This collection features the 1955 Beijing journals written by Bernard "Bunny" Mellor, who was the Hong Kong University Registrar, and his wife Mauricette Mellor in 1955. It records the visit of an HKU delegation to Beijing to study tertiary education and other cultural aspects of the People's Republic of China six years after the 1949 revolution. The trip originated from an invitation by the Premier, Zhou Enlai (Chou Enlai), to meet the World War I poet Edmund Blunden. This was then expanded into a full HKU delegation, organised by Mellor himself. The visit appeared to be a precursor to Mao Zedong's "Hundred Flowers Campaign", which started the following year. It was probably the first visit by a large, non-political foreign delegation to China following the revolution.

The papers record a broad spectrum of cultural changes occurring in Chinese society at the time, from watching the Peking Tea Dance and an opera starring Mei Lanfang to eating Pao-tze and meeting professors and educational leaders to discuss academic advances at several universities and colleges, including Peking University and the People's University. Bernard and Mauricette Mellor found time to have an in-depth look at the proceedings in a couple's divorce case in the Peking Middle Court, a discussion of post-revolutionary family life, and a look at the First Five-Year Plan. They visited the poet Yang Hsien-yi (Xianyi) several times, and the visit culminated in a long audience with Premier Chou Enlai in the Winter Palace. The Premier was also a surprise guest at their farewell cocktail party on Christmas Day, the eve of their departure back to Hong Kong.

[Description provided by Dr. Jerome Mellor, BM, MRCGP, FRNZCGP, FRACGP]

The papers are arranged in 3 folders in their original order:

1. Mini biographies of HKU delegates (Folder 1 of 3)

2. Bernard (Bunny) Mellor's journal (Folder 2 of 3)

3. Mauricette Mellor's journal (Folder 3 of 3)