About HowToLiveBetter
HowToLiveBetter (高性价比人生指南) is an open, Chinese-language handbook of practical life advice: how to avoid dying early, handle emergencies, stop wasting money, stay on the right side of the law, and use unemployment, medical and social insurance. It also covers starting a business or running a website, relationships, pregnancy and parenting, moving abroad and learning a trade. Rules on law and social insurance follow current mainland China regulations.
What makes it different
- 765 tips in 34 sections, each stating what it costs (money, time, willpower), what it pays back, and how strong the evidence is (grades A, B, C).
- Sources are limited to journal papers and official documents, with more than 2,500 links to the originals and public verification notes.
- It is meant as a menu, not a to-do list: pick one or two items that fit you.
How to read it
- Online search page: filter by keyword, section, evidence grade, cost or effort.
- Life self-check: answer yes/no questions to see what to do first.
- Downloads: PDF, EPUB, a single offline HTML file and an Anki deck, from the repository's releases.
- An AI skill for Claude Code and Codex that answers questions by citing the book's sections.
Translations
- English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Indonesian by dlgrv
- The Evidence-Based Life, another English edition by parveen0029
- Vietnamese by chuanman2707
Reader-made sites
The repository keeps a list of derivative projects. Websites include:
- howtolivebetter.net: a checklist to track what you've done
- WarpNav 人生手册: browse by life situation (shows ads)
- 手绘地图版: sections drawn as a draggable map of flip cards
- 人生阶段指南: tips regrouped by life stage, with self-tests
- better.aigcwei.cn: reading site plus an MCP server for AI clients
- 懒人性价比清单: filter for free, low-effort, grade-A tips
- LiveBetter 101: the advice turned into a quiz game
- 循证建议地图: word cloud and item relationship map
- 渐好: turn tips into small actions and review them weekly
- life.hcju.com: multilingual reading site with local notes for each country
There are also a WeChat mini program, iOS and Android apps, a macOS widget, a Chrome new-tab extension and a JSON/CSV dataset. These are maintained by other people and may lag behind; the Chinese original is authoritative.
License and caveats
As of October 2026 the text is free under CC BY 4.0 and the code under MIT. The author notes that content can be outdated or wrong and policies vary by region, so check with local authorities, doctors or lawyers before acting. Related on SleekNav: HowToGetAlong, a guide to social skills that borrows this project's structure.
