Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze is a book by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1933.

[1] The story revolves around Fu Yuin-fah, the son of a widow from the countryside of western China, who wishes to become a coppersmith in the big city on the Yangtze River, Chungking (now spelled Chongqing).

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze touches on any number of historical and cultural aspects of China.

Indeed, one who knows Chinese history can find starting points for many discussions, including the opening of city walls, the rise of modern machinery, modern technology and modern medicine, the warlords (known as Tuchun — pronounced "doojün"), the western gun boats, opium and the First and Second Opium War, Sun Yat-sen, the Chinese Nationalist and Chinese Communist forces, the influence of Western foreigners, etc.

Similarly, there are starting points for many discussions about the Chinese culture of the time, including the use of "Young" and "Old" in names and how names are formed, the nature and role of Written Chinese, the social status of the scholar, Buddhism and the veneration of Guanyin, many common Chinese words and phrases (sometimes presented in English translation), the often-Four-character Chinese proverbs, traditional social roles of men and women, New Year and Spring Festival, the prejudice of city folk towards country folk, traditional clothing (including silk), the queue (hairstyle) and foot binding, the social status of soldiers, the role of artisan guilds and other guilds, sedan chairs, weddings and the role of women, story tellers, the role of shame (vs. guilt), the abacus, veneration of ancestors, the traditional humility in interpersonal relationships, the tea house, the coolie, the construction of houses and tenements, traditional medicine, the use of chopsticks and rice in meals, gambling games, bargaining, thriftiness, the kitchen god, the use of animals to name points in time, etc.