GREAT class. It took place once a week for 2 hours, not nearly enough time to cover class materials. On the first day of class, Professor Su informed us that he changed the course name from "Chinese Politics" to "Chinese Politics and Economics". While this was scary at first, one must realize that the two are inseparable.
Each week we would cover a new, and almost completely different topic on Chinese society, politics, or economics. Sometimes the debates would extend to multiple weeks but each could largely stand on its own. Su liked to split the class in lecture form (he wrote on the board) and student discussions. The best part of the class was that it was mostly grad/SIPA students and students sent by their governments to learn more about China (Ex: some students were in govt ministries of Singapore, Japan, Korea, etc). This gave an invaluable bonus to class discussions.
Topics ranged from Why China didn't industrialize, Internet freedom, Fiscal federalism, Gradualism vs big bang economics, migrant workers, hukou system, etc. If you don't like one week's discussion, there's no need to worry bc topics jump to all aspects of society. I came away each week amazed. You will learn A LOT about A LOT of things.
The best part is we watched youtube clips/ documentaries nearly every class. But don't get me wrong, they were extraordinarily insightful and relevant to class.
TL;DR: Take this class. Fun, easy, little work, will get an A. Take the time to talk to classmates and Professor Su