In 2005 I had the pleasure of meeting Runqi Gobulo, the brother in law of the last emperor. He was 94 years old and was running a Chinese medicine clinic in Beijing.

 

When I returned home, I rented the movie The Last Emperor and was intrigued by the character of Reginald Fleming Johnston.  I did a bit of research about him and found that he died on March 6, 1938. Coincidentally, I was born March 6, 1958.  He lived near Hou Hai in Beijing, one of the areas I enjoyed visiting the most.  I found a picture of him and showed it to my wife, whose name is Zhan Shen, which sounds like Johnston.  She thought it was a picture of me.  I obtained out of print copies of his books...

and thoroughly enjoyed them -  Twilight in the Forbidden City, Buddhist China, From Peking to Mandalay, and Confucianism in Modern China, and sought to re-publish them. These exciting books were republished in the spring of 2008.  While reading Twilight, I found a reference to an article describing Johnston's visit with the 13th Dalai Lama written under a pen name. I found that article and included it in Twilight as a bonus unpublished chapter.  I also came across Peking by Juliet Bredon and replished that too, as well as the classic 400 Million Customers by Carl Crow.

My connection with China is strong. I have thoroughly enjoyed my travels there and hope that you make the journey someday too.  If you are interested in ordering any of the books below, they are available at a discount at Amazon.com for your reading enjoyment and a step back into history.

     
     
     

 
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