Happy Year of the Dragon, which in Mandarin is 'long' so it's going to be a looong year as a Chinese friend pointed out to me this week. In this episode, I (briefly) talk about my grandfather's time in Hong Kong as child, and the First Chinese Man in Britain (longer ago than I thought). I talk about the Opium Wars, drawing on two books I recommended previously and that I have reviewed on my Youtube channel, 'The Rise and Fall of the British Empire' by Lawrence James and 'Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World' by Niall Furgusson. I also recommend the Youtube channel 'Electric Shadows Cinema'. I also, also talk about the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997, and how those events eventually made it into a 007 film. Talking of James Bond, I also talk about three British-Chinese alumni of the long-running film franchise, plus our first Chinese members of the House of Lords and House of Commons. If you're wondering about the music at the top and tail of the episode, I recorded the street sounds on my way to work in Shenzhen one day. If you have an idea for the Alphabet of Britishness, please do not hesitate to message me. What could 'V', 'W', 'X', 'Y' or 'Z' stand for? Not much time left now, so message me about any of these. Message me anytime on Instagram, or e-mail: [email protected] Check out my https://www.youtube.com/britishculture Check out my Red Bubble shop Subscribe to my newsletter for update e-mails, random postcards, and stickers: https://youtube.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=b3afdae99897eebbf8ca022c8&id=5165536616 Support the show