A Shanghai Seagull 4A 6×6 Medium Format TLR Camera

A Shanghai Seagull (founded 1958, 上海海鸥照相机) 4A 6×6 Medium Format TLR Camera.

Le Chinois Brioche

Learnt something new today….. This type of French brioche is called Le Chinois because of a popular French idiom. It actually originates from Germany and the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, where its traditional name is Schneckenkuchen (literally meaning “snail cake” due to its spiral, snail-like shape).
When the pastry was first imported into wider France bakers understandably found Schneckenkuchen entirely impossible to pronounce. In French, when something is completely incomprehensible, people say, “C’est du chinois” (literally, “It’s Chinese to me”). The nickname stuck. Bakers referred to the cake as “that Chinese stuff,” and the shorthand nickname Chinois permanently stuck as its official French name.
So now you know too…

Ernst Zimmermann’s Chinesisches Porzellan, 1913

Chinesisches Porzellan und die Ubrigen Keramischen Erzeugnisse Chinas, Vols. 1&2, Ernst Zimmermann, Leipzig: Verlag von Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1913…

Youtube – Talking at Bussière Garden, Western Hills, Beijing…

A short video from a visit to Bussière Garden (Jardin Bussière) in the Western Hills just outside Beijing last March with the Royal Asiatic Society Beijing. Just before exploring the former weekend retreat of long time Peking resident, doctor and salon host Jean-Augustin Bussière (1872-1958) we stopped for lunch nearby. It’s only ten minutes or so but Bussière, his life and friends are all fascinating. Click here to watch…

The Mekong Review – August-October Issue 2026

The latest August–October 2026 issue of the Mekong Review is now available from their web store! Get your copy or subscribe here:

RAS Beijing Zoom – Frances Wood on the Chinese book collection of Sir Hans Sloane, 5/8/26

Join prominent British Sinologist Frances Wood online as she discusses the Chinese book collection of Sir Hans Sloane. He was an extraordinary collector with an insatiable intellectual curiosity; his collections of items from nations spanning the globe were the fulcrum of not only the British Museum but also the Museum of Natural History and the British Library. Don’t miss her talk!

WHAT: British Sinologist Frances Wood discusses online the comprehensive collection of Chinese books assembled by prominent physician Dr. Hans Sloane (1660-1753)

WHEN: 7-8 PM Beijing Time, Wednesday Aug 5, 2026

ABOUT THE EVENT: Sir Hans Sloane’s collection of Chinese books in London is remarkably comprehensive, spanning the full range of Chinese literature and culture. When he died in 1753, his total collections included 50,000 books, prints and manuscripts and tens of thousands of other items and curiosities. These were bequeathed in his will to King George II and were among the founding collections of not only the British Museum but also the Museum of Natural History and the British Library. But how did a retired doctor in London acquire a Chinese collection of such broad scope when no one around him knew Chinese?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Frances Wood worked in the Chinese section of the British Library for over 30 years, mainly focused on the conservation and cataloguing of thousands of Dunhuang manuscripts. The discovery of Sloane’s Chinese books, buried amongst tens of thousands of later acquisitions, was a late but fascinating project. The author of many books, she is now working on the diary of literary and intellectual figure Chen Xiying during his wartime stay in London.

HOW MUCH: Free for members of RASBJ. 50 RMB for members of RAS partner branches (London, Shanghai, Hong Kong). 100 RMB for non-members. Alipay may be an easier payment method than WeChat. You can also pay by credit card. Interested in becoming an RASBJ member? Please sign up at rasbj.glueup.cn/org/rasbeijing/memberships/

OW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Please click “Register” or “I will attend” on this notice and follow the instructions. After successful registration you’ll receive a confirmation email with a link to join the online event. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder.

Members of partner RAS Branches: Please register 72 hours before the event to allow time for membership verification. Please check your spam folder to ensure you see all RASBJ emails.

Vicki Baum Shanghai 1937 Promo Headshot

Austrian author Vicki Baum’s head shot for the promotional tour for 1937: Hotel Shanghai (aka Shanghai ’37 and first printed in the UK under the title Nanking Road)

Wham!: 10 Days in China

Brilliantly various British cinemas (including the Odeon chain) will be screening the latest incarnation of the little-seen-before footage shot around Wham! in China, Wham! 10 Days in China doc (2026).

Though the director of this new 2026 cut is credited as Mike Christie the really cool thing is that most of the raw archival footage was shot by the great avant garde British film director Lindsay Anderson in 1985 when he accompanied the boys to China.  Infamously his original cut, If You Were There (1986), was scrapped by George and Andrew. It’s fascinating as it includes a lot of shots of mid-1980s Guangzhou and Beijing as well as concert footage.

Previously that footage had been heavily reedited by Andy Morahan as Wham! in China: Foreign Skies (1986) played at the farewell gig at Wembley. Anyway, for all who haven’t seen any of this footage or weren’t there (!) you can see the doc from July 28.

I think it is also screening worldwide but don’t know any details.  Here’s some more background on the footage, the tour, the rows about if afterwards etc from The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/27/andrew-ridgeley-wham-china-george-michael-lindsay-anderson) and of course there’s Simon Napier-Bell’s classic behind-the-scenes account of it all I’m Coming to Take You to Dinner (2006).