This weekend my son Will and 2of his cousins are walking Trek26 Peak District in aid of the Alzheimer's Society UK (a 26 mile walk). My mum -- who he lives with and cares for -- has Alzheimer's. He has a JustGiving page in case you can support. Thank you! justgiving.com/page/william-o…

Excited that our panel will be the very first session after the welcome at British Association for Chinese Studies Annual Conference. I’m also very proud to be the organiser of the panel. Looking forward to sharing and kicking off the discussions!

So well deserved!! Congratulations!!!!

I’ve encountered a series of marvellous materials from this collection - so looking forward to the exhibition!

A nice visit to Maidenhead Heritage Centre. Thanks to Alan and Ken’s kind introduction - it’s really mind opening. Still can’t believe the fabulous work done by the staff and volunteers here in a tiny building. Hope to volunteer here when I’m back!

Two days volunteering at Museum of the Home So much fun!

A Buddhist temple selling blueberry and pistachio bagel

A statue of a couple (probably from a wedding) was took to this shrine to worship with other local gods and Buddha.

Gendering home-sweat-home narratives: rural migrant women labouring in the service economies in Shanghai, China by Penn Tsz Ting Ip tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…

Welcome to my talk in Nanjing ‘Transnationals, City and Family: British Settlements in a Nutshell Based on Archives’. A precious opportunity to work with local history lovers!

Many thanks to the host and people who joined the talk!

A symposium in architecture history at Tongji University

Happy new year! Exciting things coming in 2026 - here are some dates for the diary 📝 📅30 Jan: deadline for abstracts for our symposium on the migrant Irish home 📅18 Feb: Katie McCrory gives our annual lecture 📅1 Apr: "Irish Blood, English Hearth" symposium

Second call! Please submit by the 9th of February

Very pleased to share that a recent study on ‘cheap collectibles’ by Dr Yichuan Chen from The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL and I has been sponsored by Design History Society ! It focuses the design and production techniques of domestic artefacts traded globally throughout the 20th century.

I’m going to be taking on the 30 Day Plank Challenge in April to help raise money for Cancer Research UK. Please show your support and help fund life-saving cancer research by donating to my page. fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/yifans-gi…

Smuggling shadowed every China Navigation Co. voyage - bold, audacious, and woven into daily life. In the chaos of departure, 'pidgin' contraband slipped aboard: opium, alcohol, tobacco, textiles. Sailors looked away… or helped. #EYACrime Read more here: ow.ly/638L50Ysl2U