This is the first book in the Chinese Characters for HSK series of text books. It covers all characters in level 1 of the HSK test (174 in total), using the simplified characters of modern standard Chinese. The book lists all HSK words which use those characters, from level 1 to level 6, totalling 1318 words, including all 150 words in level 1. There are photographic images for each character, from street signs, shop signs etc., to give a colourful, interesting representation, together with a plain text version of each character for clarity. Studying Chinese characters will aid in learning new words, allowing you to make connections between words and reduce the total learning (2663 characters in the HSK test levels 1-6, compared to 5000 words). Whether you are at beginning, intermediate or advanced level, there will be something for you in this book.