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Author:  Feng Chi-shun

Year: Originally published in 1993

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Summary:

Retired pathologist Feng Chi-shun was once owner of a dive bar in Kowloon City: a rough part of town which was home to triad gangs. During that time, he heard a lot of stories. Do you want to know the details of the gruesome Hello Kitty murder, or what the taxi driver from hell did to his passengers? How about the ancient movie star who fooled hundreds of people for his final performance? And what was the truth about the girl with the eagle tattoo?

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Author:  Ian Lambot, Greg Girard

Year: Originally published in 1993

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Summary:

For nearly 50 years, the extraordinary community of Kowloon Walled City cut a dark presence in the heart of Hong Kong. Yet without legislation and with little regard for basic services, planning regulations or building standards, the City not only survived, it positively thrived. But how could such a place exist in a modern metropolis without administrative oversight - 'triply neglected', to use a Hong Kong term - by the British, Chinese and Hong Kong Governments? Who would choose to live there? And why? Some of these questions were answered in our book City of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City, but for various reasons a number of key elements were left out. City of Darkness Revisited fills in these gaps and brings the story up to date, mixing photographs and interviews found in the original book with a wide range of new material that has come to light over the past 20 years, in the form of new photographs, drawings, maps, documents and essays, many previously unpublished.
City of Darkness Revisited explores in greater detail than ever before the Walled City's dramatic growth between 1945 and 1990, while at the same time looking into the darker sides of its past and exposing the truth behind many of the myths that gave the City its abiding sense of mystery. We explain how the City's clearance came about and shine a light on why previous attempts to rid Hong Kong of this notorious enclave always failed, stymied over the matter of its dual jurisdiction. Bringing the story up to date, the book also discusses how perceptions of the City have changed so dramatically in the 20 years since its demolition - shunned by most Hong Kong residents during its lifetime, but now seen as part of the city's rich cultural and architectural heritage. And finally, we explore how the City and the myths that swirl around it have infiltrated architectural debate and popular culture through film, literature, Japanese manga, video games, art and design.
City of Darkness Revisited offers a unique insight into the remarkable community that was Kowloon Walled City, home to some 35,000 people at its peak and by far the most densely populated neighbourhood the world has ever known.

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Author:  Chris Patten

Year: 2017

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Summary:

Chris Patten was a cradle Catholic (hence First Confession), became on the most prominent Tory 'Wets' of the 1980s and 1990s, and went on to hold a series of prominent public offices - Chairman of the Conservative Party, the last Governor of Hong Kong, European Commissioner for External Affairs, Chancellor of Oxford University, Chairman of the BBC, advisor to the Pope - as he self-deprecatingly puts it 'a Grand Poo-bah, the Lord High Everything Else'. He writes with wry humour about his time in all these offices, taking us behind the scenes and showing us unexpected sides of many of the great figures of the day. No political writer is so purely enjoyable as Chris Patten.

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““Reminiscent of Somerset Maugham at his storytelling best… Suzie Wong is enchanting.””.

—New York Herald Tribune

“Refreshingly different… excitingly real and vivid.”

—Boston Globe

“A thrilling, imaginative experience.”

—Washington Post & Times Herald

Author:  Richard Mason

Year: 1957

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Summary:

Robert is the only resident of the Nam Kok hotel not renting his room by the hour when he meets Suzie at the bar. She becomes his muse and they fall in love. But even in Hong Kong, where many white expatriates have Chinese mistresses, their romance could jeopardize the things they each hold dear. Set in the mid-1950s, The World of Suzie Wong is a beautifully written time capsule of a novel. First published more than fifty years ago, it resonated with readers worldwide, inspiring a film starring William Holden, a ballet, and even a reggae song. Now readers can experience the romance of this groundbreaking story anew.

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“A fine balance between substance and readability”.

—Sino-Western Cultural Relations Journal

“Carroll offers a cogent synthetic history from the 1840s Opium War to the present, with references geared to English-language readers. . . . Clearly written [and] accessible, especially for students working with English-language sources. . . . Recommended.”

—CHOICE

“This is an extraordinary study and could be used by any level of scholar and in any number of classrooms. . . . It could easily be used in upper-level or graduate classes on the British Empire, comparative colonialism, urban studies (whether Asian or world) and Chinese history.”

