China Days

In this unique travelogue, an artist depicts his experiences and observations while living in western China with colorful illustrations. The nation of China is a constant source of fascination, yet we rarely glimpse life beyond its urban centers. Far west of Beijing and Shanghai, in the remote Chinese province of Yunnan, pioneering artist Henrik Drescher settled over a decade ago. While residing in his adopted home, Drescher records his experiences and observations in his illustrated notebooks, capturing everyday life in settings ranging from street markets to mountainscapes. These richly illustrated pages are compiled here for the first time. Drescher’s loyal fans will appreciate this window onto the life of the artist at the height of his powers, while those with an interest in Chinese culture will marvel at this rarely seen view of a country in the global spotlight.

A treasury of recipes, crafts, gardening tips, and more from the national bestselling author of the China Bayles series—a great gift for both mystery fans and herb & craft enthusiasts! Readers of the China Bayles mystery novels are familiar with the usefulness and wonder of the many herbs the amateur sleuth sells in her beloved Thyme and Seasons shop. Compiled by national bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert at the request of her fans, China Bayles' Book of Days gathers together tidbits and treasures about plants and reveals ways you can put more green into your daily life. Featuring 365 days of recipes, crafts, gardening tips, remedies, and more, this special volume is a personal calendar of the legends and lore of herbs and also features brand-new essays from the author, clues from China's mysteries, and some special contributions by the irrepressible members of the Myra Merryweather Herb Guild, Pecan Springs's oldest civic organization.

Praise for 44 Days:What if Alexis de Tocqueville were fluent in Mandarin and traveling through China by backpack and bullet train? He would record every encounter and analyze China’s national character with remarkable lucidity. He would produce a book full of telling insights that functioned like a five-dimensional chess game. It would be a guide book, travel companion, memoir, political history, and plain-old-pleasure for someone who likes their prose with pith in it. Oklahoma’s latter-day Tocqueville, Jeff J. Brown, is one hell of a good story teller, and traveling with him deep into China is an adventure not to be missed. Thomas Bass, Author of The Spy Who Loved Us, Vietnamerica, Camping with the Prince, Reinventing the Future, and The Eudaemonic Pie. "44 Days" is a delightful romp through a changing China and Jeff Brown is an excellent guide.John Pomfret, author of Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China "44 Days" is a fascinating exploration of the people of China, and the land in which they live. Brown is very knowledgeable of China's government and the country's millennia-old history. He obviously enjoys not just his travels but the people he meets. While he journeys, we journey with him. Jeff Brown is an intelligent, articulate and entertaining writer and 44 Days is absolutely enthralling. I highly recommend it. Mick Winter, author of Cuba for the Misinformed: Facts from the Forbidden Island Much more than just a travelogue, 44 Days is an intimate dialogue with China’s peoples, their histories, regions, economies, cultures, work, foods and future. Unabashedly iconoclastic and a contrarian’s delight, Jeff brings down many a golden calf, as he writes as few travelers do - putting China’s relations and rapid arc of development in perspective with the United States and Europe, making 44 Days a fascinating and unique approach to today’s critically important world affairs. Traveling over 12,000km by train and bus, walking hundreds more, while climbing a few of those in vertical ascent, join Jeff as he reports from the ground up on the greatest socioeconomic transformation ever seen, 21st century China – our planet’s soon to be greatest superpower. How will Baba Beijing, China’s central government behave, while honoring its 2,200 year old Heavenly Mandate for 20% of the human race? After 500 years of being masters of the world, what will the great historical Industrial Age powers do in response - adapt or lash out? All of our standards of living and lifestyles, even our species’ survival, depend on these soon to be events. Funny, enlightening & with an eye for the right details, 44 Days provides unique perspectives to these new century issues. It will keep you amused and thinking, as Jeff takes you traveling in, across and over five wild and wooly Western China provinces, face to face with the local people. Includes 125+ photos, maps and charts. Read less

Canton Days offers the first comprehensive history of the British community in China from the mid-1700s to the end of the Opium War in 1842. During that period, Britons and other Westerners in China were restricted to trading and living in a tiny section of the city of Canton and the small Portuguese territory of Macao. At Canton, trade between China and the West was conducted through a group of Chinese merchant houses specially licensed by the Qing government. British encounters with China in this period have been seen mainly as a prelude to war, and Britons in China usually have been characterized as single-minded traders determined to open the Middle Kingdom by any means or missionaries bent on converting the Chinese “heathen” to Christianity. John M. Carroll challenges common assumptions about the British presence in China as he traces the lives and times of the expatriates at the heart of this vital center of trade and exchange. The author draws on a rich trove of archival sources to bring Canton and its leading figures to life, concluding with the deaths of three Britons, each revealing British concerns and anxieties about being in China. Written in a clear and lively style, his book will appeal to all readers interested in British imperial history, early modern Chinese history, and the worlds of expatriate and sojourning communities.

A haunting and delicately observed description of the last days of Mandarin culture before the revolution, 'Peking Story' is a testimony to a way of life, a culture, an aesthetic and a civilisation which has since completely disappeared.

Winner of the both the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the CWA Non-Fiction Dagger from the author of City of Devils Chronicling an incredible unsolved murder, Midnight in Peking captures the aftermath of the brutal killing of a British schoolgirl in January 1937. The mutilated body of Pamela Werner was found at the base of the Fox Tower, which, according to local superstition, is home to the maliciously seductive fox spirits. As British detective Dennis and Chinese detective Han investigate, the mystery only deepens and, in a city on the verge of invasion, rumor and superstition run rampant. Based on seven years of research by historian and China expert Paul French, this true-crime thriller presents readers with a rare and unique portrait of the last days of colonial Peking.

In this title, originally published in 1981, author Robert P. Taylor calls for a greater understanding of rural energy supply and consumption patterns in the developing countries. Here, Taylor specifically examines the rural energy development in China as it is the world’s largest developing country in terms of population, and it has encountered many of the rural energy problems common in other developing countries. This study provides an analysis of China’s rural energy economy from before 1949 to a general discussion of achievements in rural energy development and the rural energy economy in 1981. This is an ideal title for students interested in environmental studies and development studies.