Sorry, I’m too late to recommend this great exhibition of the work of the London and Manchester photographer Yevonde: Life and Colour. I honestly knew nothing about Yevonde prior to the exhibition and her work was a revelation. But It finished this weekend – sorry – and I just managed to make it on the last day. Still, here’s one picture that may interest China Rhyming readers – of former Bright Young Thing Daphne Fielding, Viscountess Weymouth, posed in a “Chinese setting” by Yevonde in 1935…
As regular readers of this blog will know I am a great devotee of the writing of the late John le Carre, in particular his Asia-set magnum opus, The Honourable Schoolboy (1975). So much so that I’ve written about what le Carre can teach us about China in THS (here for The China Project) and le Carre’s two trips to Hong Kong to research the book (here for the South China Morning Post). Now Adam Sisman, who wrote le Carre’s biography a few years back (2016) has, following the author’s death done another book about his dalliances and affairs… The Secret Life of John Le Carre…
Now, I personally don’t care that much about the man’s private life – it’s the work that’s important to me. But I am interested in where he got character ideas from and the new book gives us one useful one that relates to THS. According to Sisman, one of le Carre’s affairs was with a woman called Norma Dennis, who went by her professional modelling name of Leise Deniz. Leise ran away to London at 16 to become a model, reinfvented herself and started hanging out with Establishment types and minor royals. Le Carre liked her, bought her a pearl necklace and a Saab car. They conducted their affair in a flat in Primrose Hill. Liese, again according to Sisman, helped him research Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spyand recommended that Alec Guinness play George Smiley – so we have a lot to thank her for.
However, it seems she was also the model for the character of Lizzie Worthington in THS, alias Liese Worth, who moves to Hong Kong from drab provincial Britain to reinvent herself and marries a Hong Kong tycoon-cum-Soviet agent.
Elizabeth Worthington, alias Lizzie, alias Lizzie Ricardo, alias Liese Worth – first, common-law wife of Tiny Ricardo; then, mistress of Drake Ko…
Shanghai in 1930s had a booming prostitution industry which gave the city a certain reputation across Asia, and the beautiful Australian Lorraine Murray was one of its stars – until her patron Edmund Toeg convinced her to leave the high class brothel where she worked. Against the backdrop of the Japanese onslaught on China, and guided by the American author Emily Hahn – the ‘China Coast Correspondent for the New Yorker’ – Lorraine finally put her time as a prostitute behind her. After a stint in wartime Australia as a counter-intelligence informant, Lorraine moved to England, where she was reunited with both Emily and Edmund. Shanghai Demimondaine is the story of how her friendship with Emily helped Lorraine turn her life around – and how the feisty writer mined their friendship for her bestselling books.
As we spin away from war to sport, starting with, as Pele called it, the Beautiful Game, that seems to be quite problematic for China on a number of levels… Rowan Simons’ Bamboo Goalposts (2008)…click here…
The new book about ancient Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, will be introduced by author Michael Aldrich in a lively and well-illustrated yet deeply researched presentation. A perfect guide for intrepid adventurers and armchair travelers alike!
WHAT: Michael Aldrich introduces his new book “Old Lhasa: A Biography”, moderated by Nicholas Smith. This RASBJ in-person talk features copious illustrations.WHEN: Wednesday October 18, 7.00-8.00 PM, Beijing time; doors open at 6.30 PM. Please be punctual; latecomers will be denied entry.WHERE: The Bell inside the British Embassy, 11 Guanghua Rd, Chaoyang, Beijing, China, 100600 (address in Chinese: 北京市朝阳区建国门外光华路11号 英国大使馆 ）NOTE: Attendees, please bring the original passport or ID document you used to register, in order to be allowed entry; no photographs or copies, please. Attendees will be asked to surrender cellphones, laptops and other electronics upon check-in.
MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: “Old Lhasa: A Biography” grew out of Michael Aldrich’s experiences living in the sovereign state of Mongolia, and its historical, cultural and religious connections with Tibet. It was written after multiple trips to Lhasa. Amazon states that “Aldrich brings to life time-honored legends and charming anecdotes about kings and lamas, ministers and tricksters, which reveal the hidden significance of easily-overlooked side alleys, shrines, and stone houses clustered around the city’s most important pilgrims’ route, the Barkhor. ‘Old Lhasa’ is not only an enjoyable traveler’s companion for armchair readers, but also a vital resource for the intrepid visitor hoping to come away from the city with a deeper understanding.”
MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Aldrich has lived in East and Central Asia for thirty-four years. After a career as a corporate lawyer, he was invited to establish the first international standard law practice in Mongolia in 2009. He retired in 2015 and now resides in northeast Taiwan. He has published three previous books on Asian topics — the first a detailed guide on the historic and cultural sites in Beijing, the second a collection of essays on Chinese Muslim culture in Beijing, and the third the most detailed work in English on the history and culture of Ulaanbaatar.
