You can only ignore the propaganda if you recognize it as such. Western audiences don't really have the background knowledge to evaluate what they read, and Western media tend to focus on the foreign policy of their country as it relates to China.

The two highest-quality (in terms of professionalism and level of detail) English news sources reporting on China are https://scmp.com and http://sixthtone.com . The South China Morning Post has somewhat retained their independence, but Sixth Tone is a government-backed propaganda outlet, existing only to counter negative reporting on Chinese politics with news in other domains. Someone reading a lifestyle article on Sixth Tone isn't easily going to realize that they're reading propaganda unless it's pointed out to them.