Anyone who ever wandered the old flea markets of outer Shanghai or the more organised tourist markets such as the old Dongtai Lu (now destroyed) may have bought beautiful old Swan brand electric fan. Swan desktop fans were popular in Shanghai, imported from Britain and made by Bulpitt & Sons Ltd of Birmingham under the Swan brand (registered 1868). Bulpitt and the Swan brand have gone through multiple owners since, so many I’ve lost track, but the brand is still around and still making desktop fans. Competing with Swan was GE, from America, also popular and also regularly to be found in old Shanghai markets. Most I found could be rewired and worked perfectly well.
But there was a local competitor, Wahson, founded by Shanghai businessman Yang Jichuan and which produced the first domestically-made electric fans in China and who claimed to export to over 90 countries by 1924.
Wahson Electronic appeared around 1916 with a factory in Hongkou. They were a Chinese-owned business and manufactured small electrical items, most popularly desk top fans, similar in design (if not actually identical and reverse engineered) to the Swan brand. The company is still in existence and still makes ceiling fans though no longer desktops. Still, their desktop fans were things of beauty too and probably essential in any Shanghai office or home in the summers…..
The Chinese characters on the building read “华生” (Huáshēng), which translates to Wahson.
A series of sadly anonymous photos with Japan officially signing the Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2,1945. However, they appear to have been taken by a crew member (one assumes an officer given the level of access) on the the Royal Navy Dido-class light cruiser HMS Black Prince. On 16 January 1945, Black Prince sailed East as part of the British Pacific Fleet. She saw action off Okinawa and in the final bombardments of the Japanese mainland before withdrawing to Sydney and then to Hong Kong in October 1945. She remained in Hong Kong for five weeks. About 300 of the ship’s company went ashore to serve as guards in a POW camp for the Japanese.
On the 22nd November Black Prince arrived in Shanghai. Black Prince then spent nine-weeks on the Huangpu (one of only a couple of Royal Navy ships greatly outnumbers by the Americans – the other being the the mine laying cruiser HMS Apollo) over the Christmas period in 1945/1946.
After the Japanese surrender, Black Prince remained in the Far East, back to Hong Kong, back to Australia, and was finally transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy on 25 May 1946. She became rather dated and unpopular with crews, was placed in reserve, and eventually towed to Japan to be scrapped in 1962.
Barnes & Noble in the USA is offering a 25% pre-order promotion for just four days only–6/23-6/26! From 6/23-6/26, Barnes & Noble will be offering 25% off all online pre-orders for rewards & premium members only, including print, audio, and ebooks. Premium members get a bonus 10% off all preorders, too. There is a free membership option as well. Code required: Preorder25. Just click here…
Very pleased to blurb an early copy of David Guerrero’s You Won’t See Me: When the Beatles Ghosted Imelda(Penguin Southeast Asia). An amazing story:
The Beatles, on what would be their final world tour, arrived in a place unlike any other. The Philippines was home to America’s biggest military bases in the region at a time when Vietnam was ramping up to its height. The Marcoses were photogenic, and on the surface at least, poster children for democracy: Ferdinand and Imelda were dubbed the ‘Jackie and JFK’ of Asia, by Life Magazine. The Beatles management saw the tour as a lucrative opportunity to open up new markets.
At some point before their arrival invitations were sent directly and via the local promoter, to lunch at the Presidential Palace. Whether those invitations were responded to or not is disputed. But when escorts arrived to get the band on the morning of July 4, 1966, their manager, Brian Epstein, refused to go. This did not go down well. Over 300 people, including Imelda and her family, were left standing on live TV.
Despite two large and successful concerts, official displeasure left the Beatles fearful for their security and desperate to leave. A torrid time at the airport at the hands of Palace guards left them swearing never to return – and determined to end their touring career. Initially, the band distinguished between the fans and the officials but later they all got lumped together into one ‘bad’ experience. The Beatles went on to greater creative heights as a studio-based band. The country, so little known in the West, became defined by the story.
And, if you happen to be in Liverpool (where else!) David Guerrero is speaking at Waterstones on College Lane on June 29th – click here for details…
The RAS China Journal is now receiving submissions for its 2026 edition. Authors intending to submit a contribution must send an abstract or article outline to the editor before 1 July 2026, and completed articles will be due 10 August 2026. The journal generally comprises original unpublished research and observations, essays, book reviews, and other items of interest to our readership. Translations from Chinese into English are also welcome. The scope of the journal is broad, informing readers about life in China and Asia – past, present and future.Although authors are welcome to write about any subject of interest to Asia scholars, please note that material contravening the guidelines established by the Chinese government for speech and publications will not be accepted. For more information about the Royal Asiatic Society China and the Journal, please visit https://ras-china.org// You can view past examples of the RAS China Journal at the Royal Asiatic Society China Reading Room at Dongan Lu #888, West Bund, Shanghai. It holds an almost complete set of journals going back to 1858, which document the earliest years of the expatriate community in Shanghai, and the Royal Asiatic Society’s history in Shanghai.You can see the guidelines for author submissions below. Please feel free to contact Journal Editor Melinda Liu at raschina@ras-china.org for more information.
GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS
The Royal Asiatic Society China (RAS) publishes the RAS China Journal annually in print and online. The journal comprises original research articles, essays and book reviews on topics of Asian scholarship, with a focus on China.· All articles must be original and previously unpublished. Articles should be between 3,000 and 8,000 words, including notes and references. Book reviews should contain no more than 2,500 words.· Authors wishing to have their work considered for inclusion in this year’s journal should first submit, no later than 1 July 2026, an abstract or outline of the intended contribution to the journal editor, Melinda Liu at: raschina@ras-china.org · Authors should follow the Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) Style Guide when preparing articles, to ensure consistency of style. The MHRA Style Guide is an easy to use and comprehensive guide, and is available as a free download at http://www.mhra.org.uk/style/ Please ensure that British English spelling and grammar rules are used. Articles should be submitted as Word or Pages documents (.doc, .docx, .pages).· It is the responsibility of an author to obtain any necessary permission for quotation of copyrighted material and for image usage. The author should ensure that permission to reproduce material in all territories and all media (e.g. print and electronic) is granted.· The text of articles submitted for consideration should be formatted using double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman font. The title of the article and the author’s name should be printed in bold at the top of the document.· The document file name should include the author’s surname and brief reference to the article’s title.· Articles should include a reference list to acknowledge work cited, placed at the end of the article and titled “References”. The JRAS does not use bracketed references in the body of an essay. Instead, superscript numbers are used to indicate where other authors’ works are cited in the text, which appear at the end of the article in the Reference section, in the order that they were cited. The reference entries must contain the full reference for the work cited, following the comprehensive guidelines given in the MHRA.· In addition to numbered references indicating citations of other authors’ works within the text, authors may use footnotes to add brief explanatory notes that will be displayed at the bottom of the relevant page. Authors are requested to keep explanatory footnotes to an absolute minimum.· Authors submitting essays, which employ a more general tone, may prefer to include a bibliography of appropriate works to inform further reading, in lieu of a reference list.· All articles are to include an abstract of up to 180 words. The abstract should introduce the major aspects of the article and provide context.· Authors may include images in colour or black and white. In the printed edition, images will appear in black and white, but colour reproductions will be available in the online version. All images should be supplied in separate, well-labelled files in formats such as jpeg or png, and should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi (images should be as large as possible). Images should be labelled as “Figures”, and listed in numerical order. A text note in the body of the article should indicate the desired position of each image (eg: [Fig. 1 here]).· Authors should also include a brief introduction about themselves, including professional and/or academic background and any personal information that relates to their article. This should be no more than a couple of paragraphs (approximately 150 words), and may be edited by the editor to fit with the style of the journal. Authors should not include a CV or a self-portrait photograph.· Article submission final deadline: 10 August 2026. Please note that authors intending to submit must send an abstract or article outline to the editor before 1 July 2026.· For further information about the Royal Asiatic Society China Journal and submission of articles, please email the journal editor Melinda Liu at raschina@ras-china.org
Robert Cecil Roberston, born in Kilmarnock, Scotland,1889 and died in Hong Kong 1942 while interned during the Japanese occupation. He was a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps during WW1. He was involved in The British Army Aid Group (BAAG) was a paramilitary organisation for British and Allied forces in southern China during the Second World War, interned in Stanley where he died. He’s buried in Hong Kong Cemetery. He was also a pretty good artist – some examples below….
Framed glazed oil paintings of war junks off the south China coast, 1870 by Commander Seymour Spencer-Smith (1841-1893). Spencer-Smith was stationed on the Royal Navy China Station at various intervals between 1869 and 1875 (by which time he attained the rank of Captain) involved in the suppression of heavily armed pirate networks in the South China Sea aboard the gunboat HMS Cockchafer, rampant a decade after the Second Opium War.
Seymour Spencer-Smith survived the Navy – serving on HMS St. Andrew during operations in Chinese waters and in command of HMS Rapid, only to die in a house fire at his Westminster home.
If anyone is able to identify the war junk flags I’d appreciate any information?
