It was almost a year ago we launched Popup Chinese to a small group of beta testers. In the year since we've become the recognized leader in the field of online Chinese education here in Beijing. We're proud to be pushing the envelope and grateful for all the support you've given, especially those of you who had the confidence in us to subscribe during our first few months. Thank you.

The big news today is the release of the newest version of our website, the latest salvo in our ongoing battle to provide incredible tools for learning Chinese at a price comparable to that of a standard textbook. In addition to a fresh look and more mass market pricing scheme, we have a few new features we're pushing out with this release. Other features are slated for release as early as September (there are hints as to what these are scattered through our new site copy). In the meantime, here are the changes you should notice immediately:

• Easier Navigation: we've redesigned our whole navigation system based on your feedback to make it easier to find things. Our test prep materials are more front-and-center, as are the vocab and test review functions.
• Single-Click HSK: our HSK flashcards, HSK wordlists and HSK test materials are all available with a single click. If you're preparing for the HSK test bookmark them and come back every day. There is no faster or more convenient way.
• The Writing Pad: previously available only to premium subscribers as part of our lesson series on how to write Chinese characters, our Writing Pad is a great tool that supports over 100 characters in both the simplified and traditional script. It will teach you to write Chinese characters properly and in the correct proportion.
• Chinese Comments: we've integrated a Chinese IME to our comment fields, so that you can write in Chinese even if you're not at a computer that supports native Chinese input. Shouldn't life be this easy?
• Better Search: it isn't perfect yet, but we're moving towards having a more comprehensive site search that indexes all of our lesson content, including sample sentences, and suggests related lessons based on the subject searched. This is a step in the right direction.

As with any tech upgrade of this magnitude, there are doubtless going to be minor bugs and inconveniences. Please have patience - fixing any issues is our top priority. If you do notice a problem or have any other suggestions please let us know by sending a note to service@popupchinese.com.