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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · 22d

From Robert Suettinger’s book on Hu Yaobang I learned that Hu, like Deng Xiaoping, preferred to live outside the confines of Zhongnanhai. Hu’s house was at 会计司胡同25号; now gated off from public view. There is apparently a reproduction somewhere in his home province of Hunan…

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · 23d

The Flying Tigers (American Volunteer Group) were U.S. pilots recruited in 1941 to aid China before America’s entry into WWII. Based in Yunnan, they flew Curtiss P-40s against Japan. Photos from Harrison Forman’s 1942 series show Col. Claire Chennault and pilot R.T. Smith at Kunming.

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 28

“In particular, Torigian’s account of his life invites the question: why would anyone remain so dedicated to an institution that has treated you so badly?”

My review in the @asianreviewofbooks.bsky.social of ‘The Party’s Interests Come First’

asianreviewofbooks.com/the-partys-i...

“The Party’s Interests Come First” by Joseph Torigian

Writers have long found it useful to approach the tumult of modern China through the lives of those leaders born around or shortly after the turn of the twentieth century: men whose careers stretch…

asianreviewofbooks.com

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 25

I love a doorstop CCP biog, and Joseph Torigian’s new book on Xi Zhongxun is a fascinating addition to the genre that offers insight into the party, his life - and of course, his son.

asianreviewofbooks.com/the-partys-i...

“The Party’s Interests Come First” by Joseph Torigian

Writers have long found it useful to approach the tumult of modern China through the lives of those leaders born around or shortly after the turn of the twentieth century: men whose careers stretch…

asianreviewofbooks.com

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Reposted by Jonathan Chatwin

Asian Review of Books @asianreviewofbooks.bsky.social · Aug 25

Today in the ARB: @jmchatwin.bsky.social reviews “The Party’s Interests Come First” by Joseph Torigian @stanfordpress.bsky.social asianreviewofbooks.com/the-partys-i...

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Reposted by Jonathan Chatwin

Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 24

In March 1990, Deng Xiaoping invoked Mount Tai before Party leaders: “No matter how the international situation changes, so long as we can ensure appropriate economic growth, we shall stand firm as Mount Tai.” 1/3

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 24

I’ve used these archives and the BBC’s explanation of how they are changing access is just nonsense marketing speak. The only way to run an archive like this is to allow access based on specific queries.

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Historians dismayed by ‘scandal’ of BBC cutting access to...

Critics say new limit to trove of information sounds knell for independent research

observer.co.uk

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 24

Others climbed for perspective. Confucius said from its peak “the world looked small.” The Tang poet Du Fu vowed: “One day I shall reach its highest peak / And hold the mountains below in a single glance.”
(Photo from the Splendid China Miniature Park, Shenzhen)

www.amazon.co.uk/Southern-Tou...

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 24

From the Qin onwards, rulers made pilgrimages to Taishan. Qin Shihuang performed the fengshan sacrifices there; Han emperors offered jade and silk at its altars; Tang Xuanzong left stone inscriptions on the slopes. 2/3

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 24

In March 1990, Deng Xiaoping invoked Mount Tai before Party leaders: “No matter how the international situation changes, so long as we can ensure appropriate economic growth, we shall stand firm as Mount Tai.” 1/3

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Reposted by Jonathan Chatwin

Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social · Aug 23

The Great Wall at Shanxi Province, c.1923 by photographer RE Baber

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Reposted by Jonathan Chatwin

Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 23

On 19 Jan 1992, Deng Xiaoping stepped off the train in Shenzhen. After greetings from local officials, he was driven to the Shenzhen Guesthouse. His villa had just been refurbished: cream furnishings, floral fabrics, and a large desk with inkstone + brushes laid out. 1/3

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 23

Soon he was on the road. Where he’d once seen rice fields + fishponds, Shenzhen was now highways and towers of glass. In 1984 the SEZ had <350k people; by 1992, >1m. In the wider city: 2.3m. “Shenzhen is developing so fast. It exceeds my expectations.” 3/3

www.amazon.co.uk/Southern-Tou...

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 23

Eight years earlier, on a 1984 visit, Deng had written the line: “The development and experience of Shenzhen prove that our policy of establishing the Special Economic Zones is correct.” That inscription was a crucial endorsement at a tricky time for the SEZs. 2/3

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 23

On 19 Jan 1992, Deng Xiaoping stepped off the train in Shenzhen. After greetings from local officials, he was driven to the Shenzhen Guesthouse. His villa had just been refurbished: cream furnishings, floral fabrics, and a large desk with inkstone + brushes laid out. 1/3

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 17

Glad to hear it!

Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 14

The one on the plaza, also pretty run down if memory serves. Fridge full of slightly warm Yanjing & Tsingtao (plus Hoegaarden for the more discerning drinker)

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Aug 14

Goodness me, Amilal takes me back. What was that run down pool place by Gulou called? I think @alecash.net hustled me out of some RMB there

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Jul 31

An excellent piece—and equally true of literary travel writing about China, which has all but disappeared in recent years.

Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social · Jul 31

Interesting piece on whatever happened to China travel guides by Thomas Bird in the China Books Review - that hat tips my old time travel mentor Carl Crow - chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/31/t...

What Happened to China Travel Guides? | China Books Review

Guidebooks for China boomed from the 1980s to the 2010s. Then the Covid pandemic hit. With fewer visitors, and travel guides going out of print in the digital age, what are we missing?

chinabooksreview.com

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Jul 24

Yankai, Yunnan, ca 1943-45: A farmer poses with hoe in hand, wearing a well-worn leather cap unusual for the region. He was particularly proud of his beard, noted photographer Bert Krawczyk.

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Reposted by Jonathan Chatwin

Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social · Jul 22

Thanks to China Books Review for the chance to write about (the sadly recently passed) Jane Gardam and her excellent Old Filth trilogy about colonial Hong Kong which, if you haven't read you really should....
chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/22/a...

Jane Gardam: The Old Filth Trilogy | China Books Review

A clever skewering of British colonials in pre-handover Hong Kong became a best-seller for its portrait of imperial ruin and class jockeying.

chinabooksreview.com

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Jul 22

Snow in Yunnan: Winter 1943–45. Locals insisted it be photographed—first snow in years. Rust-red earth, dark trees, wooden carts: a brief, surreal scene “like a Currier and Ives print,” noted US Army photographer Bert Krawczyk.

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Jul 21

Precarious crossing: Frederic W. Carey, HM Customs officer, photographed life in Yunnan (1896–1902) while stationed in Szemao (Simao, in southern Yunnan).

University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: FC01-07

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Reposted by Jonathan Chatwin

Jeff Wasserstrom @jwassers.bsky.social · Jul 17

I wrote about Liang Qichao as a thinker, reformer, exile & influence on Mao & Lu Xun & others for @chinabksreview.bsky.social (thanks at @alexludoboyd.bsky.social for the well thought out initial big edits & @alecash.net for the good final polishing ones) chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/17/l...

Liang Qichao: Reformer or Revolutionary? | China Books Review

The legacy of the late Qing era intellectual, once exiled in Japan, is overlooked in the West. A new collection of his essays shows a revolutionary spirit that is still alive in dissidents abroad toda...

chinabooksreview.com

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Jonathan Chatwin @jmchatwin.bsky.social · Jul 17

Mist rolling off the Doom bar this morning.

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