Helen London

A Young Girl and Her Martial Arts Skills

During the reign of the Qing Dynasty of the Tongzhi Emperor (1856-1875), a Jiangsu merchant named Jin spent considerable money purchasing five maritime ships to trade between the Eastern and Western oceans. Each ship had guards on board to ward off pirates, who were common enemies of merchants. Finally, in the spring of Jia-Zi (1864), ...

Helen London

A stormy ocean.

Rare Protests Explode Across China Over COVID Curbs

The outside world has gone hand in hand with reducing COVID-19 restrictions. So when the televised spectators of the World Cup in Qatar could be seen not wearing face masks, the outraged Chinese, who love international soccer matches, but have been restricted by a harsh zero-COVID policy, started to protest. According to a blog post ...

Helen London

Child wearing a mask looking out of a window.

Schindler of the East: John Rabe (Part 2)

This is a two-part story; please go here for Part 1 John Rabe, a German businessman known to the world for setting up a safe zone during the Second Sino-Japanese War in China and saving 250,000 Chinese people, made a wrong choice. As a result, he was forced to bear the weight of the crimes ...

Helen London

Bodies of victims along Qinhuai River.

Schindler of the East: John Rabe (Part 1)

This is a two-part story; please go here for Part 2 John Rabe, a German businessman, is known to the world for setting up a safe zone during the Second Sino-Japanese War in China (1937-1945) and saving 250,000 Chinese people. But a choice he made caused him to regret his lifestyle. John Rabe was born ...

Helen London

Portrait of John Rabe.

The Mystery of Go, the Strategy Game

In the palace, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty played the game of Go with Jia Yuan, one of his officials. Playing Go with the Emperor was always problematic, as winning or losing was quite a significant matter. Therefore, playing the game required much care and attention.  Taizong always gave Jia three moves when playing ...

Helen London

The game of Go.

The Chinese Legend of King Carp

During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, a fisherman in Jiangxi Province named Zhang Deyan spent his days fishing on the carp beach. He could barely make ends meet because of the heavy tax on fish imposed by the local government. However, King Carp was about to change that. On the 15th day of ...

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Red and white koi swimming in a pond.

Animals Predicting Disaster: Birds Knew of the Flooded City

In 1517, during the Ming Dynasty, a flood submerged a huge city called Zhaoxin, and countless people died. However, many people fled ahead of the flood because they believed in the prediction of birds and survived. After the flood, people learned the story from those who made it through.  In the city of Zhaoxin, there ...

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Flock of birds flying over a river that has flooded over its banks.

The Temple of Heaven: An Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing

Since ancient times, the Chinese people greatly valued praying to gods for blessings and protection. Therefore, worshiping Heaven became a crucial and solemn national ceremony in ancient China. The Temple of Heaven was where the emperor worshiped Heaven and held a ritual to pray for good harvests. Heaven is one of the core concepts in ...

Helen London

Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China.

The Woman in the Brothel 

In ancient times, a child was born holding a wan symbol in her right hand, so her parents named her Wan Ru. When growing up, Wan Ru was trafficked to a brothel in the area of the Qinhuai River.  She hated this place and felt it was a stain on her from the bottom of her ...

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A giant Buddha statue.

Money Says It All

Money says it all. Repaying it can show your character, while earning it can indicate your true nature. As such, it can reveal many aspects about you. It reveals your heart Someone shared online: “I liked to make friends and was relatively generous, so people, no matter close or distant, wanted to become my friend ...

Helen London

A woman's hands holding money.