100 Best Hong Kong Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

Gweilo: Memories Of A Hong Kong Childhood

Martin Booth

5.0

Martin Booth died in February 2004, shortly after finishing the book that would be his epitaph - this wonderfully remembered, beautifully told memoir of a childhood lived to the full in a far-flung outpost of the British Empire...

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 par

Cover unavailable

2

Tai-Pan (Asian Saga, #2)

James Clavell

4.9

It is the early 19th century, when European traders and adventurers first began to penetrate the forbidding Chinese mainland. And it is in this exciting time and exotic place that a giant of an Englishman, Dirk Straun, sets out to turn the desolate island of Hong Kong into an impregnable fortress of British power, and to make himself supreme ruler…Tai-Pan!

Recommended by Alan Pierce and Maya Zlatanova.

Alan Pierce

This novel is the second book in a great saga detailing the intense competition between two shipping magnates and their battle over the gateway to China: the very lucrative island of Hong Kong. Set in the tumultuous period during which the British had seized Hong Kong before it was known as England’s crown jewel, it is an exciting and fun ride detailing Hong Kong as a melting pot of political and economic interests with no shortage of intrigue. It’s a must read for sure. [source]

Maya Zlatanova

One of the books that had the biggest impact on Maya. [source]

3

Noble House (Asian Saga, #5)

James Clavell

4.8

This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN13: 9780440164845.

The tai-pan, Ian Dunross, struggles to rescue Struan's from the precarious financial position left by his predecessor. To do this, he seeks partnership with an American millionaire, while trying to ward off his arch-rival Quillan Gornt, who seeks to destroy Struan's once and for all. Meanwhile, Chinese communists, Taiwanese nationalists,

4

Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1)

Kevin Kwan

4.7

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be

Recommended by Cat Williams-Treloar and Tracy Chou.

Cat Williams-Treloar

A couple of years after moving to Singapore I read Kevin Kwan's first book "Crazy Rich Asians". I've never laughed so much in my life and have been an advocate of the entire series. To this day, whenever someone has a copy in hand at the airport or in our regular store, I tell them how amazing the books area. Kevin is a genius, and his books are full of beautiful cultural insights from across the region. I can't wait for the movie! [source]

Tracy Chou

@nelson @CrazyRichMovie yay i’m so glad you got to enjoy it!! lots of singaporeans do speak hokkien and eleanor does in the movie, i can’t remember if she does in the book [source]

5

The Piano Teacher

Janice Y. K. Lee

4.7

Exotic Hong Kong takes center stage in this sumptuous novel, set in the 1940s and '50s. It's a city teeming with people, sights, sounds, and smells, and it's home to a group of foreign nationals who enjoy the good life among the local moneyed set, in a tight-knit social enclave distanced from the culture at large. Comfortable, clever, and even a bit dazzling, they revel in their fancy dinners and

Cover unavailable

6

The Painted Veil

W. Somerset Maugham

4.7

Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful, but love-starved Kitty Fane.

When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening consci

7

Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch, #14; Harry Bosch Universe, #20)

Michael Connelly

4.7

Harry Bosch is assigned a homicide call in South L.A. that takes him to Fortune Liquors, where the Chinese owner has been shot to death behind the counter in an apparent robbery.

Joined by members of the department's Asian Crime Unit, Bosch relentlessly investigates the killing and soon identifies a suspect, a Los Angeles member of a Hong Kong triad. But before Harry can close in, he gets the word

8

The Honourable Schoolboy

John le Carre

4.7

John le Carré's classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge and have earned him -- and his hero, British Secret Service agent George Smiley -- unprecedented worldwide acclaim.

In this classic masterwork, le Carré expands upon his extraordinary vision of a secret world as George Smiley goes on the attack.

I

Recommended by Robert Cottrell.

Robert Cottrell

A terrific story, it goes without saying. For one thing, it comes from the golden age when le Carré still cared about plot. But it’s his gift for dialogue that electrifies all his books. [source]

9

City on Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong

Antony Dapiran

4.6

A long-term resident and expert observer of dissent in Hong Kong takes readers to the front lines of Hong Kong’s revolution.

Through the long, hot summer of 2019, Hong Kong burned. Anti-government protests, sparked by a government proposal to introduce a controversial extradition law, grew into a pro-democracy movement that engulfed the city for months. Protesters fought street battles with police,

10

A Modern History of Hong Kong

Steve Tsang

4.6

From a little-known fishing community at the periphery of China, Hong Kong developed into one of the world's most spectacular and cosmopolitan metropoles after a century and a half of British imperial rule. This history of Hong Kong -- from its occupation by the British in 1841 to its return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 -- includes the foundation of modern Hong Kong; its developments as an imper

11

China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians, #2)

Kevin Kwan

4.6

Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians, is back with a wickedly funny new novel of social climbing, secret e-mails, art-world scandal, lovesick billionaires, and the outrageous story of what happens when Rachel Chu, engaged to marry Asia's most eligible bachelor, discovers her birthfather.

