What to read after Chasing the Dragon in Shanghai?

Canadians share a long history with China. Canada is home to a large
Chinese diaspora, it appointed a trade commissioner to Shanghai over a
century ago, and it was one of the first Western nations to recognize
the People's Republic of China.

This absorbing account of Canadian sojourners in Shanghai, from the
arrival of Lord Elgin in 1858 to the closing of the consulate general
in 1952, gives a human face to that history. Drawing on the papers of
missionaries, business people, and government officials, John Meehan
brings to life a Shanghai that was not only the gateway to Asia and an
important cultural contact zone but also a symbol of China's best
hope and bleakest future. Some Canadians came to save souls, nourish
bodies, and educate minds; others sought financial and political gain.
Their experiences - which unfolded against a backdrop of
civil war, invasion, and revolution in China and were coloured by
Canada's own evolution from colony to nation -
reflected Canada's deepening relationship with China and the
troubling asymmetries that underpinned it.

Although Canadians, like other foreigners, had left Shanghai
by the early 1950s, their lives and activities foreshadowed more recent
Canadian initiatives in that city, and in China more generally.

John D. Meehan is an assistant professor of history
at Campion College at the University of Regina.