RAS Beijing – Tea and WWII History at old the Peking Hotel – War Stories with RAS Librarian Sven Serrano – 22/8/25

Posted: August 22nd, 2025 | No Comments »

“Tea and WWII History at old the Peking Hotel” features a brief tour of the hotel’s historic areas and RAS Shanghai librarian Sven Serrano telling war stories war stories over tea, coffee, or a cocktail.

Aug. 22, Friday, 4:00-6:00 PM Beijing Time

Beijing NUO Hotel (the one-time Peking Hotel) #33 Chang’An Boulevard, Block B, Writer’s Bar

Start with a brief tour of the hotel’s historic areas; this fabled venue will bear witness to Beijing’s official Sept. 3 military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII. Sven Serrano’s talk will focus on that conflict, especially the December 1944 air faid on Japanese-occupied Hankow by the US 14th Air Force. This raid was the first use of incendiary bombs on a population center; such weapons were unleashed after March 1945 on Japanese cities, resulting in massive destruction. The Hankow raid caused over 40,000 estimated Chinese civilian deaths; coverage of the story was muted in Allied press accounts. The US generals involved in this episode were Joseph Stilwell, Clayton Bissell, Curtis LeMay and, most importantly, AVG founder and 14th Air Force commander Claire Lee Chennault.

Sven Serrano has been the Librarian for RAS Shanghai since 2014, and is the custodian for the Longhua Civilian Assembly Center historic site in Shanghai (the setting for the film “Empire of the Sun”). A Californian with an MA from San Francisco State University, he’s been a history teacher based in Shanghai since 2008,
Sign up to attend at https://rasbj.org/

---