—World History Connected

“John Carroll has done an excellent job of producing an engaging and up-to-date overview of the territory from the beginning of colonial rule through to the present. It will be of particular value to those who teach on Hong Kong, as they now have a book that students will find accessible and interesting, but it will also serve as a good entry point for those who want to learn more about the development of this distinctive region.”

—New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies

Author:  John M. Carroll

Year: 2007

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Summary:

When the British occupied the tiny island of Hong Kong during the First Opium War, the Chinese empire was well into its decline, while Great Britain was already in the second decade of its legendary "Imperial Century." From this collision of empires arose a city that continues to intrigue observers. Melding Chinese and Western influences, Hong Kong has long defied easy categorization. John M. Carroll's engrossing and accessible narrative explores the remarkable history of Hong Kong from the early 1800s through the post-1997 handover, when this former colony became a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The book explores Hong Kong as a place with a unique identity, yet also a crossroads where Chinese history, British colonial history, and world history intersect. Carroll concludes by exploring the legacies of colonial rule, the consequences of Hong Kong's reintegration with China, and significant developments and challenges since 1997.

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"Laced with intrigue."

—Elle

"Evocative, poignant, and skillfully crafted, The Piano Teacher is more than an epic tale of war and a tangled, tortured love story. It is the kind of novel one consumes in great, greedy gulps, pausing (grudgingly) only when absolutely necessary. . . . If we measure the skill of a fiction writer by her ability to create characters and atmosphere so effortlessly real, so alive on the page, that the reader feels a sense of participatory anxiety--as if the act of reading gives one the power to somehow influence the outcome of purely imaginary events--then Lee should be counted among the very best in recent memory."

—The New York Times Book Review, "Editor's Choice"

"A shattering, immensely satisfying debut."

—Chicago Tribune

"War, love, betrayal--an exquisite fugue of a first novel . . . intensely readable."

—People (4 stars)

"Lee unfolds the story with the brisk grace and discretion of the society she describes."

—O, The Oprah Magazine

"Sensual and gripping."

—The New Yorker

"The novel is sustained by elegant prose and a terrific sense of place. As Graham Greene evoked Vietnam in The Quiet American, Lee, born and raised in Hong Kong long after the war, captures the city as it was during World War II, its glittering veneer barely masking the panic and corruption beneath."

—The Boston Globe

Author:  Janice Y. K. Lee

Year: 2009

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Summary:

In 1942, Will Truesdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Kong, falls headlong into a passionate relationship with Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian socialite. But their love affair is soon threatened by the invasion of the Japanese as World War II overwhelms their part of the world. Will is sent to an internment camp, where he and other foreigners struggle daily for survival. Meanwhile, Trudy remains outside, forced to form dangerous alliances with the Japanese—in particular, the malevolent head of the gendarmerie, whose desperate attempts to locate a priceless collection of Chinese art lead to a chain of terrible betrayals.

Ten years later, Claire Pendleton comes to Hong Kong and is hired by the wealthy Chen family as their daughter’s piano teacher. A provincial English newlywed, Claire is seduced by the heady social life of the expatriate community. At one of its elegant cocktail parties, she meets Will, to whom she is instantly attracted—but as their affair intensifies, Claire discovers that Will’s enigmatic persona hides a devastating past. As she begins to understand the true nature of the world she has entered, and long-buried secrets start to emerge, Claire learns that sometimes the price of survival is love.

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"Like asking an unnervingly handsome, impossibly intelligent local where they hang out."

—Mr Hyde (Shortlist)

"The small but perfectly formed guides have become iconic."

—1843 (The Economist lifestyle magazine)

Author:  Wallpaper* City Guides are compiled by the magazine’s travel experts, both by in-house editors, and correspondents who actually live in the highlighted cities, providing up-to-the-minute information.

Year: 2018

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Summary:

Your passport to global style, Wallpaper* City Guides present an insider's checklist of all you need to know about the world's most intoxicating cities. Under slick Pantone covers, these pocket-sized travel bibles unearth the hippest nightlife, the buzziest hotels, the coolest retail, the most influential art galleries and cultural spaces, the best in local design and the contemporary architecture that defines a city.

