Come and hear author David Leffman talk about the “Mercenary Mandarin” at the Royal Geographical Society next week (Wednesday September 20th, 6.30pm, in Central, Hong Kong). In his talk, Leffman covers the extraordinary life of Victorian adventurer William Mesny, who spent most of his adult life in China, becoming a smuggler, a prisoner of the Taiping rebels, an arms dealer [...]
Come and meet seven Hong Kong authors -- Rachel Cartland, Larry Feign, Feng Chi-shun, Peter Mann, Jason Ng, Graham Reels and Guy Shirra -- as they celebrate, discuss and debate the 20 years that have passed since Hong Kong's handover to China in 1997. Thursday June 15, 6pm-7.30pm, at Bookazine in Prince's Building, Central. Free entry, and wine will be [...]
Syd Goldsmith’s first taste of China’s Cultural Revolution is blood on his tongue. It’s 1967. Hong Kong is simmering, plagued by communist-led riots and strikes, crippled transport, punishing water-rationing, takeover threats from Beijing and roadside bombs. And Syd — the only Caucasian Foreign Service Officer at the American Consulate General who speaks Cantonese — is made responsible for reporting and [...]
Fifty years ago today, Syd Goldsmith was almost beaten to death by an angry mob in Hong Kong. On May 11, 1967, amid rumours of unrest at a factory, Syd, then a young US diplomat on his first offshore posting, was sent out into the streets to get a first-hand look. He quickly found himself in deep trouble amid the [...]
Lena Sin, one half of the team behind How to Hong Kong, tells us how their illustrated book came about... The idea for How to Hong Kong sprung from my husband’s mind, not mine. Though it would become something of an obsession for me, I was steadfastly against it at the beginning. “I think you should write a book about [...]
On the evening of Wednesday January 18th, you're invited to Bookazine's first "Meet the Authors" session in Prince's Building, Central. Among the writers present will be Peter Mann with his new memoir Sheriff of Wan Chai. Wine will be served and stories will be told. Full details in the evite above. Hope to see you there!
Fred Schneiter spent 30 years working in and around China, and came to recognise the value of keeping an open mind and learning something new every day. You’re likely to learn something too if you read this excerpt from his book, Getting Along with the Chinese. Chinese Mice Don’t Eat Cheese IN THE EARLY DAYS of our wheat food [...]
Share If you cannot view this email, please Click Here to view an online version. Unsubscribe/Update Profile | Share With Friends | Subscribe Blacksmith Books, Hong Kong Newsletter November 2016 New book: How to Hong Kong How to Hong Kong: An illustrated travel journalby Lena Sin and Nicholas Tay In this joyful travel sketchbook, Hong Kong is captured through the [...]
In 1976, Peter Mann left a gloomy England for the last corner of the British empire: Hong Kong. As a police inspector, he commanded a sub-unit and led a district vice squad in Kowloon, before joining the colonial government’s Administrative Service and working in the fields of transport, housing, security, environment and tourism. He also served as District Officer for [...]
Fred Schneiter, author of The Taste of Old Hong Kong, has many food-related tales to tell from his 30 years on the China coast… THE BEST RIBS IN TOWN One of the most momentous events in the history of Hong Kong occurred in 1984 when British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher called on Beijing to discuss the 1997 expiration of Britain’s [...]
These days Chris Thrall is a successful author. But it wasn't always so. In the 1990s he left the Royal Marines to find his fortune in Hong Kong, but instead found himself homeless and hooked on crystal methamphetamine. In a downward spiral, he also began working for a triad society as a doorman in one of their nightclubs in Wan [...]
Learn some Cantonese words for the Mid Autumn Festival, thanks to Hong Kong Unveiled! Will you be enjoying a yewt beng tonight? Mid Autumn Festival, Juung Chow Jeet, 中秋節 15th day of 8th lunar month, September An important day for family reunions. People finish work early to have dinner with the whole family. Married couples must either separate and go [...]
Come and help us celebrate the launch of Fishing in Hong Kong, meet the authors and get a signed copy! This coming Saturday, June 18, 7pm at Cava Restaurant & Bar: 54 Po Tung Road, Sai Kung, Hong Kong.
Watch this short film by Andrew Guthrie which tells the story of Paul Au: how he was smuggled into Hong Kong from wartime Vietnam in the 1970s and how he set up a second-hand vinyl record shop in Sham Shui Po, a low-rent district in north Kowloon, which is still popular today. The full story -- with lots of photos [...]
Join us at Bert's Bar in the Foreign Correspondents' Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong, for the launch of Kitchen Tiles by Feng Chi-shun. When: 6-9pm, Monday, December 21, 2015. Besides Kitchen Tiles, Feng's other books Diamond Hill and Hong Kong Noir will be on sale if you are looking for autographed stocking fillers. Hope to see you [...]
A book launch party for Paul's Records: How a refugee from the Vietnam War found success selling vinyl on the streets of Hong Kong! Who: Both Paul Au and author Andrew Guthrie will be present, records from Paul’s vinyl store will be played, and the book will be explained/read from. There will be guest appearances by a few dedicated customers [...]
We have three new books out this month. Read on! Share If you cannot view this email, please Click Here to view an online version. Unsubscribe/Update Profile | Share With Friends | Subscribe Blacksmith Books, Hong Kong Newsletter October 2015 Hong Kong war memoir: It Won't Be Long Now It Won’t Be Long Now: The Diary of a Hong Kong [...]
I met up with Geoffrey Emerson, Hong Kong-based historian (left), and Shun Chi Ming, director of the Hong Kong Observatory (centre), to talk about the wartime diary of Graham Heywood. Over tea at the Observatory, a beautiful Victorian building hidden away on a forested hill in the middle of Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Geoff and CM explained how Heywood's diary [...]