chinese cities from their origins to the present. Despite being an agricultural society for thousands of years, China had an imperial urban civilization. Over the last century, this urban civilization has been transformed into the world's largest modern urban society. Throughout their long history, Chinese cities have been shaped by interactions with those around the world, and the story of urban China is a crucial part of the history of how the world has become an urban society. Exploring the global connections of Chinese cities, the urban system, urban governance, and daily life alongside introductions to major historical debates and extracts from primary sources, this is essential reading for all those interested in China and in urban history.

Winner, 2022 Choice Outstanding Academic Titles

‘A well-written and much-needed overview of China's 2000-year urban history connecting local developments and international influences. Exploring the complex intersection of urban system, form and governance, urban culture and daily life, Toby Lincoln's comprehensive study of Chinese cities is an important addition to the growing field of global urban history.'

Carola Hein - Delft University of Technology

‘Lincoln captures China's urban history in rich detail, including changes in conceptions of cities, urban form, and urban life over the centuries. Enlivened with excerpts from fiction and memoirs, this book is both a sweeping historical overview and a great introduction to scholarship on Chinese cities past and present.'

Kristin Stapleton - University at Buffalo, SUNY

‘A good teaching text both reviews and engages with the literature … the author whets the reader’s appetite for more, which is exactly what an introductory academic text should do.’

Michael Hebbert Source: The China Quarterly

‘It is a fascinating read, entertaining a new perspective on the course of Chinese history … Highly recommended.’

Q. E. Wang Source: Choice Connect

‘Lincoln’s textbook is an extremely useful tool … I admire how Lincoln foregrounds the historical legacies of administrative central-ization, economic interconnection, and cultural production in China today while still conveying the many transformations of Chinese urban forms.’

Chuck Wooldridge Source: Journal of Chinese History