Want some insights into the world of book publishing in Hong Kong and China? A bunch of local publishing folk, including yours truly, are quoted in an informative article in Publishing Trends. While globally powerful partnerships between Chinese publishers and international publishers may take a while to unfold, Hong Kong’s own industry still offers plenty of international exposure to authors [...]
Annelie Rozeboom's investigative book, which tries to find out what people living in Tibet really think, is reviewed at Overlooking Tibet. What sparkles in this book are the real people Rozeboom met while traveling in China, Tibet, and India. In the West, we tend to think of the Tibet issue as being black and white, but this book colors in [...]
Watch this video interview with photographer Tom Carter in ChinaFile, the Asia Society's online magazine. Backpacking photographer Tom Carter somehow succeeded in circumnavigating over 35,000 miles (56,000 kilometers) across all 33 provinces in China during a 2-year period, the first foreigner on record ever to do so. What Carter found along the way, and what his photographs ultimately reveal, is [...]
Time Out Hong Kong magazine reviews our latest book, My Private China: When you sit down with Alex Kuo, you're instantly put at ease. The acclaimed Chinese American author has a calming influence, an elegantly mannered way of speaking and a carefully relaxed tone. And that, to us, is pretty surprising. Here's a man who's just launched his latest book, [...]
Join us at the Hong Kong launch of Unsavory Elements: a riveting anthology of vivid stories and essays from some of the most celebrated writers to have ever lived in China. "Westerners are flocking to the PRC in increasing numbers to chase their dreams even as Chinese emigrants seek their own dreams abroad. Life as an outsider in China has [...]
What do normal people in China look forward to when they get up in the morning? What is the mentor of Lang Lang like? What about the personal friend of Chairman Mao – and how does his granddaughter relate to him after the murderous Cultural Revolution? What do the numerous evangelical Americans really think of the Chinese? How does the [...]
We've just spent three days cooking, shooting and eating over 70 dishes from Yunnan province, the most diverse in China for both food and people. Linda has brought some hard-to-find ingredients from the province; we've been to various shops and markets in Wan Chai; and Linda has cooked up the dishes with Annabel in her Hong Kong kitchen. See a [...]
Here's some Chinese New Year greeting advice from our new book Hong Kong Unveiled: Bye neen, 拜年, praise the year; shake your fist enclosed in your other hand (it doesn’t matter which hand is on the outside) as a greeting while saying something auspicious to family members and all you meet during Chinese New Year. Auspicious sayings: Guung hay fart [...]
The issue of mainland Chinese mothers coming to Hong Kong to give birth is much in the news lately, with some people hoping new chief executive Leung Chun-ying will take steps to limit the number of beds available to mainland mothers. I thought it was a good time to excerpt this story from Yeeshan Yang’s book Whispers and Moans — [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Thanks to everybody who came to our launch party in the Stanley Street cha chan tang last night. The owners were pleased as they sold 100+ bottles of cheap beer. Author Cecilie Gamst Berg has now made a movie to explain what you'll learn by reading the book!
Cantonese can be difficult, and people are often put off learning it. But Norwegian Cantonese teacher Cecilie Gamst Berg has hit on the best strategy: she avoids boring classrooms and teaches Cantonese in the places you will actually need it -- in shops, taxis and bars. OK, mostly in bars, but sometimes in cha chaan teng (local Chinese cafés) too. [...]
Walking is the best way to get to know any city, and Macau — the former Portuguese colony returned to China in 1999 — is made for walking. Only seven miles square, one can easily walk from the Border Gate to the A-Ma Temple at the tip of Macau in a day. Todd Crowell’s guidebook Explore Macau describes eight routes [...]
Thanks to Time Out Hong Kong for a full-page interview with Annelie Rozeboom, author of our newest title: a book of interviews which explores the life stories of Chinese and Tibetan people in and around Tibet. Click to see at full size. Also read a great review of the book in Cairns Media Magazine: Almost everything that's revealed in Waiting [...]
Watch a slideshow of images from Graham Earnshaw's trek across China, set to a fitting soundtrack: a song the author has composed about his westward journey.
How long would it take to walk across the world's most populous country? Find out by listening to Graham Earnshaw's story. He'll be speaking at Garden Books -- 325 Changle Road, Shanghai -- at 6pm on Saturday 26th February. 40 RMB includes one drink. Graham's book The Great Walk of China is a journey into China's heartland, away from its [...]