Apparently the Chinese civil war.
http://www.echeat.com/free-essay/IB-Chi ... 25745.aspx
A few other things.
A. "Our" brief presence IC is being alluded to in a post or two, although I don't remember which. Nick would definitely notice that someone had been in his room, by smell alone. Is the event in question canon enough so that that is the case?
B. Swith or someone ought to look at the map. Vaffleheim is labeled as downtown and the Island as Vaffleheim (or maybe the other way around.)