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Xi Jinping left U.S. soil last night after taking in the Laker game at Staples Center. His visit this week went off without a hitch. Today we look at Xi Jinping's life in the context of PRC history. This fifth generation leader is someone who has a rich background not only in Party and military affairs but matters of state as well. No past leader has been groomed to become Party Secretary as has Vice President Xi.

If you're only here for the history, skip this episode. Laszlo checks in with his, for the most part, appreciative audience to explain the recent troubles, what he's up to and general chit chat.

Laszlo's back from Germany and after a long delay we pick up where we left off. In this episode we reacquaint ourselves with the background and early years of the Silk Road.

The Triads of Hong Kong have an interesting historical past that shaped their development throughout the years. Today we look at their origins and some of the more important historic events that made them the violent international criminal gangs they are today.

Now that we have Deng Xiaoping out of the way, we're back looking at random topics throughout the ages. This week we look at the great Song Dynasty statesman and sage Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072). In this episode we'll review aspects of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and Ouyang Xiu's place in this amazing age in China. Also featured in this podcast will be other notable scholar-statesmen, Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang.

Today we conclude our eight-part overview of Dr. Ezra Vogel's recent biography of Deng Xiaoping. In this installment we focus on Deng's dramatic and brilliant Southern Tour of January-February 1992.

After a holiday delay, Laszlo is back with the 7th and almost final episode of our overview of Ezra Vogel's new biography of Deng. In this episode we look at the meat and potatoes of the Reform years from 1979 to 1989.

In this sixth installment of the Deng Xiaoping overview we focus in on 1978-1979. In this episode we see Deng return to power a third time. Deng immediately throws all his energy into advancing the cause of modernization in China. The age of reform takes off in earnest. But first he has to deal with Hua Guofeng.

This week’s episode looks at the exciting events that all went down in 1976. Deng Xiaoping is on the defensive thanks to his 1975 policies to revive the nation. But a concatenation of events will happen starting on January 8 and ending on October 6 that will both bring Deng back and rock China. But these events will set the country on a course that will lead China to become the economic and international powerhouse it has become in the 21st century.

After a bit of a delay, this week we look again at Deng Xiaoping and his struggles during the Cultural Revolution Years from 1966 to 1975. Seems we still have a long way to go yet. Be on the lookout in the coming weeks for a possible new iTunes Feed for the China History Podcast.

Today in Part 3 of our Deng Xiaoping overview we look at The Great One’s life from 1952 after his return from the Southwest Bureau all the way up to the start of the Cultural Revolution. Deng Xiaoping – Honorary Chairman of the China Bridge Association

This time we continue on with our overview of the great leader Deng Xiaoping. We pick up in 1937 with the invasion by Japan, the civil war and the founding of the PRC. We examine Deng’s achievements all the way up to 1952, the year he left the Southwest Bureau and returned to Beijing to serve as Vice Premier and to take the lead, with Mao, Zhou, Liu Shaoqi and others in building the PRC from the ground up.

Laszlo is happily back in Cali with a new episode that looks at the early years of Deng Xiaoping. Most of the narrative is based on passages gleaned from Ezra Vogel’s new biography of The Great One. Inspired by the events of May Fourth 1919, Deng Xiaoping was a lifelong revolutionary and by the end of his days had personally seen to it that China ended up the nation it was meant to be on the world stage. In this multi-part series on the life of Deng Xiaoping we’ll trace his life, all the triumphs aas well as the tragedies. We’ll look at why he is lionized as one of the greatest 20th century world leaders and also why some have vilified Deng for his actions. His life itself is an interesting prism from which to view 20th century China.

This time we take a look at four Westerners who committed their lives to the People’s Republic of China. These four foreigners, Agnes Smedley, Anna Louise Strong, George Hatem and Israel Epstein were all friends of China and were admired by China’s leaders. Upon their deaths they were given the honor of internment at China’s Babaoshan Cemetery in Beijing. In this episode we offer an overview of each of their lives and why they were given this great honor.

Today we jump over much of the history of the 1940′s and zero in on the moment when the PRC was officially established on Oct 1, 1949. Today’s podcast episode offers a general overview of the first year of the PRC and some of the multitude of challenges Mao and China’s new leaders faced.