No comments about Epicurean Traveler.

No comments about Cool Restaurants Hong Kong (Cool Restaurants).

3 comments about Culture Shock! Beijing at Your Door (Culture Shock! at Your Door).

1. I got "Culture Shock: Beijing" in anticipation of a brief trip to the city combining some teaching with a family vacation. I enjoyed reading about the local culture but did not anticipate that it would be of much practical use, since it seems more geared to Westerners who become permanent or semi-permanent residents of the city. It's not a "traditional" guidebook so if you need the names of hotels or shops, etc., seek elsewhere first.
   
   However, I became very gratified to have read it when the deputy director of the institute where my husband had been teaching invited us to dinner at a restaurant - I knew a lot more about dining etiquette and felt much more at ease. It also came in handy for advice related to haggling for purchases. So, even if you are "just" travelling as a tourist, it's definitely worth it - it's a fun read and you may just get some pointers you can really use.



2. This book was written by Kay Jones and her business partner- the top intercultural specialists in North America, IMHO. It is designed for ex-pats and professional users- if you are staying for a few months, if you are relocating to Beijing, or if you have business there often, you will love this. It is not designed for vacationers.
   
   Also, if you are going to the 2008 Olympics and renting a place for a few weeks, get this one. It covers cars, rentals, utilities, food, etiquette, and living arrangements you will encounter.



3. Culture guide to Beijing is a quick introduction to surviving as an "expat" in this great city.
   
   Key insights: the concept of face, focus on relationships, modest denials of place and honor.

No comments about Journeys in North China, Manchuria, and Eastern Mongolia; with Some Account of Corea: Volume 2.

No comments about The Pundits: British Exploration of Tibet and Central Asia.

2 comments about Twilight in the Forbidden City.

1. Johnston's book Twilight in the Forbidden City (1934) describes his experiences in Beijing and was used as a source for Bernardo Bertolucci's film dramatisation of Puyi's life The Last Emperor. He was portrayed by Peter O'Toole in the film.
   
   This book describes the last of the Manchu Dynasty whose power had been crumbling for nearly a hundred years due to foreign wars and internal revolts and China lay helpless at the feet of foreign powers.
   
   Today with rapid its economic leaps forwards and a place in the UN Security Council and its huge powerhouse of an economy - China is on its feet again. The days of the Manchu's are a distant memory and the army of courtiers and eunuchs that you that serve the emperors of the middle kingdom are long forgotten.
   
   The book is fascinating as it takes on back to a bygone age and culture. However everyone needs to read this book to understand the China that was. Only from its past can one understand the China today in its true historical perspective.
   
   The book is great if you are of Chinese heritage or if you are just thinking of visiting china or just interested in history of this ancient land and its people.



2. You may have heard that "Twilight in the Forbidden City" is the book that Bernardo Bertolucci's movie "The Last Emperor" is "based" on. If at all, however, this is true only with regard to the first part of the movie (the book was published in 1934, just as Pu-Yi had ascended the throne of "Manchukuo"), and actually, the book should not be read or understood in this limited sense at all. Primarily, this is the personal account of a British diplomat and scholar of the Chinese history, society and culture who, at some point in his career, was appointed to the (for a westerner: virtually unprecedented) position of tutor to China's last monarch. True, those who have seen Bertolucci's movie will recognize individual events described in this book, such as the emperor's birthday and wedding ceremonies (Bertolucci obviously used Johnston's description of the birthday rituals as a model for the spectacular coronation ceremonies at the beginning of the movie - as Johnston had not yet been made tutor at that point, he could not give an eyewitness account of that event), and Johnston's constant battle with the corrupt and reactionary palace eunuchs, as best exemplified by the fight over the emperor's glasses (without which Pu-Yi arguably would have lost eyesight before long).
   
