Author of Midnight in Peking, City of Devils, Murders of Old China, Peking Noir, The Defectors, Her Lotus Year. The Last Emperor of China is out this August. Return to the City of Darkness - Kowloon Walled City now on BBCSounds. Agent - Aitken-Alexanderhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlwwsutyls2uJust in case you missed it, or fancy something to listen to this weekend my BBC Radio doc on the Kowloon Walled City is on Sounds…. (Best listened to with headphones BTW)…. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002r3zc?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile16 May 2026 03:47 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlwwsutyls2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlvuqrofis2qPeking Cart and Mule, c.1920s, Peking Art Series15 May 2026 17:38 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlvuqrofis2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mluvwl6vsk2gAmong all the hilarious MAGA takes on Trump’s visit to the “forbidden” Temple of Heaven (open 8am-8pm daily, tickets $5) and the “beautiful hidden gardens” of Zhongnanhai (basically Xi’s Take a Child to the Office Day)… this is my favourite so far…15 May 2026 08:26 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mluvwl6vsk2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mluq64xmx22gAnna Mary Hotchkis RSA (Scottish, 1885-1984) 'Ma Fang Shan, The Pilgrim's Way, Western Hills near Peking'15 May 2026 06:43 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mluq64xmx22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlsfookcp22uOmei Shan by Scottish Artist Anna Hotchkis, c.1932. Mount Emei, alternatively Mount Omei, is a 3,099-metre-tall mountain in Sichuan Province, China, and is the highest of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China.14 May 2026 08:30 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlsfookcp22uhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlr454nom22iThe Chueh Ssu/T'an Chou Ssu - the Monastery of Clear Pools and Wild Mulberry or Temple of the Pool and the Zhe Tree - aka the Tanzhe Temple, or as Scottish artist Anna Hotchkis called it the Tan Che Ssu, in the Western Hills near Beijing. Painted some tome between 1922 and 193713 May 2026 20:07 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlr454nom22ihttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlqgqdwbv223From May 13th to 17th, Bookshop.org in the UK will be offering a 20% discount code on pre-orders of my new book The Last Emperor of China: Twilight of the Forbidden City (Elliot & Thompson). https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-last-emperor-of-china-twilight-of-the-forbidden-city-paul-french/e78c91082ea3316a?ean=9781783968626&next=t You can use the promo code below at checkout.13 May 2026 13:44 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlqgqdwbv223https://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlqdous2oc2aThree photos of the (unnamed) 1906 Hong Kong typhoon was a tropical cyclone that hit Hong Kong on 18 September 1906. The typhoon caused property damage exceeding a million pounds sterling, affected international trade and took the lives of around 15,000 people13 May 2026 12:49 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlqdous2oc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlq6zukzh22pSuperb FU to Trump from Chinese State media [contains quote post or other embedded content]13 May 2026 11:26 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlq6zukzh22phttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlpzhdkhks2sMay 13 2026 - ChinaRhyming - Spooks, Refugees and Deals Le Carre in Hong Kong, a UK pre-order deal on The Last Emperor of China, a Strangers on the Praia give away and the latest on ChinaRhyming.com https://open.substack.com/pub/paulfrench/p/may-13-2026-chinarhyming-spooks-refugees?r=4ire&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true https://ChinaRhyming.com13 May 2026 09:46 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlpzhdkhks2shttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlpq3kqoec2b“Shanghai Millionaire” Monopoly style board game. Supposedly created by Berlin Jewish refugee children Manfred and Siegfried Lobel in the Hongkou Ghetto (aged 10 and 14 reputedly) in 1946 (by which time the property prices had largely collapsed!!).13 May 2026 06:58 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlpq3kqoec2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mloor5diic2rThat’s quite the duo…. https://www.france24.com/en/culture/20260512-american-actor-jane-fonda-and-chinese-star-gong-li-open-2026-cannes-film-festival?utm_medium=social12 May 2026 21:02 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mloor5diic2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mloo7oblwc23A factory in the outskirts of Weihaiwei (Weihai), c.1929-193212 May 2026 20:52 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mloo7oblwc23https://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mloajilmvc2iThe old East Gate, Weihaiwei (Weihai), c.192912 May 2026 16:47 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mloajilmvc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlnocvhs7c2oIf you want to know how Trump’s illegal, mishandled and ridiculous war with Iran is impacting the UK - popped into Europarts in East Sussex for a litre of engine oil and they’re rationing it…..12 May 2026 11:21 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlnocvhs7c2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlnnfcwoas2gPhotographs