She quickly became a favourite and, after giving birth to Emperor Xianfeng's only son, was made Noble Consort Yi, second only to the empress. Unusually, she could read and write Chinese and ...

A new book on 19th century China tells how a low-ranking and unpopular member of the emperor's harem came to lead one-third of humanity 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto ...

On the bed draped with royal yellow silk bedspread, died two Qing emperors, Jiaqing and Xianfeng. Emperor Daoguang, son of Jiaqing, closed the resort for almost 40 years, fearing a fate similar to ...