Perfectly sized for travel, discreet and easy to use, so you don't feel like a tourist, these books are ideal for either extended breaks or business trips. They are rigorously researched, and curated by an extensive network of experts, from in-house editors to in-the-know local correspondents. The series now covers more than 100 dynamic destinations.

Focus on architecture, design, luxury and style
55 stunning original colour photographs
A unique barometer of the contemporary scene
Eight main chapters with 11,000 words of insight
A map colour-coded by the hippest neighbourhoods

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''Grand entertainment…packed with action…gaudy and flamboyant with blood and sin, treachery and conspiracy, sex and murder…fresh and vigorous.”

—New York Times

''A fabulous epic of the Far East that will disturb and excite you…a thrilling and enticing tale of adventure and human relationships…dramatic episodes, exotic vignettes, and heady descriptive passages.”

—Baltimore Sun

Author:  James Clavell

Year: 1966

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Summary:

Dirk Struan rose from humble beginnings to build Struan & Company, also known as the Noble House, into the world's largest Far East trading company. He is now the Tai-Pan--Supreme Leader--of all Tai-Pans in China. Along the way, however, he made a powerful enemy. Tyler Brock, Struan's rival from their early opium-smuggling days, also heads a large trading fleet, second in size only to Struan's. But it is not only silks and spices that drive their mutual companies' wealth--the opium trade is still booming. War between England and China might be over, but the hostilities remain. Struan and Brock come to control much of England's trade with China yet neither can control their desires or their hatred of each other. Over the years, their two families will cross paths, threatening to rip both apart, with reverberations that will echo across the generations.

Struan must fight to save his company and his family, or risk seeing everything he has created destroyed at the hands of his sworn enemy. Ambition, political intrigue, and love and lust weave their way throughout the novel the New York Times called, "grand entertainment...packed with action...with blood and sin, treachery and conspiracy, sex and murder." East and West come together in an opulent and intricately plotted narrative. A tour-de-force of historical fiction, rich in detail yet eminently readable, Tai-Pan will stay with you long after the final page.

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“Clavell’s biggest triumph yet . . . storytelling done with dash and panache . . . a rousing read.”

—Washington Post

“Fiction for addicts . . . extravagantly romantic . . . a book that you can get lost in for weeks . . . staggering complexity . . . not only is it as long as life, it’s also as rich with possibilities.”

—New York Times

“Tremendous entertainment . . . a seamless marvel of pure storytelling.”

—Cleveland Plain Dealer

“A mesmerizer . . . spellbinding.”

—Los Angeles Times

“Breathtaking . . . only terms like colossal, gigantic, titanic, incredible, unbelievable, gargantuan, are properly descriptive . . . . Clavell has made himself the king of super-adventure thrillers.”

—Chicago Tribune Book World

Author:  James Clavell

Year: 1981

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Summary:

The setting is Hong Kong, 1963. The action spans scarcely more than a week, but these are days of high adventure: from kidnapping and murder to financial double-dealing and natural catastrophes—fire, flood, landslide. Yet they are days filled as well with all the mystery and romance of Hong Kong—the heart of Asia— rich in every trade. . . money, flesh, opium, power.

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Author:  Jason Y. Ng

Year: 2004

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Summary:

As an inquisitive seven-year-old, Martin Booth found himself with the whole of Hong Kong at his feet when his father was posted there in the early 1950s. Unrestricted by parental control, he had free access to hidden corners of the colony normally closed to a Gweilo, a “pale fellow” like him. Befriending rickshaw coolies and local stallholders, he learned Cantonese, sampled delicacies such as boiled water beetles and one-hundred-year-old eggs, and participated in colourful festivals. He even entered the forbidden Kowloon Walled City, wandered into the secret lair of the Triads and visited an opium den. Along the way he encountered a colourful array of people, from the plink plonk man with his dancing monkey to Nagasaki Jim, a drunken child molester, and the Queen of Kowloon, the crazed tramp who may have been a member of the Romanov family.

Shadowed by the unhappiness of his warring parents, a broad-minded mother who, like her son, was keen to embrace all things Chinese, and a bigoted father who was enraged by his family’s interest in “going native,” Martin Booth’s compelling memoir is a journey into Chinese culture and an extinct colonial way of life that glows with infectious curiosity and humour.

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