Regarding China, we recently overhauled the books and resources list for Asia, the China section of which can be found here.

EDIT: (tagging /u/GigiFranco just in case they saw the original and miss this)

I thought I might add my own two copper cash to this. One important thing to keep in mind when reading Chinese history, particularly of the Qing and later, is that on the one hand it's quite politicised in China and on the other hand highly Eurocentric in the West, particularly regarding popular impressions. On that note I would really recommend in particular that you have a read of the opening and closing chapters of Julia Lovell's The Opium War (2011) as well as all of Paul A. Cohen's Discovering History in China (1984), which look at the politicisation of recent Chinese history in China and the ingrained Eurocentrism of mid-20th century English-language Chinese history (and for that matter present-day popular imaginings) respectively, especially if you'd like to go into recent Chinese history more deeply.

If you do decide on that area, Jonathan Spence's The Search for Modern China is a great quick overview from the decline of the Ming around 1600 to, in the 3rd edition, 2010, whilst on specific topics I have a few suggestions in chronological order:

• Spence's Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi (1976) is an extremely engaging look at the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661-1722) entirely in his own words;
• Treason by the Book (2001), also by Spence, is an equally engaging exploration of treason and intrigue under the Kangxi Emperor's son, the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1722-35);
• Imperial Twilight (2018) by Stephen R. Platt is a refreshing new look at the origins and background to the First Opium War (1839-42) between Britain and China, albeit with a heavy focus on the decision-making process in Britain;
• Collapse of the Heavenly Dynasty (1995) by Mao Haijian is a more or less exhaustive look at the war with a lot of discussion of the broader political and military situation in China and how they played into the Qing defeat;
• Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom (2012) by Stephen R. Platt is basically the book to start out with on the Taiping, as it places them firmly in their domestic and international context rather than just as a kooky religious revolt;
• God's Chinese Son (1996), again by Spence, is a great look at the theological side of the uprising, but loses a bit of the political context;
• The Origins of the Boxer Uprising (1987) and Reform and Revolution in China (1976) by Joseph Esherick really get into the causes of the ostensibly anti-Western uprising of 1900 and the fall of the Qing in 1911; and finally
• China at War by Hans van de Ven (2017) is a particularly good narrative centred on the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937-45, but placed firmly in context alongside the 'Nanjing Decade' of 1927-37, the renewed Chinese Civil War of 1945-49 and finally the Communist Chinese entry into the Korean War in 1951.

Hope this helps!

If you have access to a university’s academic resources, that’s a great place to start. However, reading academic sources like books published by a University’s press can be a bit of a drag, especially combing through primary source documents (like who the hell decides to casually read a jinshi examination that has been translated) but those are the most reputable. Reading literature of the era is also a good way to learn some stuff about contemporary culture, like 唐诗 - Tang poems.

If you don’t, find reading lists. Some works blur the line between academic and popular history, and may not offer sufficient depth to satisfy your curiosities. Wakeman’s Fall of Imperial China for instance, was used only briefly in one class I took due to it being more oriented as an introductory piece rather than a monograph.