The author will join us for a discussion of her memoir ‘Permanently Temporary’.

Tess Johnston's peripatetic half a century has taken her through fourteen Foreign Service postings to her retirement – and this book, written in her permanently temporary home in Shanghai. She loves to talk, and to write and the range of her interests is broad. Tess has filled them with life, with anecdotes and with humor. Travel with her in her "little life" in a wider world. The table of contents is listed below:

Berlin – First Posting

Frankfurt am Main – In the Foreign Service…again

Düsseldorf – Voluntary Exile

Berlin – Back to My Old Haunts

Charlottesville – Back Home

New Delhi – A Tough Assignment

Williamsburg – New Job

Tehran – An Unfriendly City

Vietnam – New Adventures

Washington – Learning an Impossible Language

Bien Hoa – The Tet Offensive

Shanghai – My First Look at China

Can Tho – Vann Moves South

Paris – A Thorn among Roses

Laos – A Sudden Transfer

Shanghai II – The Last Great Adventure

Vietnam II – A Consulate in Can Tho

Retirement – or Shanghai III

Washington – Career Decisions

A Happy Ending?

 Tess Johnston is uniquely qualified to research and write on the Western presence in old China. She first came to Shanghai in 1981 to work at the American Consulate General and in 1996, after over thirty years in the diplomatic service, she retired and stayed on to research, write, and lecture. She and her co-author, Shanghai photographer Deke Erh (Erh Dongqiang), have published 25 books, including fifteen volumes on Western architecture and the expatriate experience in old China. 

Tess is a native of Virginia and her academic back-ground includes a M.A. from the University of Virginia, where she subsequently taught. She has lived abroad for more than half a century, including seven in Germany (both east and west), and more than 40 in Asia, including 33 in Shanghai and seven in Vietnam (1967-74).

Thanks to her extensive library of old books and historical documents, Tess also serves as a consultant on matters pertaining to the Western presence in old Shanghai. She is also a valuable research resource for visiting scholars and former residents seeking to trace their Shanghai roots.

Entrance: RMB 20 (RAS Members) and RMB 50 (non-members) including a drink (tea, coffee, soft drink, or glass of wine). Those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption, prior to this RAS Book Club event. Member applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.

RSVP: bookevents@royalasiaticsociety.org.cn