Tag: sichuan

Book: The Teahouse Under Socialism

02/07/2025 / / 0 Comments

For those that don’t follow my posts too closely, this is the second book of a duo that deals with Chengdu’s public life from the end of the Qing Dynasty, all the way up to (mostly) modern day.

This volume picks up just where the other leaves off, in October of 1949. Events can be broadly divided into the  Maoist and Post-Maoist eras, with the former seeing major reforms to businesses, and placing heavy restrictions on social life. The latter lifts much of this following the Cultural Revolution, leading to a ‘return to form’ for teahouses, and with the introduction of new technology and modern convenience further transforming the place of the humble teahouse in public life. Continue reading

Book: Taxing Heaven’s Storehouse (Part 1)

30/05/2018 / / 1 Comment

I’m back. I’ve got a lot to write about, I just have to kick myself back into writing gear again. So I’ve finished classes, and I’m graduating in June; I quit my job so I could take an extra heavy last semester and graduate sooner. I checked this book out two terms ago–normally, as long as there are no holds on a book, you can renew them indefinitely. Unfortunately, since I’m graduating in a month, I was required to return it. I’ve been reading it on and off since Christmas. I barely made it half-way through; it’s a thick book. Thus this’ going to be a two-part review, since once I get my alumni privileges I’ll be checking it out again to finish.

Taxing Heaven’s Storehouse (Horses, Bureaucrats, and the Destruction of the Sichuan Tea Industry, 1074-1224) unofficially belongs to a trilogy of books (that I’ve grouped together) on the evolution of the tea economy in China from about early Tang until at least the end of the ROC. I’ve already reviewed one before (Harvesting Mountains); the other is Green Gold, arguably the most well-known of the three. I intentionally left Green Gold for last; my first intent was to read them roughly ‘in order’, but Taxing Heaven’s Storehouse was such an intimidating book, I went for Harvesting Mountains first. Continue reading