We love the Forbidden City, it truly is the jewel in Beijing’s crown. But its location is also a big ol’ pain in the butt: situated to the north of the ultra-sensitive Tiananmen Square and frequented by thousands of tourists streaming out of the nearby subway, the security lines to get inside (underneath Mao’s portrait) can take forever. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
TRB (aka Temple Restaurant Beijing) has been charming the hell out of people for years now over in Beijing’s hutongs. And while it’s hard to beat a dining room with views of the Forbidden City, the top-notch food and service has played just as big a role in its success.
Some things happen so rarely that when they do, they’re worth getting a little excited about. A blood moon for example. Or the Olympics coming to your city…or the chance to spend a whole evening with the author of your favorite book.
That’s why we’re very happy to announce that for the first time since 2013, Paul French – author of The New York Times bestselling murder mystery Midnight in Peking – will return to Beijing to personally lead three walking tours for us based on his book.
Once in a while we get to produce something really special – and this is one of those times! We’re excited to be teaming up once more with bestselling author Paul French (Midnight in Peking) for an exclusive, one-off tour based on his new book, Bloody Saturday. And since we don’t do things by halves, we’ve asked legendary ‘Old Shanghai Hand’ Peter Hibbard – eminent historian and author of classic books on the Bund and Cathay Hotel – to lead the walk.
Bestselling author Paul French (Midnight In Peking) has just released his latest book, Bloody Saturday, and Bespoke is proud to be partnering with him and Penguin Books on a one-off September walking tour recounting this dark day in Shanghai’s history. Just to make it even more exciting, the tour will be led by leading Shanghai history expert Peter Hibbard.
Published this week as a ‘Penguin Special’, Bloody Saturday makes use of rich source material to retell the tragic events of August 14th, 1937. It was on this day that Chinese fighter planes accidentally dropped bombs on their own city. One fell on the busy intersection of Nanking Road and the Bund, while two more landed just outside the crowded Great World building in the French Concession, leaving thousands dead or injured in what was, at the time, the worst aerial bombardment the world had ever seen.
It’s no secret that Shanghai has upped its museum game in recent years. And while we’ll always have a soft spot for the good old Shanghai Museum on People’s Square, its epic wait times and packed galleries don’t always result in the slickest experience. Instead a raft of privately-owned spots – think Aurora, The Long Museum and Yuz – have recently been giving the behemoth a run for its money. However we reckon the brand new Guanfu Museum is up there with the best of ‘em.
