China Books

I was excited to find a copy of Hibbard's The Bund in the Shanghai Museum gift shop. It's about time we had a good history of these beautiful, architectural masterpieces!

When people arrive in Shanghai, one of the first places on their sight-seeing list is usually the "Bund." As people wander down this fabled road, enjoying the architecture and scenery, few know the names of these lovely facades or the often interesting history behind them. And even many of us who live here have had to stop and ponder, what exactly is a "bund"?

"Bund" is not a German word, as is often thought, but is of Hindustani origin. The word means an artificial causeway or embankment. Shanghai's bund began its development in the 1850s. By the 1860s, Shanghai actually had four bunds. These four roads, or "Wai Tan" ("outer shore" in Chinese), demarcated the sides of the British settlement--which served as the center of foreign life in the city. Now days the city is down to only one "Bund" road, which was officially named Zhongshan Road Number One (east) in 1945.

This legendary causeway has been one of the city's most modern areas for much of its recent history, showcasing the latest architectural designs and taking tourists who were expecting charming pagodas by surprise. The Bund's builders have traditionally competed to dazzle onlookers by erecting the most progressive and impressive designs.

In more recent times, the area has faced major challenges as developers have sought to restore the area to its former glory--or dare I suggest surpass! Concerns have surfaced and debates have been fueled over historical conservation and restoration of the Bund. Many people ponder the riverside's future, as would-be developers attempt to surmount the difficulties of finding money and support as they seek to restore and preserve this prestigious set of addresses.

Get the inside scoop on all 29 Bund establishments in local tour director Peter Hibbard's new book The Bund. Within its pages, Hibbard provides a well-researched history and timeline of the Bund's development and each of its buildings. The book includes many featured essays, old documents, and letters written about the Wai Tan. The numerous photos and fun old maps complete Hibbard's well done attempt to bring the Bund's story to life. Truly hard core Bund fans can keep current by visiting Hibbard's Bund website, gingergriffin.com

At the book's end, readers can supplement their Bund knowledge with a helpful directory of the buildings and their occupants, including phone numbers. The finale also features a chart of the buildings' occupants, then and now, a walking tour complete with maps, and an index.

The book is a must if you find yourself playing tour guide to out-of-town visitors who you want to impress with insider knowledge, or if you are simply interested in this fascinating area of the city. It should also please architecture buffs.

A must have guide if going to Shanghai. Read it before going, take it with you, then read it again. Made the City come alive with its history.

The Bund - Shanghai's famous half-mile avenue along the Huangpu River - contains a line of fabulous monumental structures from Shanghai's dazzling colonial life of the 1920s and '30s. Despite the Western styles of architecture, the Bund is very much a part of China's history, with all that is good and bad.

Peter Hibbard's book tells the richly populated story of the Bund's development from the late 1800s, when Shanghai was the West's gateway into China near the mouth of the Yangtze River. Capital investment flooded into the area (much as it is doing today). The merchant banking and trading houses went up in grand style - neo-Gothic, classic European, Art Deco - using enormous quantities of often expensive materials from China, Europe and America. And a wildly extravagant social life blossomed, with balls, festivals and big-name entertainers from the West. Though the Chinese, from professionals to day laborers, found thousands of jobs there, under the earlier international treaties they had no legal authority.

Hibbard notes the ill-use and neglect of many of the buildings after the Japanese occupation, the post-war Communist takeover and the flight of the Westerners. While most of the structures have been renovated - some beautifully - and are partially occupied by banks, stylish restaurants and fashion houses, their future is uncertain, he says. The Bund, with its grand buildings and its setting along the river, waits for Shanghai to make it part of its future as well as its tumultuous past.

Hibbard is perhaps the leading authority on the Bund. He has stocked his book with the people, the plans and the external events that shaped its development. The text is wonderfully written and the pages are illustrated with hundreds of historical photos, drawings and poster art and with photographs of the present day. It's a guidebook and history as well as a book of stories to treasure.

This book tells you everything about Hong Kong butterflies. The photos / illustration plates add live to this wonderful book. The information is so comprehensive and useful. As an enthusiast of butterfly, I highly recommend this book (THE BIBLE OF HONG KONG BUTTERFLIES) to everyone.

The most comprehensive, informative and wonderful book about butterflies of Hong Kong I have ever seen. It covers all the details you would like to know about Hong Kong butterflies. I recommend this book to those who like to explore the nature.

