All things old China - books, anecdotes, stories, podcasts, factoids & ramblings from the author Paul French
From earlier this month at SOAS University of London when we had a discussion of the life and work of the Chinese artist, poet, calligrapher, author Chiang Yee and particularly his years in London and Oxford (covered by the participants in the collection Chiang Yee and His Circle: Chinese Artistic and Intellectual Life in Britain, 1930-1950 – Hong Kong University Press)….
I’ve been spotting opium references in popular culture with interest for quite a few years now (2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012) about just how opium keeps on fascinating us. However, 2024 was a little thin compared to other years – so any other spotted references most welcome?
So, film and TV first and Patrice Leconte’s Maigret starring Gerard Depardieu – an adaptation of Maigret et la jeune morte (Maigret and the Dead Girl – 1954). Maigret discovers an underground Parisian world of fetishism in the 1950s, which involves some laudanum consumption.
Opium smoking, addiction and enjoyment was a running theme in the 1880s-set Italian TV series The Law According to Lidia Poet (Netflix), based loosely on the true story of the country’s first female lawyer but somewhat glamourised.
Novels: Dawn Farnham’s Tokyo Time is set in occupied WW2 Singapore where opium is in short supply but morphine is urgently needed to help the wounded. And an honourable mention to Sandra Newman’s terrific Julia, a version of Orwell’s 1984 seen from the POV of Winston Smith’s lover Julia – and in Julia’s Airstrip One opium is a much sought after panalgesic to escape the intrusions of the Party and Big Brother.
Burma Sahib, Paul Theroux’s novelisation of Orwell’s time as a colonial policeman in Burma was a bit of a drag as a novel (I thought – most reviewers thought highly of it I have to admit)… naturally some dope was smoked!
Non fiction: James Crossland’s Rogue Agent: From Secret Plot to Psychological Warfare – The Untold Story of Robert Bruce Lockhart has morhpine addicts in the Bolshevik Revolution while more than one morphine addict pops up in Uwe Wittstock’s February 1933 about the Berlin writers persecuted by Hitler as he came to power. But who can blame them!!
On Stage – a shout out to the London production of O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night with Brian Cox and Patricia Clarkson that upped the morphine addict angle….
The entrance to Wallis Simpson’s former home, at No.4 Shijia Hutong, Dongcheng District as it is today…
Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties and the Making of Wallis Simpson is available everywhere in hardback, e-book and audiobook now….
A picture I never quite got to the bottom of. This is a photo from 1962 taken on the Spanish set (Las Matas, near Madrid) of 55 Days at Peking, Nicholas Ray’s epic movie of the 1900 Boxer Uprising and the siege of the legations. Charlton Heston (who plays a US Marine) and the British-Chinese child actress Lynne Sue Moon (who played an orphaned girl he takes under his wing) are snapped on set chatting with a visiting Wallis (why she was there I do not know?). Heston and Moon appear to be listening with interest to the duchess, then in her midsixties. You can’t help wondering if Heston knew enough of Wallis’s past life to ask her how their re-creation of Peking matched the original she had known?
Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties and the Making of Wallis Simpson is available everywhere in hardback, e-book and audiobook now….
My favourite China books of the year – Xi to Zhou to Gilbert & George, Shanghai interwar surrealism to post 1949 life and a great novel….
Shanghai Tai Chi – Hanchao Lu (Cambridge Uni Press) – the fascinating years of the interregnum between 1949 and the Cultural Revolution when some sort of independent life was still possible in Shanghai
Surrealism From Paris to Shanghai – Lauren Walden (Hong Kong Uni Press) – lavishly illustrated look at a little previously niche of Chinese interwar art
Gilbert & George and the Communists – James Birch (Cheerio Publishing) – the influential, and often hilarious, visits of G&G to Moscow, Beijing and Shanghai in 1990/1993
Zhou Enlai: A Life – Chen Jian (Bellknap – Harvard Uni Press) – readable bio of Mao’s #2 – great enabler or the only one who could contain Mao’s ego?
Red Emperor – Michael Sheridan (Headline) – the best and most complete Xi bio to date
And a late entry (only read over Xmas) – River East River West – Aube Rey Lescure (Duckworth) – a lovely novel recreating 2007 Shanghai brilliantly and evoking 1980s Qingdao. Though shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for fiction this year largely overlooked by the China crowd
Got some listening time over the holidays? – join me chatting with the Le Carre Podcast host Jeff Quest in a 3 part marathon discussion of The Honourable Schoolboy – Le Carre’s magnum opus (no dissenting positions permitted)…
Wild China are excited to introduce our new expert-led journey through China, guided by New York Times bestselling author and award-winning historian, Paul French. Known for his books “Midnight in Peking” and “City of Devils”, Paul brings a unique and insightful perspective on 1920s China. In his most recent book, “Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties and the Making of Wallis Simpson”, Paul brings Wallis Simpson’s time in China to life in vivid and unexpected ways.
In the 1920s, a young Wallis Simpson arrived in China, long before the world would know her as the Duchess of Windsor. She described her time there as her “Lotus Year,” a period clouded by rumors and the beginnings of her infamous reputation. Paul French’s book offers a fresh perspective, unveiling new insights into this mysterious chapter of her life.
This rare itinerary, inspired by Paul French’s books, traces Wallis Simpson’s “Lotus Year” while unraveling the mysteries of colonial Peking and the timeless allure of Shanghai’s Art Deco era.
Journey highlights:
🔸Stepping back into the 1920’s footsteps of Wallis Simpson in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangzhou
🔸Staying in some of China’s most iconic 20th century hotels, many of which Wallis Simpson stayed in herself a century ago
🔸Immersing in two of French’s other books with exclusive Paul French-led walking tours in Shanghai (Bloody Saturday) and Beijing (Midnight in Peking)
This is not simply a trip through China—it’s an exploration of character, culture, and the unexpected connections that define a place and a life. For those who seek depth, elegance, and the thrill of discovery, this journey is an invitation to see China—and Wallis—in a way few ever have.
Ready to see the full itinerary? Learn more click here