of the staff at a foreign family’s home In Weihaiwei (Weihai), Shandong c.1929-193112 May 2026 11:05 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlnnfcwoas2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlndozzfbc25Caroline Sanderson’s August 2026 UK Non-Fiction Picks for The Bookseller magazine…12 May 2026 08:11 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlndozzfbc25https://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlmqbvotws2x& they say nobody reads history!! Massive congrats to friend, research collaborator, & fellow Social Sciences Academy Press (SSAP Beijing) author 邹施主 (Zou Dehuai) for hitting a 3rd printing of his collection of China in WW2 photos and analysis 山河在（Our Country), a social science bestseller in China!12 May 2026 02:24 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlmqbvotws2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlll4bxhik23This fortnight my Crimereads Crime and the City column heads to Ottowa…. https://crimereads.com/crime-and-the-city-ottawa/11 May 2026 15:19 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlll4bxhik23https://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mllbglysmk2pTorygraph off its meds again today11 May 2026 12:25 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mllbglysmk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlj5iwi6a22bHMS Kent arrives in Shanghai, 1939 – what was then known as “Gunboat Row”. From the collection of Henry Killingback who served on Kent. An interesting photo giving the lie to the popular misconception there was nothing Pudong-side until the 1990s. As you can see this was always wrong.10 May 2026 16:10 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlj5iwi6a22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mliehm5ytc2aLooking for a new audiobook? I’ll just reup my Murders of Old China from 2019. It was commissioned as an Audible Original so has never been published in book form…. https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B08287RLKC?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=library_overflow10 May 2026 08:42 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mliehm5ytc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlgvzbr7ek25It’s looking like a lovely London Sunday - why not take a walk across Marylebone experiencing its beautiful garden squares…. https://voicemap.me/tour/london/marylebone-s-garden-squares-from-village-green-to-georgian-grandeur09 May 2026 18:50 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlgvzbr7ek25https://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlgqxjc4dk2nScottish artist (pathologist and Stanley Camp internee) Robert Cecil Robertson (1890–1942), “Dhows” (Robertson’s term) at Shanghai, c.1920s09 May 2026 17:20 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlgqxjc4dk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlg6ngqo222vI don’t think he read the entire memo09 May 2026 11:52 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlg6ngqo222vhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlfvv5ksok2bBook Giveaway - a few copies of Betrayal in Paris: How the Treaty of Versailles Led to China’s Long Revolution (2014) as part of the Penguin series commemorating the centenary of WW1. As ever reply here - it’s 1st come, 1st served and I can mail anywhere except the PRC & the USA…09 May 2026 09:15 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlfvv5ksok2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mlfpvakqws2wScottish artist (pathologist and Stanley Camp internee) Robert Cecil Robertson (1890–1942), three views of Suzhou (Soochow), c.1920s09 May 2026 07:28 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlfpvakqws2whttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mldoxkuu4k2fhey UK - if you need to escape the unremitting politicking of the local elections this week... step into 1920s China...now in paperback for under a tenner.... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Lotus-Year-Making-Simpson/dp/178396880X/ref=asc_df_178396880X?mcid=d00a4f2b35ef3f848de9a042da811f51&th=1&psc=1&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=717997988812&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13433747966086500046&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006770&hvtargid=pla-2376060170638&psc=1&hvocijid=13433747966086500046-178396880X-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=108 May 2026 12:06 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mldoxkuu4k2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mldkl242u22nEnglish, Hong Kong-born, Bernard Howell Leach (1887-1979). Attended the Slade and the London School of Art, studied etching under the legendary Frank Brangwyn. Taught and studied art in Japan 1909-1920. In 1918 he visited Peking and produced this soft ground etching of the “Chen mun" (Qianmen) Gate.08 May 2026 10:48 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mldkl242u22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/chinarhyming.bsky.social/post/3mldhcmm4jc2jMay 8 2026 - ChinaRhyming on Substack... A new bio of JG Ballard & my thoughts on his Shanghai childhood, Last Emperor preorders in Australia, a book giveaway on China at Versailles, hanging out at the China Club and recently on ChinaRhyming... https://paulfrench.substack.com/p/may-8-2026-chinarhyming08 May 2026 09:49 +0000at://did:plc:lvguwpsibget5lrfifkh4c7t/app.bsky.feed.post/3mldhcmm4jc2j