Although this is an expensive book, it simply is the best and most definitive work on butterflies of the region. The standard of presentation is excellent. Descriptions are clear and very informative, with plenty of in text illustrations showing identification characters allowing similar species to be identified - particularly useful for the Hesperiidae. Many species are give full ecological write ups, some reared for the first time. Also included in the core text are photographs of many species taken "in the field" (mostly of good to excellent quality). Short chapters also outline Hong Kong's natural environment. The plates (in two sections: adults and immature stages) are absolutely top quality and show dorsal and ventral wing surfaces, male, female and seasonal forms at life size; the immature plates comprise photos of each stage, where known. A few negatives - local distribution data is already out of date and must be regarded as historical (a sad reflection of Hong Kong's general apathy to its natural resources); the list of contacts is also out of date!

Thoroughly recommended (I'm still saving up for my copy!), a wonderful addition to any butterfly bibliophile's portfolio and a must buy option for anyone interested in the butterflies of South-east and East Asia.

I used C is for China in my second grade class. We appreciated the authentic photography and interesting details. We also enjoyed talking about the text coming from a Chinese perspective. We really enjoyed the information about dragons and the abacus. A must have for a teaching unit about China.

I really like this book. It is a great introduction to China for young people written by a Chinese author. She wrote it very responsiblity and provides a general insight into her culture. I want to read other books by the author.

I really enjoyed reading this book and looking at the photos that accompany each letter of the alphabet. The author also did the photos and what makes this book stand out among the other Chinese ABC books is that the photos are not the glossy touristy looking photos of wealthy families and places like the Imperial or Summer palace. But instead the photos of China's people doing their day to day things. The author states that the photos where taken in Guangxi, Yunnan & Shanxi. He wanted to show that the Chinese People are hard working, they have a strong commitment to their families, religion, history, customs both modern and traditional and their hope for the future. Each photo has on the right side of the page the Chinese character for the photo each letter represents. I would have like to have seen translation on how to correctly say each word. Other than that small thing I think this is a terrific book to have in your home library or for those of you who have children from Guangxi, Ynnan or Shanxi.

Here are the letters and what each represents:
A - Abacus
B - Bicycle
C - China & it's rivers
D - Dragon
E - Excercise
F - Fengzheng ( A popular flying kite)
G - Garden
H - Herbal Medicine
I - Incense
J - Jade
K - Kitchen
L - Lanterns
M - Markets
N - Noodles
O - Old (the older generation)
P - Picture
Q - Qingming Festival
R - Remminbi - Chinese Currency
S - Singing
T - Tiaoqi ( Chinese Checkers )
U - Uniform
V - Vegetables
W - Wenzi ( Chinese Writing )
X - Xiao ( A Musical instrument from ancient times )
Z - Zen ( Major Religion commonly known as Chan )

I love this novel. It's a panorama of life in China as seen by an American missionary from 1906 until the 1950s. The author was the son of a China missionary and most of the events in the book are historical -- althought the main character, Treadup, is fictional -- a composite of sorts for all the missionaries in China. "The Call" achieves a feeling of absolute authenticity.

This is a long exhaustive book. The first hundred pages or so are devoted in Treadup's early life in upstate New York and the reader may be forgiven if he is impatient with the plodding pace. The story picks up when Treadup gets to China as it details his adventures, doubts, and misteps, all worked into the political and social framework of the time. Treadup's journeys -- both physical and spiritual -- are long and arduous and ultimately this is a sad book.

Missionaries are out of fashion these days, but their cause -- the spread of Western civilization -- is still alive. If he lived today, Treadup would not be a missionary, but rather an activist for Tibetan independence, a friend of Bono, a board member of Amnesty International, and a tireless crusader against gender inequality. Will today's secular "missionaries" succeed where Treadup failed?

I don't know of any other novel that probes more deeply and seriously into the life, times, and mind of a China missionary. We live intimately with Treadup and when his life is over, we wonder, as he did, whether it was all worth it.

This long novel (700 pages) is a fictional biography of a missionary in China. David Treadup is a composite fictional character based on six actual missionaries to China (one of them being Hersey's own father). Told like a real biography and including mainly diary entries, but also comprising excerpts from letters, newspapers, staff minutes, and other biographical tools, Hersey traces the life of his main character from troubled days at Syracuse University (he almost flunks out until given a second chance after which he changes his major to science, which becomes very useful to him in China), to his Call to the ministry after a revival meeting, to his experiences in China. The book is not only an excellent account of Treadup's life in a strange land whose people he comes to love, but also a history of China itself during the first half of the twentieth century. It's easy to get so wrapped up in Treadup's life and experiences that you forget you're reading a novel (it's one of the few novels I've read that has a "Notes" section appended to it). Hersey's use of diary entries makes for an excellent approach: we experience Treadup's personal responses to things more directly and honestly that way. The book is both powerful and inspiring, and is definitely worth checking out.