WHAT: Michael Aldrich introduces his new book “Old Lhasa: A Biography”, moderated by Nicholas Smith. This RASBJ in-person talk features copious illustrations.WHEN: Wednesday October 18, 7.00-8.00 PM, Beijing time; doors open at 6.30 PM. Please be punctual; latecomers will be denied entry.WHERE: The Bell inside the British Embassy, 11 Guanghua Rd, Chaoyang, Beijing, China, 100600 (address in Chinese: 北京市朝阳区建国门外光华路11号 英国大使馆 ）NOTE: Attendees, please bring the original passport or ID document you used to register, in order to be allowed entry; no photographs or copies, please. Attendees will be asked to surrender cellphones, laptops and other electronics upon check-in.MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: “Old Lhasa: A Biography” grew out of Michael Aldrich’s experiences living in the sovereign state of Mongolia, and its historical, cultural and religious connections with Tibet. It was written after multiple trips to Lhasa. Amazon states that “Aldrich brings to life time-honored legends and charming anecdotes about kings and lamas, ministers and tricksters, which reveal the hidden significance of easily-overlooked side alleys, shrines, and stone houses clustered around the city’s most important pilgrims’ route, the Barkhor. ‘Old Lhasa’ is not only an enjoyable traveler’s companion for armchair readers, but also a vital resource for the intrepid visitor hoping to come away from the city with a deeper understanding.”MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Aldrich has lived in East and Central Asia for thirty-four years. After a career as a corporate lawyer, he was invited to establish the first international standard law practice in Mongolia in 2009. He retired in 2015 and now resides in northeast Taiwan. He has published three previous books on Asian topics — the first a detailed guide on the historic and cultural sites in Beijing, the second a collection of essays on Chinese Muslim culture in Beijing, and the third the most detailed work in English on the history and culture of Ulaanbaatar.HOW MUCH: Admission is RMB 100 for members of RASBJ and partner RAS branches, and for staff of The British Embassy; RMB 200 for non-members. The cost includes a token for one free drink; attendees can purchase additional refreshment directly from the Bell.HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Please click “Register” or “I Will Attend” and follow the instructions. You must enter your full name and passport/ID number, as the Embassy will check IDs carefully, and you must bring that passport/ID with you to the event. For payment, Alipay may be easier than WeChat. After successful registration you will receive a confirmation email . If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder. Members and Embassy staff have priority until October 11. Please register no later than the deadline of noon, Monday October 16. Registrants will receive detailed updates on Embassy procedures nearer the event. REFUND POLICY: Attendees will be refunded in full if RASBJ cancels this event. Registrations for those who have not paid by Monday October 16 at noon will be cancelled. After noon on Monday October 16, registrants who cannot attend for personal reasons will not be refunded
Ian Johnson’s Sparks (Penguin Books) is a fascinating read…
An inspiring testament to China’s dissident historians and activists, from the 1940s to the present
A documentary filmmaker who spent years uncovering a Mao-era death camp; an independent journalist who gave voice to the millions who suffered through Covid; a magazine publisher who dodges the secret police- these are some of the people who make up Sparks- China’s Underground Historians and their Battle for the Future, a vital account of how some of China’s most important writers, filmmakers, and artists have overcome crackdowns and censorship to challenge the Chinese Communist Party on its most sacred ground–its monopoly on history.
In traditional China, dynasties rewrote history to justify their rule by proving that their predecessors were unworthy of holding power. Marxism gave this a modern gloss, describing history as an unstoppable force heading toward Communism’s triumph. The Chinese Communist Party builds on these ideas to whitewash its misdeeds and justify its rule.
But in recent years, critical thinkers from across the land have begun to challenge this state-led disremembering. Using digital technologies to bypass China’s legendary surveillance state, their samizdat journals, guerilla media posts, and underground films document a pattern of disasters- from past famines and purges to the ethnic clashes and virus outbreaks of the present.Based on years of research in Xi Jinping’s China, Sparks challenges stereotypes of a China where the state has quashed all free thought, revealing instead a country engaged in one of humanity’s great struggles of memory against forgetting–a battle that will shape the China that emerges in the mid-21st century.
Roy Thomson (aka Lord Thomson of Fleet), was a Canadian entrepreneur and businessman best known for being a newspaper mogul and owner of The Times and The Sunday Times as well as The Scotsman newspaper. Thomson had acquired four tour operators – Skytours, Riviera, Luxitours, Gaytours – and the airline Britannia Airways. In 1965 he merged them all to form the Thomson Travel Group and, in 1971, they became known as simply Thomson Holidays.
At the personal invitation of Premier Zhou Enlai Thomson made a visit to China in 1972. The legendary British photographer Don McCullin was appointed the official photgrapher. In his autobiography, Unreasonable Behaviour, he recalls the trip to Peking…
McCullin missed the big shot of Zhou meeting Thompson due to trying to deal with a very bloody shaving cut;
Thompson prepared for the trip on the 19 hour flight to Peking by reading an Alistair Maclean thriller on the plane;
Thompson never quite managed to master hitting dead centre in the spitoons proviced in the Great Hall of the People;
Zhou En-lai was not overly impressed with the fact trhat McCullin had been embedded with US troops in Vietnam previously.
Red Star Over China was a massive coup for the young American journalist Edgar Snow. The book is still a gripping read, but it is also an abject lesson in the pitfalls of access in China. Click here…
