A rare copy of Nigel M. W. ‘Harris’s Sampan Pidgin: Being a History of the Shanghai Rowing Club, (Shanghai: The Mercantile Printing Co., 1938). The Book remarkably remained in the Shanghai Rowing Club during the period of the Japanese Occupation and was recovered by the author from the Club House in May, 1949, shortly before Communists troops entered Shanghai. Harris, as well as obviously a member of the rowing club, was an RAF Squadron Leader in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
When Wallis arrived in Peking in December 1924 the city was in construction mode. Modern road surfacing was underway and the first tram lines, through Tiananmen from Qianmen and then along Chang’an, were laid in the forst half of the 1920s. This photograph (by American missionary Arthur H Smith) from around that time shows a steamroller laying road surface in the Tartar City….
Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties and the Making of Wallis Simpson is available everywhere in hardback, e-book and audiobook now…
As you may well know the English writer and artist Denton Welch was born in Shanghai in 1915 where he spent much of his youth. I’ve talked about Welch’s writings on his Shanghai boyhood before (just put Welch in the search box here on the right), most notably in my collection Destination Peking(Welch once spoke a very interesting Christmas in Peking)….
When in Macao I was always like to visit architect Julio Alberto Basto’s 1934 Casa Skyline on Penha Hill. I have to say it needs a clean and all the barbed wire is annoying but it’s still a classic… here’s this week and an old shot…
Somewhat weird wax figures of Deng Xiaoping and Thatcher depicting their meeting at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People in September 1982 when they discussed the return of Hong Kong. The figures were produced by Pang Liming and Ai Desheng of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts and went on display in Beijing and at the Hong Kong Museum of History.
Standard – HK$40/person, Concession – HK$20/person
As an iconic heritage, the original Repulse Bay Hotel has long been a favourite destination for celebrities and socialites. This year, in honour of the 30th anniversary of Eileen Chang’s passing, The Repulse Bay is proud to announce the launch of Eileen Chang’s The Repulse Bay: Love, Upheaval, and the Beauty of Fragility, an immersive exhibition tracing the acclaimed author’s profound connection to Hong Kong and this landmark. Running from 1 October 2025 to 1 March 2026, the exhibition invites visitors to journey through the intriguing history of former Repulse Bay Hotel and the literary genius of Chang, revealing how her experiences amid the turmoil of war inspired her modern Chinese literature and enduring works.
The exhibition showcases an array of important artefacts and memorabilia, including a 1941 hotel menu, evocative photographs, and previously unreleased materials that highlight the hotel’s timeless elegance. Also on display are replicas of Eileen Chang’s original manuscripts and letters, on loan from the Hong Kong Metropolitan University. These precious exhibits offer intimate insights into how the hotel sparked Chang’s explorations of longing and the delicate beauty of a vanishing world.