"...Yes, there on the embankment outside the compound I had a small boy feeling. Chores were over. Only now, aged 65, do I realize how sweet the chores had always been. Inside the barn, inside the compound wall, I had been free -- busy, orderly, useful. Released, I felt at loose ends. A great deal had happened to me in Yin Xin camp, and now all I could feel was a paradox: the loss of the freedom of confinement." p.698

When I first picked up The Call, I fully expected a well-crafted, rich historiography of China; a novel concentrating on the time period at the turn of the 19th century, through five decades of foreign influence & interaction that finally shaped the terms on which the Communist Revolution was founded. What I did not expect, and was pleasantly surprised to find, was the philosophical depth of Hersey's characters; they were vehicles of an evolution of human thought. Hersey explores both the spiritual and the applied philanthropy of Christianity. Spiritually, the main character David Treadup was a General of the Lord whose application was saving souls: an idyllic gift between humans. Hersey questioned the application, and uncovered its shallow areas. The dilemma of belief without evidence. In response, the character of Treadup tried to justify Christianity with evidence; he used science lectures as his conveyance. There was terrific interest on behalf of the Chinese. Treadup felt that by awakening the Chinese to the laws of science, he was awakening them the laws of the Lord. His fantastic success with the lectures brought on self-doubt. He questioned purpose. Was he a science professor or a missionary? Science ceased to be an acceptable role for him to wear if that wasn't what he was about... there was no connection between his lectures and spiritual redemption. He questioned what he was actually bringing the Chinese, science or religion,... but most importantly he questioned what he wanted to bring.

As the novel develops, Treadup gains experience and insight, he shifts his focus from science lectures to a literary campaign. With fantastic energy and zeal, he rolls up sleeves and takes on the task of teaching the peasantry to read and write. All over the countryside he sets up local schools. After the literary campaign Treadup introduces agricultural reform. He continues to answer the noble call, but by serving functional needs he is moving further, and further away from addressing spiritual ones. As he was with the science lectures, Treadup is again plagued with doubt. He is not saving souls, and in fact is questioning the legitimacy of his religious calling when so many greater needs stand out.

It is not until Treadup is a Japanese POW that he begins to answer the questions that have plagued him for years. In the prison camp he belongs to a group. The camp depends on him like it depends on all the individuals that make up the whole, the goal is survival. Treadup doesn't have to identify need, need has identified him. From his fellow prisoners he hears the Call, and realizes his original draw to Christianity was not religion, or saving souls, but being needed and employing his extraordinary ability to successfully meet that need.

In my opinion, this is the first book on "R.S. Prussia" to buy, and surely indispensable for collectors of any stripe! I was amazed when I discovered that a book such as this existed; that anyone would spend the hundreds of hours it would take to do the research and work out the system. Among the many remarkable things in this book on identifying the "R.S. Prussia" porcelain made in the Schlegelmilch factories in Germany/Poland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, here are three to whet your appetite: (1)the author has worked out a reference system for reading the many many different marks found on the porcelain, which system, if studied carefully, can often produce rare information such as exactly which factory a piece came from and therefore the period in which it was made. (2)the book shows the collector that one mark (say the "Classic" or "Red Mark") may say no more about the age or quality of a piece than another (say the "Steeple") mark. And (3)Capers provides a wonderful history of the Schlegelmilch families and their products, much of the information obtained during on-site European visits by Mr. Capers and his wife.

Some day, one hopes, Prussia collectors generally will use this information and this marking system. The enhancement to collecting "R.S. Prussia" will be immeasurable.

Knowing Ron personally we are aware of the time and energy involved in writing this book - it is truly a labor of love and encompasses a history very dear to his heart - agreeing with the two people who already reviewed the book there is not much more we can add but to say it is a must book for all Prussia collectors - we have referred to it many times in our travels searching for prussia and trying to authenticate different marks.

