A word from Laszlo
The China History Podcast
Nothing to see here. Just a quick announcement on the latest from the CHP. Thanks for your patience. Lots of new stuff coming soon. The CHP Patreon: CHP Premium:
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This Was Funnier in China | Laszlo and Jesse Appell
The China History Podcast
I drove downtown not too long ago to meet with Jesse Appell to talk about his first book, "This was funnier in China" Jesse's been performing stand-up comedy and Xiangsheng 相声 for years now. When he isn't engaging in this profession, he's managing and promoting his global tea company, Jesse's Teahouse This book tells the story of Jesse's experiences engaging with the PRC and building a nice, comfortable, and exciting life for himself. You'll learn about what it was like living there, about his apprenticeship under Xiangsheng Master Ding Guangquan 丁广泉, his performances, the comedy...
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Ep. 371 | Choie Sew Hoy and the Sinking of the S.S. Ventnor
The China History Podcast
I had the idea for this episode sometime during mid-summer 2025. Then I became distracted by the big project I'm working on now, then the holidays, sick cats, and the random hassles of life. This one's only 34 minutes long. My deepest apologies for all the mispronunciations of Maori names. This is the story of Choie Sew Hoy 徐肇开 and the times he lived in during the 19th-century Chinese immigrant scene in New Zealand. There was a lot more going on in the history of Chinese New Zealanders. This story is mostly limited to the events surrounding the Otago Gold Rush of the early 1860s. Here...
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Ep. 370 | The Looting of the Eastern Tombs
The China History Podcast
This one is more entertaining than anything. Mr. Andrew Shaw mentioned this looting of the eastern Qing Tombs event when I interviewed him earlier in the year. If you recall, he wrote that book called "Spoil." This time, I'm focusing on the events that went down in July 1928 at the Qing Eastern Tombs 清东陵 northeast of Beijing. This all took place in the final moments of the Warlord Era, right after the Central Plains War. This act perpetrated by warlord Sun Dianying 孙殿英 epitomized the venality of these parasites. To get early access to all the new episodes coming in February...
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A Useful Chengyu - Hébù Shí Ròumí 何不食肉糜
The China History Podcast
This morning, in between recording sessions, I checked out what was headlining on Drudge. And right there was the leading story, "Let Them Eat Steak." You can imagine what the piece was about. This made me think, what a perfect time to post this Chinese Saying podcast episode. I released this one on Patreon and CHP Premium a while back. It's more or less the Chinese version of this Drudge headline. I know, I know, a lot of you, because you don't speak Chinese, despite how you feel about me, never give this Chinese Sayings Podcast a chance. The thing about these "chengyu" Chinese idioms...
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WWII Pacific Atrocities | Quin Cho and the Kwantung Army
The China History Podcast
In early 2025, I was approached by Jenny Chan at about interviewing one of their experts in an upcoming CHP episode. I had a nice interview with Quin Cho, born in my hometown of Chicago. Those who lament that the young generation of today doesn't bother to learn history, here is some relief. When I saw him, I was surprised to see how young Quin was and how much enthusiasm and interest he has for this topic. It's refreshing to hear all this old history we're all familiar with recounted by those born in this century. We focused on the rise and fall of Japan's Kwantung Army 关东军....
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Ep. 369 | Chenxiang, Pound for Pound, Costs More than Gold
The China History Podcast
Here's something a little different from the usual CHP fare. It concerns a natural substance that's not too well-known outside of Asia, mainly because it's so dang expensive! Chénxiāng 沉香 or Agarwood as it's also known, grows inside the heartwood of certain Aquilaria trees. Chenxiang has a few interesting things about it and is often mentioned in Chinese literature. This episode includes a bunch of poems and a couple of chengyu's that all contain references to chénxiāng. While I was on the subject, I'm also mentioning five other trees that, while nowhere nearly as expensoive as...
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Ep. 368 | Wang Jingwei
The China History Podcast
Hi Everyone, just coming up for air. This is actually one of the several new episodes that have been available on Patreon and CHP Premium since July, three months ago. This is a brief overview of the life and times of Wang Jingwei, the 中国头号大汉奸. Strong words. Why is he so despised? What drove him to make the decisions he did that forever branded him as a traitor to the Chinese people? He's another figure from those early ROC years that everyone has heard of but perhaps not so sure of the role he played in the history of that era. Enjoy. If the FOMO is making you lose sleep at...
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Introducing The Chinatown Sting: Lucky Bird
The China History Podcast
Here’s a preview of a new podcast, The Chinatown Sting, from our friends at Pushkin Industries. In the late 1980s, a group of women connected through the mahjong parlors in Manhattan’s Chinatown were caught in a massive undercover drug bust. But this bust was just the beginning of an even bigger case. Host Lidia Jean Kott and co-reporter Shuyu Wang interview sources who’ve never spoken on record before, including witnesses, defendants, and federal prosecutors, to reconstruct a case that still has repercussions today and impacted the history of American Chinatowns themselves, which...
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Ep. 367 | The Unsung Chinese Heroes of D-Day
The China History Podcast
Here's another quickie for you, only a half hour long. It seems not only are the portions at fast-food chains shrinking, so are the CHP episodes. Thanks to a team of amateur historians, WWII enthusiasts, and survivors, this interesting tale can now be told. It concerns a forgotten man named Mr. Lam Ping Yu 林炳堯, who left behind a WWII diary from 1944 that was rediscovered by chance in 2015. I hope you'll enjoy this story. For more info, you can visit the website: Thanks to Mr. John Mak, Mr. Angus Hui, and Mr. Jackson Chan for telling me about this story in 2024. Photo Credit:...
info_outlinePost-WWII Singapore was a time that was loaded with historical events that shaped how matters would unfold throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s. The matter of how to handle the future of Malaya and Singapore begins to be seriously discussed and hotly debated. To showcase what the British and political leaders in Malaya and Singapore were up against, we'll first review the events of the 1950 Maria Hertogh case and the disturbances that followed. In this episode we'll begin to explore the early life of the most consequential leader in Singapore's history and in the greater Southeast Asian scene, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. His early life, including his marriage to Mrs. Kwa Geok Choo, will be introduced. In the early 1950s, Mr. and Mrs. Lee returned from the UK and began their law careers. This led directly to Lee Kuan Yew's involvement in local Singaporean politics and the later founding, in 1954, of the PAP (People's Action Party). The elections of 1948, 1955, and 1959 will also be presented and how the results shaped the future of Singapore politics. Events will unfold that will contribute to Lee Kuan Yew's rise as the leading voice in Singapore's politics and independence. Other major figures from this time will also be introduced such as David Marshall, Lim Yew Hock, Lim Chin Siong, Fong, Swee Suan, and Ong Eng Guan. We'll close with Tunku Abdul Rahman's May 1961 "Grand Design" speech and how this became a game changer as far as how to handle the potential merger of Malaya and Singapore. This will all be introduced next time in Part 8.
Thanks to all of you who have kindly supported me by signing up for my Patreon. All ten episodes are already available there. You have my deepest appreciation. https://www.patreon.com/c/TheChinaHistoryPodcast
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