Hiking recently in Shaoguan, in northern Guangdong, I was grateful for the handy suggestions offered by the local authorities, and I fell down the hillside paying the proper attention to health and safety. The Danxiashan region of the province is a weird landscape of forest punctuated by dramatic red sandstone formations and divided by meandering rivers. Some of the hilltops [...]
Our newest book -- Diamond Hill, Feng Chi-shun's tale of growing up in a Kowloon-side squatter village in the 1950s -- is launched at the Foreign Correspondents' Club at 5pm on Monday 12th October. All welcome! But if you can't make it to the FCC, three copies of the book are on offer to those who can answer this question: [...]
The 19th century was a low point for Mongolia; the once-proud empire reduced to a backward vassal state of the Manchus. Danzan Ravjaa was a progressive monk of the period. He founded monasteries, wrote poetry, and promoted education and social reform. But his unconventional life of women, theatre and alcohol was cut short by a cup of poisoned [...]
Two Blacksmith Books authors were featured in the South China Morning Post this week, and as the newspaper's website is behind a paywall, we reproduce their interviews here for overseas readers. Xujun Eberlein spoke about her book Apologies Forthcoming in the Asia Specific column, while Bernd Hagemann revealed how he collected the photographs for Sleeping Chinese in the Life section.
This month's prize giveaway is the Chinese edition of Ken Ing's Wing Chun Warrior. It's in Hong Kong shops retailing at HK$78. For Chinese readers, here's the blurb: 梁紹鴻，Duncan Leung，詠春善戰者。由兒時好友、已故電影巨星李小龍介紹去學詠春功夫。1955年，年僅十三歲的他以「三跪九叩」之禮，拜詠春第六代葉問為師，成為葉問的「第一私家門徒」。 1955至59這四年間，葉問親自上門，悉心教導梁紹鴻，傾囊相授，跟他練習，還傳授「實踐」詠春的秘訣。梁紹鴻天天練武、練功六小時；要學以致用，他就上街打架、上武館「講手」，實踐所學。他對中國武術各門各派的打鬥經驗可謂獨一無二。1964年，一次行俠仗義令梁紹鴻有緣遇上一位老人。那老人教他「空手入白刃」、「貼身搏擊」、「無聲殺敵」等技巧。1974至76年，梁紹鴻在美國紐約設館授徒。中、外習武者上館挑戰可謂無日無之，他未嘗敗北，因此應付外國武藝的經驗也相當豐富，可謂世上絕無僅有。 1976至2002年間，梁紹鴻在美國弗吉利亞灘 （Virginia Beach）定居，受聘於美國海軍海豹隊（U.S. Navy Seals）、美國聯邦調查局（ FBI ）及美國特警部隊 （SWAT）。2002年8月，梁紹鴻接受可能是他有生以來最大的挑戰：要在兩年內，培養六名中國少年成為世界級職業「散打」拳手。於是，他到了中國去完成這能人所不能的使命。 The first three readers (with Asian mailing addresses) who tell us this -- Where did martial arts master Duncan Leung open [...]
This memoir of a native son of a Kowloon-side squatter village – the first book ever on Diamond Hill, in either Chinese or English – is a revelation. Shocking in places, wistful in others, it presents the early days of a life shaped by a now-extinct community. Penned by a high-achieving Hong Kong professional, Feng Chi-shun’s sharp recollections of his [...]
Read on for a rare Indiana Jones style story which has been picked up by the BBC... Danzan Ravjaa (1803-1856), the Fifth Noyon Incarnate Lama of the Gobi Desert, is perhaps Mongolia's most beloved saint. The Fourth had caused so many scandals that the Manchu Emperor of the day banned his reincarnation. Consequently, when the young child was enthroned as [...]
The Hong Kong Book Fair -- the week-long book sales event that drew 800,000 people last year -- is on again as of today in Wan Chai's Convention Centre. We're taking a break this year and not manning a stand, but some of our titles can be found at Booth 1A01-26, in Hall 1. This includes the new Chinese edition [...]
A crippling fear of public speaking has probably shorted out more promising careers than any other single factor. In today’s high-stress environment, top performers are expected to be able to address shareholder meetings, do real-time podcasts and live TV, take part in panel discussions and speak to groups of all sizes, whether in key pitches or at large [...]
Has it ever occurred to you that at practically every conference you attend almost all of the speakers are terribly boring? When you yourself made your last presentation did people come up to you afterwards to talk to you? Are you sure you made an impression? The irony is that almost all speakers have probably been advised or trained to [...]
Some years ago now, I crossed the border from Kazakhstan into Xinjiang in China's far northwest, and found myself stuck in Urumchi with the equivalent of US$50 and no onward tickets. It wasn't a problem; saving my cash for food, I 'hitch-hiked' on China's trains by boarding them at small-town stations and then jumping off before the ticket collectors reached [...]
Mild-mannered photographer Bernd Hagemann tiptoes around Shanghai with his camera. He has to keep quiet to avoid waking his snoring subjects. But despite his low profile, his photo website Sleeping Chinese has been getting a lot of attention from media as far afield as Apple Daily and La Repubblica. Britain's Daily Telegraph reports: "Bernd Hagemann moved to the Far East [...]
This month we're giving away three copies of Wing Chun Warrior by Ken Ing. The book has just been reviewed by Kent Ewing at Asia Times Online, who says: The story of Duncan Leung — childhood friend of Bruce Lee and disciple of Wing Chun master Yip Man — is valuable not only for the insights it offers into Chinese [...]
Thanks to ULN at the insightful blog Chinayouren for his review of Chinese Gods: … in terms of surprises, this book delivers from the preface. First, you discover it was actually written and self-published by Chamberlain 30 years ago, inspired by a series of painted glass figures he collected from local markets. It goes on to describe an unusual interview [...]
From Australia's National Nine News this afternoon: A Frenchman with an apparent aversion to lifts has been arrested in Sydney after climbing one of the city's skyscrapers. A female office worker who stopped to watch after a morning meeting said it was thrilling to see someone climb the building. "I think it's really important for people to push the limit," [...]
One of our bestselling titles from last year — King Hui: The Man Who Owned All The Opium In Hong Kong, by Jonathan Chamberlain — was chosen by Dymocks Booksellers last month as one of their 100 great reads of the decade. Below we print the first few pages of the book. Introduction This is the story of a man’s [...]
Beijing-based dealmaker Jack Leblanc's book Business Republic of China has just been reviewed by the South China Morning Post: It has been just under 20 years since Belgian Jack Leblanc heeded a call to go to China and arrived in Chongqing with a suitcase of science books to teach at a university. The freshly minted nuclear physics graduate had abandoned [...]
To the Metropark Hotel in Wan Chai, ground zero for Hong Kong's swine flu panic, to make delivery of a consignment of English-language books for those poor overseas travellers confined to their lodgings for a week. They may have seen precious little of Hong Kong during their stay, but at least they'll be able to read about it, and I'm [...]