Chinese hand-painted wallpaper
18th century
This Chinese hand-painted wallpaper originally came from Clarence House in Brockwell Park, South East London. During the 18th century, wealthy people often furnished rooms in their house in the chinoiserie style, filling them with lacquer furniture and porcelain ornaments. This panel is decorated with bamboo, tropical birds and flowers. Wallpaper of this kind did not have a repeating pattern. Instead, several panels were joined together to create a panoramic landscape.
 |  | Leather sandals. Courtesy of the Museum of London. |
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Pair of sandals
1851-1920
These sandals were confiscated from an Asian seaman in one of London's Docks. The hollow soles contained opium. From the 1880's onwards writers and journalists were fascinated by the Chinese community in Limehouse. They greatly exaggerated the existence of 'opium dens' in the area. Fictional portrayals culminated in the publication of the Fu Manchu stories. Opium smoking was regarded as a specifically Chinese vice, although the drug was available in British chemists until World War I.
Chinaman moneybox. Courtesy of the Museum of London | |  |
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Money box in the shape of a Chinaman
1884-1916
This tin moneybox is made in the shape of a Chinese man. He has a long moustache, a plaited pigtail of hair and wears a robe with wide sleeves. He holds a cup of tea, a drink native to China. When money is inserted into the slot in the teacup, he raises his braid and closes his eyes. Invaders from Manchuria conquered China in 1644, founding the Qing dynasty. They made men wear their hair in a pigtail to symbolise their submission to the new rulers. Men could not cut their hair until the Qing dynasty was overthrown by the Chinese Revolution in 1911.
 | | Hong Kong in London poster. Courtesy of the Museum of London. |
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Guide to Hong Kong in London: A Chinese Festival
Saturday 20 – Sunday 21 September 1980
This festival aimed to give ‘a glimpse of the more traditional Chinese life of Hong Kong, the festivals, the street markets, entertainment old and new, and the skills of Chinese craftsmen.’ The dragon boat festival is celebrated sometime around midsummer’s day with boat races. The dragon is a water god, and honouring him formerly ensured rainfall for the growing crops. People also remember Ch’u Yuan, a wise councillor who lived in the third century BCE. He drowned himself when the king rejected his advice. Launching boats recalls the attempt to look for him and eating boiled rice wrapped in leaves is a reminder of rice thrown into the water
