The original edition of the story has been widely used for decades as a supplementary reader in Chinese language classes in the United States. This expanded version--which includes an interactive CD-ROM--makes the story more accessible to learners in a number of ways.
The book is available in simplified characters as well as traditional characters. (The original was available only in traditional characters.) It includes extensive vocabulary lists, structure notes, and exercises for each chapter. The CD-ROM provides extensive listening practice by way of sentence-length and paragraph-length readings as well as listening comprehension activities. The CD-ROM also includes a toggle function that enables readers to switch between traditional and simplified characters at any point in the story.