| City of Lingering Splendour: A Frank Account of Old Peking's Exotic Pleasures Contributor(s): Blofeld, John (Author) |
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ISBN: 1570626375 ISBN-13: 9781570626371 Publisher: Shambhala OUR PRICE: $28.45 Product Type: Paperback Published: May 2001 Annotation: In his early twenties, John Blofeld spent what he describes as "three exquisitely happy years" in Peking during the era of the last emperor, when the breathtaking greatness of China's ancient traditions was still everywhere evident. Arriving in 1934, he found a city imbued with the atmosphere of the recent imperial past and haunted by the powerful spirit of the late Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi. He entered a world of magnificent palaces and temples of the Forbidden City, of lotus-covered lakes and lush pleasure-gardens, of bustling bazaars and peaceful bathhouses, and of "flower houses" with their beautiful young courtesans versed in the arts of pleasing men. With a novelists' command of detail and dialogue, Blofeld vividly re-creates the magic of these years and conveys to the reader his appreciation and nostalgia for a way of life long vanished. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Asia - China - Social Science | Customs & Traditions - Travel | Essays & Travelogues |
| Dewey: 951.156 |
| LCCN: 89101139 |
| Physical Information: 0.72" H x 5.64" W x 8.74" (0.80 lbs) 264 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Asian - Cultural Region - Chinese - Cultural Region - East Asian |