The best Online drugstores

Author Robert Wang spoke about his new book on Radio 3 yesterday, and you can now listen to the interview online. Hear how he fled from civil-war Shanghai in 1949 and took a perilous journey to Hong Kong, jumping from the train when it came under attack.

Robert’s memoir of his incredible life, Walking The Tycoons’ Rope, is Dymocks’ book of the month for May. The rags-to-riches story offers a rare look inside the unimaginably wealthy world of Hong Kong’s property tycoons, but the tales of his previous poverty — arriving in Hong Kong as a refugee and living beside Kowloon’s walled city — are equally compelling.

Robert was also interviewed last week by Time Out Hong Kong.

I’m very pleased to note that The Heritage Hiker’s Guide to Hong Kong has been revised and reprinted in a new edition; and even more pleased that it has been named Susan Blumberg-Kason’s book of the week!

Following is an excerpt. The book is not just walking directions; it’s very visual, with lots of photographs — some modern and some historical — and colour maps for each walk. I’ve included a few random spreads among the text below; click them to view at full size. Happy hiking!

Route 12: Pok Fu Lam

The green western slopes of Hong Kong Island have long been used as a retreat from the city – first by missionaries and dairy farmers, and today by students and wealthier residents. Starting at the Peak and ending atop Mount Davis, this walk will exercise your knees and give you advance views of the heritage sites along the way.

Victoria Gap, where the Peak Tower stands, is a crossroads from which trails lead in half a dozen directions. The entrance to Pok Fu Lam Country Park is easily found directly opposite the bus station, and a car-free road leads straight down into peaceful forest. Old banyans clinging to the stone walls shade your descent into the valley.

These steep hillsides were saved from development by the need to protect Hong Kong’s water sources. This valley was dammed as early as 1863 and a reservoir – the colony’s first – was built down below to supply water to the city. An aqueduct ran around from Pok Fu Lam to Central, giving Conduit Road its name. Major tree planting took place at the same time to prevent soil erosion. Before then, most of Hong Kong Island’s uplands were bare, partly thanks to the grass cutters who scoured the hills to collect kindling. The forest suffered during the war years, when much of it was chopped down for firewood; but it has recovered well and you’re now able to walk through mature woodland.

Camellia and eagle’s claw flowers provide colour beside the path, and birdsong fills the air. In fact, it was the ‘pok fu’ bird which gave Pok Fu Lam its name – lam meaning ‘forest’ – although the original Chinese characters have changed. It’s often pronounced ‘Pock Fulham’ by expats more familiar with the London football club. (more…)

Come and hear from longtime Lantau resident Cecilie Gamst Berg as she ploughs through the non-stop surreal-fest that is today’s China, stopping occasionally to ruminate about the travails of trying to make Cantonese a world language, and how the Chinese have invented a new English: Manglish.

You’ll find answers to everything you wanted to know about China, such as:

What does “the slippery are very crafty” really mean?

What’s the etiquette for hitch-hiking in really small cars?

And what’s the best way to gatecrash a ketamine party?

Cecilie will show you how China is not only the most happening place on Earth, but also the most fun.

Saturday May 19, 2pm – 4pm at Dymocks bookshop in Discovery Bay Plaza, Lantau Island, call 2987 8494 for enquiries. Free entry. Wine will be served!

Since the start of this year, our books have been available in Singapore (and Malaysia) through Select Books, a company which specialises in books from all parts of Asia. (It’s my dream to one day open a similar bookshop in Hong Kong). The timing is good, as several of our recent and upcoming titles have Singapore connections.

Select Books’ store can be found at 51 Armenian Street, Singapore 179939. Gazetted as a national monument, the building has historical significance as the location of Sun Yat-sen’s United Chinese Library from 1911 to 1987, and it sits in a neighbourhood with a rich cultural heritage. Check out Select’s blog to find out more about them.

Blacksmith publisher Pete Spurrier was among four writers who shared their insights with Hong Kong members of the Asian American Journalists Association on the evening of April 3. Pete has written guidebooks to Hong Kong, while the other authors — Cameron Dueck, Michelle Yu and Blossom Kan — have written travelogues and novels, so there were different perspectives and a lot of variety to the discussion.

