Li Hanhun

As the Sino-Japanese War was brewing in 1936 and factions within the Kuomintang were in power struggles verging on civil war, Li gave up his commission with the leader of one faction (Chen Jitang 陈济棠), while issuing a universal call-out to all Chinese forces to unite under the leadership of Chiang Kai Shek in resistance against Japan invasion.

From 1939 to 1945, General Li served as Governor of war-torn and partially occupied Guangdong Province, during which he devoted himself to good governance and war relief efforts.

As part of the latter efforts, he collaborated with and supported his wife Wu Chu-Fang (吴菊芳) in a range of enterprises to mitigate the problems of war-displaced refugees.

Though his career in public life in China had mainly been in military service and War zone governance, General Li Hanhun was self-described as a reluctant warrior in his own writings and in his life-long devotion to Buddhism and Chinese classical learning.

Together with his wife Wu Chu-Fang, they operated a series of three Chinese restaurants, the one in White Plains,[6] the China Garden, being particularly successful and famous in its time.