The series is available in English-language bookstores in Shanghai, including the Foreign Language Bookstore, Imported Bookstore, Garden Books and Chaterhouse Bookstore, among others. Readers can purchase the books at www.talesofoldchina.com, a Website about Chinese history that Earnshaw set up in 1996.
Earnshaw chose American Carl Crow's "Foreign Devils in the Flowery Kingdom" as the first of the series (first published in 1940). The author of the classic "400 Million Customers," Crow lived in Shanghai for 25 years and helped create the modern advertising industry in China.
Known as "Ten Miles of Foreign Spectacles" or "Paris of the Orient," Shanghai was where many foreigners rose to success. In vivid details, Crow recounts his adventures, with the eye of the reporter he was when he arrived.
He reveals fascinating tidbits about life and describes what many believe to be an odious sign and symbol of foreign racism at Huangpu Park on the Bund. It supposedly said "No dogs or Chinese allowed."
The truth, says Crow, was still repellent, but there were actually two signs, one barring dogs and one excluding Chinese, except for ayis and their little expat charges.
It is generally believed that foreigners brought modernization into China and taught the Chinese how to conduct modern business. But Crow also learned and attempts to clarify misunderstandings about China and Chinese.
The book reveals his complex feelings about the place, where he worked with, argued with, employed, and hung out with Chinese people.
He describes an expat life of luxury, business and adventure. Crow left after the Japanese invasion of 1937.
Earnshaw is especially interested in such interactions between foreigners and Chinese as he considers it "very important for the future of China as well as the West."
"And there are lessons to be learned from the past. I think these books help us to understand how foreigners and Chinese used to get on," says Earnshaw, who also feels that "both foreigners and Chinese people probably know too little about the history of that period, which is more complex than the simple images most people have."
Another Shanghai book is "The Unexpurgated Diary of a Shanghai Baby" by Elsie McCormick, a humorous little book that was first published in 1923.
Adopting the "viewpoint" of a one-year-old baby, the author describes the life of an American expat household in Shanghai in the early 1920s. Seeing the old days through the eyes of the baby, you might find the expat lifestyle surprisingly similar to that of today.
As in the old days, many foreign families hire a Chinese ayi who speaks only a little English, if any. At times, they still get confused by how the ayi cleans the house or does the laundry. And the ayi still can't understand when parents let the toddlers run around by themselves.
Such similarities are what Earnshaw considers "fun and significant," and a big reason for republication.
