UKC

I'm visiting China for the first time at Easter, possibly a once a in a lifetime trip. I have a rough but pretty shallow knowledge of the country's history, so thought I should read a bit before I go.

I know you lot are pretty well read and travelled, so does anyone have a recommendation? Single volume in as much as I don't have that much time to dedicate to it! And either modern, or more on modern history, than medieval and earlier, because although i know China's ancient history is very rich, I'm more interested in the the last couple of centuries and China's period of weakness in comparison to the western powers then its rise to being a global power.

As a first time visitor prepare to be both amazed and at times very confused. I've been going there for 25 years and nothing quite registers the scale of change that has been achieved.

For background reading, Richard McGregor's "The Party, secret world of China's Communist rulers" is very good as is "Xi Jinping:  The Backlash"

Thank you Dave that sounds just the sort of thing. 

The main reason we are going is my child #1 is doing a year at the university of technology of Hong Kong and we are going to see him, but we have a week in Beijing first then just over a week in HK. Taking my climbing gear for the HK section of the trip, but will just do more normal tourist things in Beijing! We are going to see the Great Wall - with a guide who asked if we are happy to hike a bit, which we very much are. Beyond that any other recommendations for Beijing gratefully received!

In which case you need Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en.  There is an excellent 1970's docu-drama series of it, Saiyūki, which is elegantly dubbed into English that I'd recommend!

Take care if you're eating out

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c241gve4q32o

I spent three months in China (mostly Chongqing, with some travelling to other areas) in 2003, and found Wild Swans gave useful background context to the previous century.  From what I can remember, it's thick but a fairly easy read.

Would love to go back and see China 20 years on, even in the very short three months I was there the city centre of Chongqing noticeably changed as a result of redevelopment, presumably unrecognisable to me now.

Enjoy. It is a fascinating country, especially if you can get outside of the touristy areas. Be aware of what books you take through customs - anything controversial might cause you problems. Last time I was there I got stopped by officials at the airport as I was leaving the country. No idea what for (I'd given an invited lecture at an international conference) but there was some agitated hand waving before they let me go.  

I heard Kerry Brown speak recently about modern China and the evolution of the CCP - very knowledgable and entertaining.  

His book on the subject is : The World According to Xi :Everything You Need to Know About the New China.  He's written several others too.

Fyi if you haven't considered already. My friend lives in hk and have visited several times. Didn't end up climbing in hk itself although there is an old guide and several climbing walls. We did a separate trip to yangshuo (2008) for a few days and it was very easy to organise. It's only around an hours flight from what I remember and because of how hk airport works it's so easy and quick to do. The climbing and scenery there was fantastic and it's very set up for tourists. Non climbers would love it too. Definitely the most memorable sport trip I've done. 

Search up the Opium Wars, and how it influences them playing the long game at everything, generally to the longer term detriment of the west. 

Hang - good comment - would you consider any of the titles above controversial?

Someone recomended 'Wild Swans' which I remember reading just after the paperback edition was published. Was an interesting read but it has been strongly criticised  by some although I can't remember why.

I wouldn't know. I read a history of China before my trips but I can't recall the title. 

Don't take any Winnie-the-Pooh books for presents! Whisky goes down well (but not for the kids....)

In my younger days I worked in South Africa in the townships during apartheid era. I'd happily read 'Cry, The Beloved Country' in public but it did attract comment (normally 'Isn't that banned?'). But I was young, idealistic and a bit stupid. I'm older now and a bit less idealistic.

My son went to Chongqing by the high speed train from HK last autumn. He was really impressed and it looks an awesome place. There was a Guardian article on it just a few weeks ago which was really interesting - and we've since watched some fun videos on youtube of people showing off all the multi level streets and trains going in and out of buildings and so on. Quite some engineering! Unfortunately we don't have that much time on our trip so just Beijing and HK. My son also said he thought it was also the place he been to so far where he most benefitted from having a mate who is ethnically Chinese (actually American!) who speak Mandarin. Olly was saying they still seemed very surprised to meet foreigners in Chongqing and there was very little help for tourists who didn't speak/read Chinese.

The Shortest History of China by Linda Jaivin might be worth a try.

I've found the "Shortest History of ......" series very readable, and as you'd guess, not too long. The edition on Israel and Palestine was enlightening to say the least.

