Beijing Postcards Historical Book Club

Explore historical literature relating to the city of Beijing


What is distinctive about the Beijing Postcards Book Club?

1. All books relate to Beijing’s history

2. Related to Beijing Postcards’ ongoing research

3. We will evaluate not only the book, but also the sources that support the narrative

4. There are no compulsory meeting dates, and you can join from anywhere in the world

What books do we choose?

Every year we will pick 3-4 books. They will all be in English. We will not pick overly complicated or narrow themed literature. We are looking for books that can work as keys to unlock the history of Beijing and it is important that the books are both entertaining and informative.

Join Us

Contact Ying (WeChat ID:beijingpostcards97) to be added to the Book Club WeChat Group. The group is meant as a platform to discuss the book.

Every month Beijing Postcards will publish themes, sources or other content related to the book on our website. During the three month period where we read the book we will hold a number of events related to it at our hutong gallery, such as movie nights, walks, small exhibitions of source material and of course book discussions.

 

Check out the Books We Have Read

Featured
Sidelights on Peking Life
Sidelights on Peking Life

We have recently discovered Sidelights on Peking Life from 1927, a book that easily qualifies as one of the best books on Hutong life in the capital that we have ever come across.

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Beijing Postcards Bookclub: A Billion Voices
Beijing Postcards Bookclub: A Billion Voices

In 1912, the last emperor of China abdicated. One of the first things the new Republic did was to address the problem of creating a national language in China. The country’s multiple so-called “dialects” were so strong that they were in fact independent languages, with their own grammar and pronunciation.

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Beijing Postcards Bookclub: The Boxer Rebellion
Beijing Postcards Bookclub: The Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer incident is one of the most fascinating, decisive and utterly contradictory events in Beijing’s modern history. Preston’s book is based on source material produced by the foreigners that were besieged inside Beijing’s diplomatic quarter for 55 days in the year 1900.

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Beijing Postcards Bookclub: The History of A Murder Investigation
Beijing Postcards Bookclub: The History of A Murder Investigation

Undertaking a police investigation is also a kind of historical research. In the files attention will be directed at small details, habits and routines that are often difficult to connect with through other sources. The Pamela Werner murder case from 1937 is no exception.

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Beijing Postcards BookClub: The Last Days of Old Beijing
Beijing Postcards BookClub: The Last Days of Old Beijing

Michael Meyer lived for two years in the Dashilar area. He interviewed residents and conducted research in many ways related to the Beijing Postcards project of today. “The Last Days of Old Beijing” is an extremely interesting peek into the world of the Hutongs around Dashilar around the times of the Olympics.

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