Lady Bredon on Chuan Pan Hutung, 1922

Posted: August 8th, 2019 | No Comments »

Readers of my books Midnight in Peking and Badlands will know that in the 1930s the hutongs of Chuan Pan and Hougou, just off Hatamen Street (Chongwenmen Dajie) became the epicentre of the foreign Badlands of Peking. However, in the 1920s, at least according to the Peking Who’s Who of 1922 no lesser personage than Lady Bredon lived on Chuan Pan Hutong.

Lady Bredon was Juliet Bredon, the author of a number of good books about Peking, particularly Peking: a historical and intimate description of its chief places of interest. – which Lady Bredon was Juliet Bredon, the author of a number of good books about Peking, particularly Peking: a Historical and Intimate Description of its Chief Places of Interest. – which was published in 1922, so we can assume she wrote while living on Chuan Pan Hutong. Bredon was the niece of Sir Robert Hart of the Chinese Customs (and write a rather indulgent biography of him).

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