I am thrilled to be able to review this valuable book! I owe the recognition of several of my best pieces to R.H. Capers and his "labor of love" that is refered to as "Capers' Notes on the Marks of Prussia." R.H. Capers is an avid Prussia collector, and fluent in German. Consequently, we as readers are refreshingly saturated with the "facts versus the fiction" surrounding the history of Prussian China and the marks that represent the manufacturers of this wonderful porcelain we adore. The reading is easy, the text is colorful, and the marks are divided in catagories made up by the manufacturers themselves. Capers deviates from the common and often vague names for Prussian marks, and creates a "Prussian Logo Code System" to aid in identifing the countless marks made for this beautiful china. Each mark is cleverly coded and photographed in color. Capers also includes a color photograph of the piece the mark came from. Capers reveals the authentic marks first, and then provides the reader with a section of fake or "counterfeit" marks found on reproduction pieces. Capers goes the extra mile to provide extensive family trees, birth and death certificates, and photographs of the Schlegelmilch Families who are responsible for producing and selling this lovely porcelain. There are also photographs of the factories themselves. "Capers' Notes on the Marks of Prussia" is an invaluable tool for any serious collector, appaiser or dealer who is conscientious about purchasing authentic Prussia. This book is truly an asset to any porcelain collector's reference bookshelf.

In this remarkable memoir, Gus Lee presents a clear and compassionate picture of his parents, grandparents and their 'clans' set in turbulent times. He brings alive the social, historical, religious and cultural context which informs their actions and reactions making them comprehensible to a reader with a totally different cultural viewpoint. It reads like a multi-generational adventure novel where the characters play parts in or are impacted by major events, from the Taiping rebellion through the British opium trade to the civil wars that raged from the early twentieth century through the brutal Japanese occupation in WWII. It is a wild ride and a great read. Gus presents his forbears and related characters warts and all, but always with great compassion and subtlety. There are no cardboard characters. Readers of his novels, which have a strong autobiographical base, particularly 'China Boy', will know what a hard childhood he endured with a stern and distant father, a mother prone to 'magical' beliefs who died when he was five, and a rigid, vindictive step mother. In this memoir, Gus reveals to us what he subsequently discovered about his parents and he honors them both. Gus's own life has been a testament to using adversity to build strength. He has wasted no time blaming, or scoring points off his parents or using his experiences to excuse failings in his own life. There is no 'poor me' here. His story helped me understand a completely different belief system and cultural perspective. And it was at times moving, at other times funny, but always interesting.

Get ready to give up your weekend because once you pick up this book you won't be able to put it down. Lee's dramatic descriptions cover the conflicts between historical Eastern and Western traditions woven into poignant family events. While his relatives and their antics seem quirky and particular, in fact they resonate with all families facing abrupt changes and adaptation --be they generational or cultural. For those who have read and loved China Boy and Honor and Duty, Chasing Hepburn gives us the pre-story we've all been wondering about.

Get ready to give up your weekend because once you pick up this book you won't be able to put it down. Lee's dramatic descriptions cover the conflicts between historical Eastern and Western traditions woven into poignant family events. While his relatives and their antics seem quirky and particular, in fact they resonate with all families facing abrupt changes and adaptation --be they generational or cultural. For those who have read and loved China Boy and Honor and Duty, Chasing Hepburn gives us the pre-story we've all been wondering about.

This is a great first mystery novel by Marlene Chabot! Chabot introduces the reader to Matt Malone, a private investigator that globetrots the world to solve a case. Chabot infuses the novel with great detail and Minnesota landmarks that make it a very rich and exciting read!

This delightful novel by Marlene Chabot ties in local Minnesotan elements with the suspensefull files of a private I. Matt Malone, the Irish-bred private investigator is a lively character that charms the reader's heart. Matt finds clues to the crime in unexpected places, from his neighbor, Mrs. Grimshaw, to his dog, Gracie. By the time you finish reading, you'll want to read it again just to re-encounter the characters. China Connection is a must read for mystery-novel-lovers of all ages!

A well written PI story with likable characters and a compelling mystery. Hired by a bottling plant president, Matt Malone is jetted far from his Minnesota digs. Margaret Grimshaw, Matt's elderly neighbor, keeps track of him and his dog, Gracie. You will be pulled into the story and enjoy the ride.

I made three recipes - stir-fried Chinese cabbage, sweet-and-sour tofu and spicy tofu with shrimp. Wow. It took a bit of concentration, because I've never made Chinese food before and this is such a new style. But the instructions were clear and I was successful. First time out! I've tried a lot of cookbooks, but never had one take me from no-nothing to rich, succulent, dreamy-smelling simple food so easily. This book is GREAT.

I agree completely with the comments of reviewer #1 (above). Nina Simonds CRANKS, and this book does a slightly easier (more manageable to non-cooks) version of some of her other, always delectable recipes. It's a fantastic book, and would make a great gift. There's no justice! :-)

I want this book. I ordered another Nina Simonds book from the Library and they sent this one instead. I have been doing Asian Cooking (Chinese,Thai,Japanese, etc.) for many years. I have also taken many Chinese and Thai cooking classes and run a cooking school out of my home.