   But Johnston's book is not merely a biography of the emperor. Rather, it is an account of the last period of the Manchu empire, and of the Chinese society in the second half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century. In addition to the author's personal impressions gained inside and outside the imperial palace, up to and including Pu-Yi's dramatic flight from the Forbidden City in 1924, which ultimately ended in the Japanese legation, the book also renders Johnston's view of the role of the major foreign powers at the time (Japan, Russia, the U.S., Germany and, of course, his native England), and the emperor's predecessors and their politics, such as the powerful empress dowager Tzu-Hsi (named "the Venerable Buddha"), the reform attempts of the unfortunate emperor Kuang-Hsü (which earned him, at the age of 28, lifelong humiliation, imprisonment and ultimately death in a tiny and windowless building within the imperial palaces), the Boxer Movement, and the brief and likewise unlucky interlude of the reign of Pu-Yi's father (Kuang-Hsü's brother), Prince Chun.
   
   Johnston was a monarchist and fiercely loyal to Pu-Yi personally, so don't expect him to treat any of the popular movements which ultimately brought the monarchy to an end with much sympathy or at least, objectivity. He probably also underestimated the dangers to China (and the Manchu dynasty) growing out of the emperor's re-installment as ruler of "Manchukuo" at the behest of the Japanese. In fact, the very title of this book is designed to reflect its author's hope that, like the "Rising Sun" symbolized by the Japanese emperor, the Chinese monarchy would soon rise and shine again. Equating the 12 years between the establishment of the Chinese republic in 1912 and the emperor's expulsion from the Forbidden City in 1924 to a "twilight" period and the 10 years following it to the night, Johnston dedicates the book to Pu-Yi "in the earnest hope that, after the passing of the twilight and the long night, the dawn of a new and happier day for himself, and also for his people on both sides of the Great Wall, is now breaking." In the book's introduction, he again emphasizes that "there is a twilight of the dawn as well as a twilight of the evening" and that the dark period witnessed by China might "be followed in due time by another twilight which will brighten into a new day of radiant sunshine."
   
   This, of course, is not the only prediction where history has proven Reginald F. Johnston wrong. His analysis of the role of some of the key players of the time, for example that of the empress dowager Tzu-Hsi, is likewise not undisputed; and he himself has not remained without criticism, either (even at the time of its publication, a major purpose of the book was to defend his actions and view of the facts). The book must therefore be read with a grain of salt. But few westerners of his time had a knowledge of China equaling his, let alone his opportunities to observe and gain insights within the imperial palace. That, in itself, makes his account a compelling read.
   
   Also recommended:
   The Last Emperor - Criterion Collection
   From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi
   Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China
   Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K'ang-Hsi
   The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge Illustrated Histories)

2 comments about Living and Working in China: The Complete, Practical Guide to Living as an Expatriate in the People's Republic.

1. Williamson appears to be an old China hand and has lots of valuable wisdom to share with the rest of us. Sadly, he doesn't communicate the "complete, practical" information that the title of this book promises. The book consists of a series of rambling outlines and bulleted lists rather than the sentences and paragraphs that typically comprise a book. Despite the attractive cover, the photos inside the book have people's faces grayed out, except for Williamson's face. It is puzzling that a publisher would release this!



2. There was some helpful information but I read other books on this subject which contained a lot more information. By the time I finished reading this book I found I disliked the author due to his condescending attitude concerning the Chinese people.

1 comments about Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure.

1. Compiled and organized by Pratapaditya Pal, Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure is a stunning artbook quality collection of sculptures, illuminated pages, pigment on cotton artworks, and more -- all skillfully crafted across centuries of Himalayan history. Full-color photography and an extensive, scholarly text filled the pages of Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure with history, anecdotes, and insights to create a seminal and impressive work which is very highly recommended for Art History collections and enthusiasts.

No comments about A Court on Horseback: Imperial Touring and the Construction of Qing Rule, 1680-1785 (Harvard East Asian Monographs).

No comments about Asia with focus on China ([Depth-study text-books]).