22 December 2023

Constance Gordon-Cumming’s memorable Christmas in Hong Kong, 1878

2023-12-22T20:16:57+08:00December 22nd, 2023|book excerpt, hong kong|0 Comments

This is an excerpt from Wanderings in China: Hong Kong and Canton, Christmas and New Year, 1878/1879 by Constance Gordon-Cumming, a Victorian traveller and artist who arrived in Hong Kong on Christmas Day in 1878. It's introduced and annotated by Paul French as part of his China Revisited series. Merry Christmas, one and all, 145 years later!     Care [...]

30 March 2023

Book signing: Hong Kong football legend Derek Currie

2023-03-30T03:25:25+08:00March 30th, 2023|authors, events, hong kong|0 Comments

When Scottish footballer Derek Currie was made an offer to travel to Hong Kong in 1970 to play against the one sportsman he had dreamed of meeting on the field, he couldn't say no. From apprentice printer in Glasgow to playing football against Pelé in the Far East, singing with Stevie Wonder and shadow-boxing with Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Currie enjoyed [...]

26 January 2023

Murder on the Outlying Islands of Hong Kong! A book talk on January 28th

2023-01-26T22:28:42+08:00January 26th, 2023|authors, events, hong kong|0 Comments

For the next event at Vibe bookshop -- on Saturday 28th January at 2:30pm -- Patricia O'Sullivan will be discussing real-life Hong Kong murders from a century ago! Women carried out some of these crimes on Hong Kong's outlying islands like Cheung Chau and Lantau, as well as in the city. Patricia will also be signing copies of her newest [...]

10 June 2022

Podcast: Mark Isaac-Williams, The Hong Kong I Knew

2022-06-10T00:51:24+08:00June 10th, 2022|authors, hong kong, media attention, new books|0 Comments

Returning to Hong Kong in 1947 after the Japanese occupation, seven-year-old Mark Isaac-Williams had the whole of Kowloon as his playground. Billeted with his family in the once-grand but now dilapidated Peninsula hotel, his life was full of adventure – from the rooftop to the basement, he knew the hotel’s every inch. Roller-skating and horseback riding in Kowloon’s streets and [...]

19 October 2021

Join us at our book launch for a real Hong Kong mystery! Saturday, October 23rd

2021-10-19T23:03:17+08:00October 19th, 2021|events, hong kong, new books|0 Comments

You are invited to the launch of The Marvellous Adventures of Maggie and Methuselah: A Mystery in Hong Kong! If you love real-life mysteries about missing Hong Kong treasure, adventures in dark tunnels, and above all, crazy rhyme-loving African Grey parrots, you’ll love hearing Sarah Brennan's new story at 3pm on Saturday, 23rd October, at Bookazine, 3rd Floor, Prince's Building, [...]

16 August 2021

An artist reveals what life was like inside the legendary Walled City of Kowloon

2021-08-14T20:52:17+08:00August 16th, 2021|hong kong, new books|0 Comments

A new book of photographs and artworks reveals the reality of the Walled City of Kowloon – an astonishing and unique place which was the most densely populated spot on Earth. The Walled City was built on a small parcel of land in Hong Kong that was disputed by Britain and China, which meant neither country exercised full jurisdiction there. [...]

26 July 2021

New book: Love, Money and Friendships, by David T. K. Wong

2021-07-29T19:33:25+08:00July 26th, 2021|china, hong kong, new books|0 Comments

Attention, readers of previous titles by Hong Kong writer David T. K. Wong: Volume 4 of his memoirs has just been published. In other news, Wong has been offered an honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of East Anglia in the UK for his contributions to literature. As far as we know, he is the only Hong Kong writer [...]

3 March 2021

Zoom event, March 3rd: Women, Crime and the Courts, Hong Kong 1841-1941

2021-03-03T07:04:20+08:00March 3rd, 2021|events, hong kong, new books|0 Comments

This free online talk is hosted by the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong. While women were filling the magistrates courts and prisons of the British Isles during the 19th century, a female criminal in Hong Kong was a rarity. Yet, often in response to the privations of grinding poverty, some did find themselves on the wrong side of the law. [...]

8 February 2021

As we welcome the Year of the Ox, which animal of the Chinese Zodiac are you?

