Modern Chinese Women, 1932

An illustration of two modern Chinese women that appeared in 1932 – unknown artist and unknown location….but excellent nonetheless…

The Mapping of Asia Exhibition, Wattis Fine Art – Hong Kong

The Mapping of Asia

Fine antique maps from 16th to 20th century including the Robert Nield Collection of early charts and maps of Macau and the Pearl River

Thursday 5th September 2019 to Saturday 5th October 2019
Wattis Fine Art Gallery
20 Hollywood Road, 2/F, Central, Hong Kong 
Tel. +852 2524 5302 E-mail. info@wattis.com.hk

www.wattis.com.hk
Gallery open: Monday – Saturday 11am – 6pm

The Last Midnight in Peking walk of the summer…25/8/19…

Beijing Payback by Daniel Nieh…

I have a review of the excellent thriller Beijing Payback by Daniel Nieh in the South China Morning Post this week – https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3022878/beijing-payback-daniel-nieh-paints-picture-perfect

Opium and Whiskey…Ban them all!

Prohibition was introduced in the United States in 1920. In 1919, in the arguments in the run up to the Volstead Act, some pro-Prohibition American newspapers decided to equate whiskey with opium, and the American government’s active attempt to ban opium trafficking, in what became a rather confused argument….

Who wouldn’t want to read this story….

Who wouldn’t want to read this story….

Another Spot to head to After the Hai-Alai…The

I posted a couple of days ago on the Barcelona restaurant opposite the hai-alai fronton at 305 Avenue Roi Albert (Shaanxi Road South). Just close by was also the Sevilla at 316-318 Avenue Roi Albert…probably arguing for the same clientele after the hai-alai….

Lady Bredon on Chuan Pan Hutung, 1922

Readers of my books Midnight in Peking and Badlands will know that in the 1930s the hutongs of Chuan Pan and Hougou, just off Hatamen Street (Chongwenmen Dajie) became the epicentre of the foreign Badlands of Peking. However, in the 1920s, at least according to the Peking Who’s Who of 1922 no lesser personage than Lady Bredon lived on Chuan Pan Hutong.

Lady Bredon was Juliet Bredon, the author of a number of good books about Peking, particularly Peking: a historical and intimate description of its chief places of interest. – which Lady Bredon was Juliet Bredon, the author of a number of good books about Peking, particularly Peking: a Historical and Intimate Description of its Chief Places of Interest. – which was published in 1922, so we can assume she wrote while living on Chuan Pan Hutong. Bredon was the niece of Sir Robert Hart of the Chinese Customs (and write a rather indulgent biography of him).