Billy's Cities

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Fun With Chinese

Imperial inscriptions in Chinese characters above and beside the Dragon Throne in the Forbidden City's Hall of Supreme Harmony. Forbidden City, Beijing, China, Asia.
Imperial inscriptions in Chinese characters above and beside the Dragon Throne in the Forbidden City’s Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Here are some fun (fascinating, actually) facts about China and Chinese.

Middle Kingdom

Ever heard of China referred to as “the Middle Kingdom”?  I had heard this but didn’t really understand what it meant.  It turns out, the explanation is surprisingly simple.  As I started to understand as I was planning my trip, the [Read more…]

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China, A Little History, Part 7

Second Opium War

The Tower of Buddhist Incense at the Summer Palace in Beijing. Like much of the Palace, it was destroyed by Anglo-French forces during the Second Opium War and subsequently rebuilt. Summer Palace, Beijing, China, Asia.
The Tower of Buddhist Incense at the Summer Palace in Beijing. Like much of the Palace, it was destroyed by Anglo-French forces during the Second Opium War and subsequently rebuilt.

15 years after winning the First Opium War, the British were growing antsy.  They wanted even more favorable trade conditions, including the definitive legalization of the opium trade, as well as the regulation of the coolie trade.  (Coolies were Chinese indentured servants—in effect, legal slaves—shipped off by the British to outlying spots of the British Empire and to Latin America.)  The British also believed that the Chinese were not keeping up with the [Read more…]

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China, A Little History, Part 5

First Opium War

The Bund in Shanghai symbolizes a century of foreign control over most of the city. Shanghai, once a small port, started to become the large international city it is today when Western powers occupied most of the city as a result of the First Opium War. Bund, Shanghai, China, Asia.
The Bund in Shanghai symbolizes a century of foreign control over most of the city. Shanghai, once a small port, started to become the large international city it is today when Western powers occupied most of the city as a result of the First Opium War.

Welcome to the 19th century.  It’s all downhill from here.  The 19th century was a disaster for China and the Qing Dynasty.  Actually, it was one disaster after another.

With China being a self-contained civilization, the only thing the Qing wanted from the West in exchange for its highly desired tea, porcelain, and silk was silver.  However, millions of Chinese citizens were eager to get their hands [Read more…]

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China, A Little History, Part 4

Qing Dynasty (17th and 18th Centuries)

Jade Belt Bridge at the Summer Palace in Beijing, built in the 18th century during the golden age of the Qing Dynasty. Summer Palace, Beijing, China, Asia.
Jade Belt Bridge at the Summer Palace in Beijing, built in the 18th century during the golden age of the Qing Dynasty.

Way back in 1387, barely a decade after driving the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty back to Mongolia, the Ming Dynasty were nervous about the possibility of an invasion by Mongols then ruling in Manchuria, to the northeast.  In a preemptive strike, the Ming invaded Manchuria and loosely annexed it into China.  About 200 years later, with the Mongols gone and the Chinese only governing Manchuria casually, native Manchus began to organize and by 1616 declared their own dynasty, eventually named Qing (pronounced “Ching”).  The Manchu rebellion overthrew the declining Ming [Read more…]