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Destination Peking: tales of early 20th-century Chinese society through the eyes of foreigners

  • Writer Paul French delves into the lives of 18 non-Chinese people who found themselves in Beijing
  • The book paints a fascinating picture of the city, but suffers from a shortage of genuinely gripping material

Reading Time:3 minutes
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A 1920s Peking street scene captured by American traveller Burton Holmes. Photo: Getty Images

Destination Peking by Paul French, Blacksmith Books

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Following the same format as its 2019 predecessor Destination Shanghai , Destination Peking tells 18 disparate tales of non-Chinese people in Beijing during the first half of the 20th century. This is both the strength and the weakness of a book that paints a fascinating picture of the city during that era, but suffers from a shortage of genuinely gripping material to work with.

The main reason for that is the difference between Shanghai and Beijing at that time: the former, a treaty port, effectively foreign-controlled, was filled with run­away foreign criminals, con men and other colourful characters, whereas the foreign population of Beijing, very much controlled by China, consisted mainly of aesthetes and businesspeople, who just didn’t get up to as much interesting stuff.

Still, Paul French, a former long-term Shanghai resident who has written extensively about China, tackles their stories with characteristic verve, painting portraits filled with illuminating historical background and amusing throwaway anecdotes, and, where possible, turning events into twisting narratives. But a lot of the chapters are about people who just happened to visit or live in Beijing for a while, without really making a mark while they were there.

Destination Peking by Paul French. Photo: Handout
Destination Peking by Paul French. Photo: Handout
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On occasion, French goes a little overboard in trying to shape meaningful narratives around them. American Wallis Simpson, later to play a pivotal role in British royal history, spent eight months in the city in 1924 and 1925, after leaving her abusive first husband, United States naval officer Win Spencer, in Hong Kong.

French characterises Beijing as the place where she began the journey that culminated with her marrying a king, but provides little by way of evidence. In fact, Simpson doesn’t seem to have done much of note during her time in the city.

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