The world's cutest cat detective is back on the case in this indie bestselling series. Li Chen's newest Detective Beans adventures are a must-read for anyone who loves mystery stories, cute animals, and hilarious original storytelling.Detective Beans is back on the case! In this series of mysteries and adventures, the world's cutest cat detective comes to the aid of her fellow villagers, searching for a cookie thief (with surprising results!), aiding a dec...

Meet Detective Beans, the best kitten detective in town, equipped with his tie, brown trench coat, and—GASP. It’s gone! His detective hat is missing! Discover the charming, whimsical, and mysterious world of Detective Beans in this new graphic novel series for middle grade readers.Meet Detective Beans (just Beans for short), a young cat sleuth dedicated to doing whatever it takes to solve the case. After a night of mystery movies with his best friend, Biscuit, Dete...

When an ambitious feline detective gets his paws on a mysterious treasure map, curiosity turns into a full-blown adventure! Li Chen's bestselling, award-winning series continues—for mystery fans and cat-lovers alike.Detective Beans is determined to be the world's greatest detective, but before his mom will let him solve any cases, he has to clean his room first. Then a piece of misdelivered mail and a mysterious treasure map from an old sea captain crack open a who...

English-language translations of traditional plays from the marionette puppet theater of Northern China.Marionette puppet theater has a rich and ancient history in China, extending back to the Han dynasty and reaching its heyday in the Qing dynasty. While this art form is nearly extinct in northern China today, a handful of troupes in Heyang County in Shaanxi Province, which claims to be the birthplace of marionette theater, continue to perform skits and scenes fro...

This book is about the political economy of China’s industrial reform and the rise of a group of Chinese big businesses under the Communist Party and the central state’s control. It examines the origins, evolution and institutional configuration of this centralized system in governing the ‘commanding heights’ of the Chinese industrial economy. Shaped by persistent industrial policies to develop China’s ‘national champions’ enterprises, the core parts of China’s central industrial ministrie...

Nanomaterials have become a key component for energy-related applications. Their design principle, synthesis and applications are well discussed in various scientific and engineering books, but a gap remains in discussions regarding the application of cutting-edge X-ray techniques to these materials. This volume provides insights from the latest development of X-ray techniques to investigate nanomaterials in specific energy fields, bridging the gap between X-ray analytical scientists and m...

This book offers a timely and original exploration of how queer humour shapes cultural identity within Taiwan’s digital media landscape. Focusing on language, sexuality and performance, it examines humour as a form of resistance, connection and creativity across online queer spaces. Drawing on data from YouTube, Grindr and X/Twitter, it investigates how gay Taiwanese men use humour to negotiate visibility, articulate desire and respond to exclusion. Through drag queens’ mediatised interact...

This book aims at discussing the development of MOOCs in China in relation to MOOCs in other countries or areas. Based on the history of MOOCs, we summarize and compare the development of MOOCs in China and other countries with empirical evidence from a comprehensive investigation about MOOCs in Asian, United States, and Europe. Then we discuss about the importance of MOOCs in China and its role in the reform of higher education system, and the model of teaching and learning in China. Afte...

This book gives a brief review of current development models and governance of urban sharing platforms, and looks into the economic efficiency of a novel market transaction model of sharing economy, which has been accelerated by high-density urban population and the Internet technology. With an aim to solve current problems featuring excessive competition, waste of resources, security risks, and unfair competition, this book delves into the two governance models in accommodation sharing pl...

The Gulf monarchies have been generally perceived as status quo actors reliant on the USA for their security, but in response to regional events, particularly the Arab Spring of 2011, they are pursuing more activist foreign policies, which has allowed other international powers to play a larger role in regional affairs.This book analyses the changing dynamic in this region, with expert contributors providing original empirical case studies that examine the relations between the Gul...

Family Annals, or the Sisters, Mary Hays's last novel, was originally published in 1817. This philosophically complex novel examines the themes of the importance of women's education, economic equality of the sexes, and general equality among all human beings. This edition of Family Annals, with a new introduction and editorial commentary by Li-ching Chen, will be of interest to scholars and students of the writing of the Romantic and Victorian eras. It will contribute to...

Among the most productive ecosystems on earth, wetlands are also some of the most vulnerable. Australian Wetland Cultures argues for the cultural value of wetlands. Through a focus on swamps and their conservation, the volume makes a unique contribution to the growing interdisciplinary field of the environmental humanities.The authors investigate the crucial role of swamps in Australian society through the idea of wetland cultures. The broad historical and cultural range of the boo...