If you missed the fun, you can still follow the discussion on the high-tech AAJA blog — their webmaster was live-tweeting the whole event!

A guest blog post from business veteran Jack Leblanc, whose entertaining book Business Republic of China is now available on Kindle, Nook and other e-readers!

*   *   *

Once upon a time Mr. Mayo, a smart businessman who headed a three-generation-old European company producing deep-frozen French Fries and other iced delicacies, decided that the time was ripe to head for China.

So by the middle of the 1^st decade of the 21^st century his entrepreneurial spirit brought him to the “mysterious” Far East.

His findings were astonishing to say the least: He discovered that the largest multinational fast food restaurants had set up shop far ahead of him, that some of those chains had hundreds of outlets spread all over the country, that the young Chinese loved fries almost as much as rice. And that meant that his deep-frozen fries should certainly be in demand.

He temporarily hired a Mr. Yang, a thirty-something-year-old, as his consultant to further discover the potential of his fries in the Middle Kingdom. Quickly the wildest estimates hit the Excel sheet, far exceeding the conservative forecasts Mr. Mayo could have dreamed up, and it soon became fact that selling to China was a must. His company would quickly show a return to the family shareholders far surpassing the 3-5% growth they saw in their customary markets.

Unfortunately the lack of enough cold storage, and therefore the prohibitive cost of small shipments, “taxing” import procedures and messy logistics to move cold containers around the country, quickly made him realize that to reach the end users he had to build a production facility in China.

It was decided to build a brand-new factory at a cost of 2.5 million Euros. It would be headed by Mr. Yang, whom Mr. Mayo had come to trust like family. Shandong was chosen as the perfect location. This made sense because it looked like potato paradise: Different varieties were available within a 400km radius. Farmers were eager to sell and at very interesting prices. (more…)

The author of Master of None was interviewed at length by Ming Pao, the Hong Kong newspaper. The translated text is reproduced below. (To read it in the original Chinese, click the image on the right).

Freedom Behind Bars – John Hung

“Human beings created justice, as well as injustice,” he said.

A man who has been treated unfairly in this unjust place can only seek legal recourse, hoping that justice will prevail and that he would eventually regain his good name. Unfortunately, the court may not be as just as he would hope. The layer-by-layer conviction and dismissals made by the Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal and Court of Final Appeal signify the uncertainty and unpredictability of the judgment. It is dangerous to only look for justice in law or accept it as the last resort in the judgment of morality. We cannot simply measure ourselves and others by these provisions. “Where will we find true final judgment then? Perhaps it is the Almighty.”

He was a high flyer in the business world. He had been working for Wheelock & Co. and Wharf Holdings for over thirty years and everyone knew him as the group’s “Financial Strategist”. He was engaged in numerous roles in public service and had been the chairman of the Sports Development Board for seven years. He was also awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star. Although his life looked like paradise, his perfect aristocratic privilege could not stay with him forever. In 2009, he was sentenced to sixteen months in jail for corruption. One year after his release, he published the autobiography he wrote in prison: “Master of None”. He did not use his book to reverse the verdict, nor did he complain. “I don’t want to talk about the past, I have a clear conscience.”

He was a “taipan”, a supreme leader, and also a prisoner. He is — John Hung. (more…)

From the South China Morning Post Lai See column:

A flyer came across our desk yesterday inviting us to a booksigning event featuring John Hung’s book Master of None, How a Hong Kong High- Flyer Overcame the Devastating Experience of Imprisonment.

Hung, it will be recalled, not so long ago stepped out of Stanley Prison after a 16-month sojourn for “assisting” someone to attain membership in the hallowed portals of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, apparently for a fee. The 73-year-old former chairman of Wheelock Marden has made a virtue out of necessity and used his enforced leisure time to produce an autobiography. As the publisher’s blurb says, “Does a man need a stint in jail to complete his life experiences? … The story tracks the richness of his mixed-race heritage and upbringing, his steady rise and precipitous fall from the pinnacles of corporate Hong Kong to the life-destroying court case and heartbreaking incarceration.”

One of our more cynical readers has responded that it was a pity this did not appear a month ago and we would then have had the perfect answer to the age-old question, “What do you get for Christmas for the man who had everything?” Answer, a stint in Stanley Prison.