HK 1K
Happy 1000th issue to HK Magazine! The mag asked various people what was best about Hong Kong.
14
July 2013
9
July 2013
The New Word Sellers
I was interviewed for this Hong Kong Trader article about Asian publishers in advance of the Hong Kong Book Fair. Many small publishers use print-on-demand technology to make books available in small quantities, but I'm not keen on it because sales are rarely very high, and such books are only sold through the giant online booksellers, not in bookshops on [...]
2
July 2013
Book Review: Waiting for the Dalai Lama
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 [...]
30
June 2013
“Hong Kong Noir” is flying high
We're pleased to see Feng Chi-shun's crime collection Hong Kong Noir featured in Discovery, Cathay Pacific's inflight magazine! Click to see at larger size.
21
June 2013
Tom Carter: video interview and new book
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 [...]
16
June 2013
“My Private China” in Time Out
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, [...]
20
May 2013
Book launch: Unsavory Elements — Stories of foreigners on the loose in China
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 [...]
14
May 2013
Book launch: My Private China, by Alex Kuo
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 [...]
2
May 2013
27
April 2013
Hong Kong Noir
Our newest book, Hong Kong Noir: Fifteen true tales from the dark side of the city, has been on the South China Morning Post’s top five bestseller list since Christmas. Author Feng Chi-shun has been interviewed by RTHK Radio 3 and HK Magazine, and the book has been reviewed by Susan Blumberg-Kason, the SCMP and Asia Times, which said: Who [...]
5
April 2013
Putting together a Yunnan cookbook
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 [...]
19
February 2013
Pam Shookman and the Hong Kong Cancer Fund
From Peter Wood, husband of author Pam Shookman: At the beginning of September 2009 Pam was diagnosed with Stage 4 bladder cancer. That afternoon we stumbled out of the urologist’s office into the unreal bustle of Central and headed straight for the Joel Robuchon café. There was only one possible response to cancer, Pam announced: cakes from the café and [...]
9
February 2013
Guung hay fart choy! And here are some other New Year greetings
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 [...]
21
January 2013
Download a free study guide for Bhutan memoir “Dragon Bones”
From Murray Gunn, author of Dragon Bones: Two Years Beneath the Skin of a Himalayan Kingdom: I tried very hard to allow the Bhutanese people in Dragon Bones to tell their own stories and to minimise the bias created by my beliefs, my mood and other aspects of my life. I knew it was an impossible task before I began [...]
15
January 2013
“Kowloon: Unknown Territory” – photo exhibition at the FCC
The Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong is holding a wall exhibition of Ira Chaplain's photos from Kowloon: Unknown Territory. "In my 19 years spent in various parts of Hong Kong, I have never lived in Kowloon. Before I took this assignment, like so many in this city, my life existed largely on Hong Kong side. I never knew the [...]
19
November 2012
Nov 26: Come to the Blacksmith/Bookazine Booksigning Extravaganza!
As we count down the final four weeks to Christmas, come and get your Hong Kong gift books signed at Bookazine. We’ve brought together 14 Blacksmith authors who have all written about Hong Kong. Come and meet them over a festive glass of wine, and get your books signed by: Jonathan Chamberlain, author of King Hui: The Man Who Owned [...]
1
November 2012
Book launch and photo exhibition, Nov 7th — Kowloon: Unknown Territory
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 new 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 [...]
15
October 2012
How Asia got its grin back: Ancient comedy tradition is being revived, says Nury Vittachi in new book
Asians have a powerful sense of humour with a long history, a study says. But the region lost its ability to laugh 60 years ago and is only now regaining it. Self-deprecating humour, associated with Jewish and British comedy, existed in Asia for more than 1,000 years. In ancient China, aristocrats kept comedians in their homes, and in India, taxpayers [...]