Author: Alan Baumler
Protests and the public sphere
Every society has its own traditions of protest, things that people can do that will get them attention and hopefully enable them to get redress for thei...
The Chinese brand
Daniel Drezner has a post up about the troubles that the Chinese brand name is facing at present. (Dan is thinking about China this week) From tires that kill y...
Drop and give me twenty
While here in Shanghai I have been doing a bit of research. My new project is on 训练 and military training during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and in par...
ILoveShopping
I’m not sure why some people think that posting pictures of the books you just got is blog-worthy, but as I am in Shanghai I have also been testing my wei...
"President" Chiang Kai-shek
So, what is the current status of Chiang Kai-shek in China? He is the most troublesome of the Republican era-figures for the mainland to figure out. Anyone who ...
China reconstructs
One thing about China is that they are always re-building historical sites. Here are some guys building a new…something…. at the old Ming palace in ...
The Chairman is pleased
How is the cult of Mao doing? Well, this is a statue of the Great Helmsman at Yuhuashan in Nanjing. It is part of a rather temporary-looking exhibit on his life...
Guards! Guards!
Security guard at Shanghai Public library (a very nice lady) One thing I’ve been noticing a lot (I’m in Shanghai) is that China may be the best-guarded s...
A rose by any other name
As many of our readers already know, the Taiwanese government has re-named the Chiang Kai-shek memorial in Taibei, now known as the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Ha...
Leni Riefenstahl meets Busby Berkeley
Eugenia Lean’s new book is very interesting. It is a study of Shi Jianqiao’s 1935 assassination of Sun Chuanfang, the former warlord who had killed ...
Married couples
2 married couples, from China Digital Times As both Mother’s Day and her birthday are coming up, I thought I would post something romantic for my wife. GT...
How air-minded was China?
Airplanes and airpower were an important part of Chiang Kai-shek’s vision of a new China. In part I think this may have been connected to his disappoi...
It's not Imperialism
Via Yahoo a roundup of recent stuff on China’s involvement in Africa. China of course has growing economic interests in Africa and very little interest in...
Maps and Empire
Maps have been an important part of empire in China for a long time. In the Warring States period spies were always trying to steal maps, and defeated states pr...