Description
What do “Deep water pier”, “Nine dragons city” and “Mandarin‘s lake” have in common with “Wong Tai Sin”, the name of a Taoist deity? They’re all districts in Kowloon.
This book is an exploration of what is often seen as Hong Kong’s shadow-side, from the viewpoints of community, consumerism, art, food, fashion and sex – 15 years after the handover. Scores of colour photographs bring the peninsula to the reader in a salute to street culture and the ordinary and extraordinary people of Kowloon.
MEDIA ATTENTION
We all know Kowloon. It’s busy. It’s colourful. It’s packed with markets, apartments and people. There are beautiful landscapes. There’s the sex industry. There’s the masses of Mainland tourists. But how much do we really know the ‘Nine Dragons’ district? One author says there’s much more hidden away and it’s up to us to go and discover it. “I see Kowloon as an exploding thesaurus,” says Nicole Chabot, author of new picture-led tome Kowloon: Unknown Territory, “as in there are so many different adjectives you could use to describe it.” — Time Out
Chaplain and Chabot talked about their new book on RTHK Radio 3.
Kowloon: Unknown Territory is Susan Blumberg-Kason’s book of the week!
“One of my friends lives her life entirely within Hong Kong Island and becomes both disoriented and insecure when she has to venture even into nearby Kowloon or the New Territories. She is not alone. There are many long-time Hong Kong residents who live, work and play within a 1-km radius of Central and don’t see any reason to step outside their comfort zone.” — China Daily
Listen to Chaplain and Chabot as they walk through Kowloon on the Hong Kong Heritage podcast.
Chaplain’s photos of Kowloon were exhibited on the wall of Hong Kong’s FCC in January 2013.
About the authors
Half-Chinese freelance writer Nicole Chabot has lived in Edinburgh, Hong Kong, London and Amsterdam and has worked with clients in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. These range from agencies and corporate clients to publishers, magazines and newspapers. Fodor’s, South China Morning Post, Tatler, and Business Traveller are among her clients. Her writing has also appeared in inflight magazines. From 2007 to 2011, Chabot worked as a research associate at the China Business Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University where she conducted the interviews for Kowloon: Unknown Territory. She currently works as a freelance writer for the SCMP and other titles.
Ira Chaplain is an award-winning American photographer who has lived in Hong Kong since 1994, after having lived in Thailand and Sweden. In recent years his work has taken him to Korea, Japan, Thailand, Bali, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Vietnam and Bahrain. Chaplain’s clients include top-tier newspapers and magazines including Asiaweek, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, Der Spiegel, Discovery, Dynasty, Far Eastern Economic Review, Forbes, Fortune, L.A. Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Maxim, Newsweek, New York Times, Paris Match, Prestige, Reader’s Digest, Sunday Telegraph, South China Morning Post, Time, Travel & Leisure, Village Voice and Washington Post.
