Welcome. This website stores words and images from Old China, mostly the era between 1840 to 1950 when China and the West were struggling to come to terms with each other. It is the contrasts and cultural clashes between the two worlds that are at the heart of this website, and we hope you enjoy what we have collected. The links on the left, under the Oriental damsel, will lead you through the site. The buttons on the right suggest some of the content we like best. The library contains the full texts of books from and about Old China. The Postcard archive has hundreds of images, fully searchable. Also, please look at the Money page.
This site will never be finished. We add to it when we have time. If you would like to contribute material, or help in the maintenance of the site, please contact us.
We have therefore to be grateful to the firebrand element in China which is driving furiously on towards the complete ruin of China as a nation, the utter collapse of foreign trade with this bad-boy people, and very possibly the martyrdom of those of us who are foolish enough to live in China: and out of great weariness of the spirit and something like Petronian good cheer in the face of what is coming, our toast is: "More power to their elbows!"
the closing words of Rodney Gilbert's What's Wrong with China (1932):
