• Into the Shanghai Trenches: A Psychogeography of Sin in Old Shanghai

    By Paul French Shanghai’s sin districts that catered to foreigners were many and varied. They appeared moments after the city …

    Yellow Peril: Sinophobia and the Great War, A Q&A with Dr. Anne Witchard

    By Paul French Anne Witchard’s England’s Yellow Peril: Sinophobia and the Great War is the final volume in the Penguin …

    The Book the China Crowd Missed – Lawrence Osborne’s The Ballad of a Small Player

    By Paul French Every so often, a novel that captures the essence and flavors of the modern China experience is …

    Obsessing Over JG Ballard and His Terrible City

    All images by James H. Bollen.  By Paul French James H. Bollen is a British photographer, author, and translator based …

    A Short Look at the Long Literary History of Spies in Asia

    By Paul French One of the most noteworthy books set to hit the U.S. market next week is Olivia Milburn …

    Remembering Jack London’s Oriental War

    By Paul French “I am disgusted! I’ll never go to a war between Orientals again. The vexations and delay are …

    Sherlock Holmes and the Curious Case of Several Million Chinese Fans

    Image from ChinaSmack. By Paul French After a hiatus of a couple of decades China’s love affair with England’s greatest …

    Writing about China and Eponymous Adjectives

    By Paul French In the wake of new Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s “Third Plenum” — the first policy-focused general meeting …