Dave

I recently read this "Red Memory: Living, Remembering and Forgetting China's Cultural Revolution" and it's now in the pile of books to give to Oxfam as no resale value, pm me your address and I'll send it to you.

A lot of the responses on this thread are about relatively current cultural stuff (mine included) and the CCP and I know that's what the OP asked for but if anyone has any recommendations for the previous 3,000 years I'm interested!

The Rest is History have covered various aspects of Chinese history in several podcasts if you like to listen instead of read https://open.spotify.com/episode/4uO1RSLKpJbRrHSfAG4ZBW?si=jId6C9DlQ0CzTQwm...

ok so it's not just modern history but is in one volume that goes back to China's beginnings and is definitely worth a read 

The story of China : a portrait of a civilisation and its people by Michael Wood.

The other thing is the  "how to invent a country' series on radio 4.

+1 for the Michael Wood and Wild Swans (though the latter did give me nightmares about the cultural revolution).  

I haven't been to China but I'd like to go.  Speaking last year to an academic who regularly guides cultural/archaeological tours, I gleaned that: you will get watched, devices may be inspected and compromised, so nothing naughty or sensitive on your phone etc.  X said he had a problem with maps on his laptop, until he could show they were historical maps and the customs officer turned out to be interested in history of his own country.  He also sat down and had a cup of tea with his allocated Chinese guide and agreed what he would/wouldn't do and what the guide would/wouldn't report back to HQ.  Friends who did a guided tour said that their Chinese guide quietly advised them that he might give different answers to questions discretely on the coach, compared to what he'd say in a public space.  

Not sure, but you may have to install some sort of Chinese app on your phone - happy to be corrected on this.

asking rather than answering, because I don’t know anything, BUT would Colin Thubron be worth a look? I know he did a “Silk Road” book a while back 

My time there was an amazing experience, at the time (early 20s) I was slightly oblivious to how lucky I was.  Great city, I found the Chinese very friendly even though I could talk to a very limited number of them. 

I wrote a weekly email (more like a blog post, but before blogs) while I was there, still available here if you're interested https://samwalmsley.co.uk/category/china.  The website formatting needs some work, but I think the writing captures my experience there pretty well.

Also "Behind the Wall" (1988)

NB I have not read any Thubron, only heard of him, so I can't say whether these are along the right lines for what you are after

Thubron is not history, though his books are very historically informed. His Russia book was great, the Silk Road one a bit boring, perhaps it’s hard to write about people in a part of the world notable for its lack of people. 

He did. The shadow of the silk road. One of my favourites of his and I read it before going there in 2007. I love his writing and it's very interesting as covers so many countries through the early 2000's when there was a real state of flux in many of them. I'd definitely recommend it as a read but it's less specifically of interest for the specifics of China's history I'd say as that's only a part of it.

Thank you 

Off topic but it's worth arming yourself with a prepaid sim for China that is outside the great firewall (easy enough).  It's quite challenging to get around and translate things and stay in touch if you can't get things like google maps/translate etc.

It is also worth getting one of the main pay apps for your phone (alipay is the easiest I think) because lots of places don't accept cards or cash (including many restaurants, vending machines, taxis and transport systems). You'll need to link it to a card/bank account - best do this before you arrive since it can take a little time to activate and you may need to speak to your bank. Also work out how these apps work (two ways - either your phone produces a code for the vendor to scan or they have a code for you to scan).  For local transport systems these apps can install a ticket system that behaves like tap-n-pay at the gates and they can usually book and pay for taxis a bit like uber.

If you travel then the bullet train is generally very good and better than plane but it is like using an airport and security checks are big (but efficient) - get used to leaving some time in hand to link your ticket to your passport (then the passport not ticket gets you through the barriers). They will confiscate prohibited items. The ticket offices are external to the stations and it's best to buy the tickets online before you arrive (handy to be outside the firewall for this) but even then you might need to go to the ticket office to get your documentation sorted.

Don't expect people to speak English.

I don't know if you are aware of the Very Short Introduction series. I'm a huge fan of them, there will almost certainly be at least one volume on China.

I don't have in-depth knowledge, but from things I've read "The changing face of China" by John Gittings covers the post-1949 history well.  "A history of Chinese civilisation" by Jacques Gernet is a much more comprehensive single volume account so maybe more of the ancient and medieval story than you would like, but it does cover the last 200 years as well.