2021-02-08T04:46:25+08:00February 8th, 2021|china, hong kong|0 Comments

Sarah Brennan is the author of the Chinese Calendar Tales series. She writes... People are always asking me “Which Chinese calendar animal am I?” So here’s a handy reference so you can work out what animal you are in the Chinese zodiac! Beside each animal is the name of the animal in beautiful Chinese calligraphy, given to me by Scotch [...]

18 December 2020

Published today – Women, Crime and the Courts: Hong Kong 1841-1941

2020-12-18T17:22:08+08:00December 18th, 2020|hong kong, new books|0 Comments

Kwan Lai-chun was sick of being made to feel second-class by her husband’s concubine; sick of her mother-in-law’s endless carping about the money she spent; sick of the whole family. Late one sticky, humid night, something snapped in her – and she grabbed the meat chopper. Within minutes, three people were dead: the concubine with over 70 gashes, many of [...]

17 December 2020

Blast from the past, and repeating history: the first books we published

2020-12-16T23:38:59+08:00December 17th, 2020|hong kong, publishing|0 Comments

I was making space in the storeroom this week for new books coming in, and I pulled a box down from the top rack of shelving. What a surprise. It contained a few copies of the first two books we ever published, back in 2002 and 2003. My first thought was that I hadn't seen these for ages, and didn't [...]

2 March 2020

Book excerpt: Confessions of a Hong Kong Naturalist

2020-03-01T19:48:51+08:00March 2nd, 2020|book excerpt, hong kong|0 Comments

Confessions of a Hong Kong Naturalist is a natural history memoir, tracing the journey from novice to expert of aspiring naturalist Graham Reels as he follows a trail of discovery into the miraculously fascinating and diverse world of Hong Kong’s wildlife. Read this excerpt from his book. It is taken from Chapter 9, Far-flung Shores. Graham says: “The background is [...]

21 February 2020

New book: The Evergreen Tea House, a Hong Kong novel

2020-02-19T23:34:44+08:00February 21st, 2020|hong kong, new books|0 Comments

David Wong started his working life as a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant before becoming a teacher, colonial bureaucrat, businessman, and a writer of short stories and novels. In the wake of the Hong Kong protests, memories of the colonial past are fading. This new edition of David T. K. Wong’s sweeping historical novel brings the past vividly [...]

20 February 2020

Video: “Spatial Cemetery” is a visual journey beneath the surface of hidden Hong Kong

2020-02-19T23:10:33+08:00February 20th, 2020|hong kong, media attention, new books|0 Comments

"Urbex" is shorthand for "urban exploration", and HK Urbex are a group of anonymous, adrenaline-fuelled explorers who investigate the hidden, abandoned and forgotten corners of Hong Kong. Their first book is out now. "HK Urbex is an underground collective that documents deserted, off-limits spaces, its photographers protecting their identities with hats, hoods, masks and pseudonyms," says the South China Morning [...]

21 October 2019

Join us at Kai-Yin Lo’s book launch on Saturday, Oct 26

2019-10-22T00:06:52+08:00October 21st, 2019|events, hong kong, new books|0 Comments

Designing a Life tells the inspiring story of Kai-Yin Lo, a determined Hong Kong woman born to a wealthy family who had to build her own future following an abrupt change in the family’s fortunes. “Kai-Yin is a polymath and a phenomenon, having seamlessly juggled an analytical career as a scholar, historian, teacher and editor, with the artistic and imaginative [...]

16 October 2019

Meet Gill Shaddick, author of The Hong Kong Letters, on October 19

2019-10-16T21:44:42+08:00October 16th, 2019|authors, events, hong kong|0 Comments

Gill Shaddick is the author of The Hong Kong Letters, her memoir of an eventful two years working at an ad agency in Hong Kong in the late 1960s. Among other things, her yacht was seized by Chinese militia, and she was held incommunicado, after she unwittingly strayed into PRC waters at the height of China's Cultural Revolution. Drop by [...]

11 October 2019

Have you seen a tiger in Hong Kong? A call for information

2019-10-11T15:59:48+08:00October 11th, 2019|hong kong|0 Comments

Author John Saeki writes… Hey, Hong Kong friends, do you have a tiger story in your family? Maybe a grandparent saw a pair of shining eyes staring through the dark forest? Maybe your mum or dad saw one stalking a muntjac? Maybe an uncle lost a pig in the night? Maybe you heard a thunderous roar?            If you are a [...]