This is one of the best Chinese cookbooks that I have come across. I made BBQ spareribs last night that are better than you find in most restaurants. It took 5 minutes to make the sauce. Preparation was very quick and easy. Recipes are clear and well written. The ingredients can be found in any supermarket.

In her introduction Ms. Simonds states that she wrote this book after becoming a working Mom. This book is perfect for people who do not have the time to go to an Asian market to shop--you will find most, if not all, the ingredients that you need in a good supermarket. It is also perfect for someone who wants to come home and have dinner on the table within an hour. You may want to marinate something overnight; but you do not have to do a lot of preparation to make these dishes. Her section on substitutions in the front is also invaluable.

My one criticism is that she uses turkey (a non-traditional Chinese food) in so many recipes. I would use chicken or pork or ground pork instead. However, for someone on a low fat diet the turkey might be another plus. Other than that this book is great.

So, you think the currently accepted paradigm of China's so-called "peaceful rise" is accurate? Have you been bamboozled by the stories of the gleaming new cities in China and the desires of China for peace? If so, it isn't your fault. This is a common thread since the rise (and even during the rebellion) of the Communists in China. There are few better at manipulating American media and so-called scholars than the Chinese Communists.

This work is a survey history of the history of China's manipulation of the U.S. media and academia. Some of it was deliberate manipulation, but there is also an element of anti-Americanism among those in the U.S. eagerly willing the stories coming from China.

Mosher does an excellent job of showing the history of that manipulation. Those who said that China's communists believed in democracy have since been discredited. Those who said that Chinese ate well during the Cultural Revolution have been discredited. Those who believed that the Chinese Communists were headed toward a more gentle authoritarianism in the 1980s were painfully proven wrong once again in 1989.

For those who blindly accept today's version of China, read these accounts of the mistakes of the past. Doing so will cause you to step back a minute and look at the reality of today's China: People's Armed Police, Christians and Falungong continually persecuted, along with Tibetan nuns and monks, propoganda-filled Chinese media, Gulag-style prisons known as laogai, escalating threats against its neighbors accompanied by a fearsome military build-up. To this day, the government still denies entry to people known to oppose the regime.

This is an instructive work to the unintiated about the realities of China. This will tell you more than anything else that you will ever read that you believe the current "super-story" regarding China at your peril.

Despite its politically conservative credentials, the book takes a needed and hard look at the overly romantic view of China still held dear by many in Washington and Wall Street. More importantly, Mosher details why this view of China has persisted with a balanced and careful analysis that traces the roots of American views of China.

Readers will come away knowing that criticizing the necrotic thugs who rule China doesn't constitute "anti-Chinese" racism and doesn't make them a conservative crank (I'm a democrat). For too long, critics of our China policy have been labelled ignorant and lacking the exclusive understanding of China's "uniqueness" that Holbrooke-types claim to possess.

An important work that deserves a look and that has been vindicated by China's recent behavior. Of course, all that will change after WTO, I'm sure someone is saying in Washington right now...

Another excellent book by Steven Mosher. It explores the reasons for the persistent misunderstanding by Americans of China's motives and methods of operation.

The bottom line is fairly simple: if an expert criticizes China, they're denied access, if an expert praises China, they're given access. Without access, how can an "expert" be expert? Thus, the only "credible" China "experts" are those whom of whom the government in Beijing approves.

Nuanced and wide-ranging, there is no better introduction to the texture of late Imperial Chinese culture and society than this volume.

This book gives a detailed picture of Qing Dynasty which ruled China from 1644-1912. It also tells the creation of the mighty empire and how it end feudalism in China. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Chinese history.

This book is a model for what a cultural survey should be. It begins with an excellent brief survey of Chinese history of the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries, then surveys many things I wanted to know about an alien culture. I was most intrigued by the chapter on "Language and Symbolic Reference" (read after my brief traveller's survival course in Manderin). Dr. Smith explored not only the differences between the language and those of the West, but their implications for the Chinese style of thought: e.g., the spoken vocabulary is rich in homonyms and puns, leading to a style of reasoning by analogy and verbal similarity that comes far less naturally to speakers of the Romance languages.

Smith also covers, for instance, social class, economics, religion and philosophy, art, literature, popular culture...an endless parade of the things mere histories rarely mention.
This is certainly the most interesting book I've read in a decade. I highly recommend it.