On the eve of her wedding to Nicholas Young, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in Asia, Rachel

12

A History of Hong Kong

Frank Welsh

4.5

In 1842 a barren island was reluctantly ceded by China to an unenthusiastic Britain. Hong Kong, grumbled Palmerston, will never be a mart of trade. But from the outset the new colony prospered, its early growth owing much to the energy and resourcefulness of opium traders, who soon diversified in more respectable directions. In 1859 the Kowloon Peninsula was sold to Britain, and in 1898 a further

13

Girl in Translation

Jean Kwok

4.5

When young Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to America, they speak no English and own nothing but debt. They arrive in New York hopeful for a better life, but find instead a squalid Brooklyn apartment and backbreaking labor in a Chinatown sweatshop. Unable to accept this as her future, Kim decides to use her "talent for school" to earn a place for herself and her mother in the

14

The Expatriates

Janice Y. K. Lee

4.5

Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, something she believes could save her foundering marriage. Meanwhile, Margaret, once a happily married mother of three, questions her maternal identity in the wake of a shattering loss. As each woman strug

15

Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians, #3)

Kevin Kwan

4.5

Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians and China Rich Girlfriend, is back with an uproarious new novel featuring a family driven by fortune, an ex-wife driven psychotic with jealousy, a battle royal fought through couture-gown sabotage, and the heir to one of Asia's greatest fortunes locked out of his inheritance.

When Nicholas Young hears that his grandmother, Su Yi, is on her deathbe

16

Umbrellas in Bloom: Hong Kong's Occupy Movement Uncovered

Jason Y Ng

4.5

The Umbrella Movement put Hong Kong on the world map and elevated this docile, money-minded Asian island to a model for pro-democracy campaigns across the globe. Umbrellas in Bloom is the first book available in English to chronicle this history-making event, written by a bestselling author and columnist based on his firsthand experience at the main protest sites.

Jason Y. Ng takes a no-holds-barr

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17

Old Filth (Old Filth, #1)

Jane Gardam

4.5

Sir Edward Feathers has had a brilliant career, from his early days as a lawyer in Southeast Asia, where he earned the nickname Old Filth (FILTH being an acronym for Failed In London Try Hong Kong) to his final working days as a respected judge at the English bar. Yet through it all he has carried with him the wounds of a difficult and emotionally hollow childhood. Now an eighty-year-old widower l

18

Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance

Ackbar Abbas

4.4

A consideration of what the culture of Hong Kong tells us about the state of the world at the fin-de-siecle."In a space of disappearance, in the unprecedented historical situation that Hong Kong finds itself in of being caught between two colonialities (Britain's and China's), there is a desperate attempt to clutch at images of identity, however alien or cliched these images are. There is a need t

Cover unavailable

19

Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution

Helen Zia

4.4

The dramatic real life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China's 1949 Communist revolution--a precursor to the struggles faced by emigrants today.

Shanghai has historically been China's jewel, its richest, most modern and westernized city. The bustling metropolis was home to sophisticated intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and a thriving middle class w

20

Fragrant Harbor

John Lanchester

4.4

It is 1935, and Tom Stewart, a young Englishman with a longing for adventure, buys himself a cheap ticket aboard the SS Darjeeling-en route to the complex and corrupt world of Hong Kong. A shipboard wager leads to an unlikely friendship that spans seven decades as Hong Kong endures the savagery of the Japanese occupation, emerging as a crossroads of international finance and the nexus of a world o

21

The Man in the Wooden Hat (Old Filth, #2)

Jane Gardam

4.4

The New York Times called Sir Edward Feathers one of the most memorable characters in modern literature. A lyrical novel that recalls his fully lived life, Old Filth has been acclaimed as Jane Gardam's masterpiece, a book where life and art merge. And now that beautiful, haunting novel has been joined by a companion that also bursts with humor and wisdom: The Man in the Wooden Hat.

Old Filth was Ed

22

Chasing the Dragon: One Woman's Struggle Against the Darkness of Hong Kong's Drug Den

Jackie Pullinger, Andrew Quicke

4.4

The true story of how one woman's faith resulted in the conversion of hundreds of drug addicts, prostitues and hardened criminals in Hong Kong's infamous Walled City.

23

Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha (Mrs. Pollifax, #7)

Dorothy Gilman

4.4

Although recently married, Mrs. Pollifax is packed and ready to go to China, where a young agent, Sheng Ti, holds the answers to goings on at the sinister Feng Imports—a one-time agency front. Only Mrs. Pollifax has earned Sheng's trust, and only she can possibly stop what turns out to be a frightening and ominous plot involving drugs, smuggled diamonds, a famous cat burglar turned Interpol agent,

24

City of Protest: A Recent History of Dissent in Hong Kong

Antony Dapiran

4.4

Hong Kong is a city with a long history of civil disobedience. Antony Dapiran explores the historical and social stimuli and implications of public dissident movements from the turbulent 1960s until the most recent wave of protests, which became apparent in the 2014 Occupy Central movement. What emerges from these grassroots movements is a unique Hong Kong identity, one shaped neither by Britain n

25

The Borrowed

Chan Ho-kei, Jeremy Tiang

4.4

From award-winning Hong Kong writer Chan Ho-kei, The Borrowed tells the story of Kwan Chun-dok, a Hong Kong detective who rises from constable to senior inspector over the span of several decades, from the 1960s to the present day, and becomes a legend in the force, nicknamed “the Eye of Heaven” by his amazed colleagues. Divided into six sections told in reverse chronological order — each of which

26

Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter

Adeline Yen Mah

4.3

Born in 1937 in a port city a thousand miles north of Shanghai, Adeline Yen Mah was the youngest child of an affluent Chinese family who enjoyed rare privileges during a time of political and cultural upheaval. But wealth and position could not shield Adeline from a childhood of appalling emotional abuse at the hands of a cruel and manipulative Eurasian stepmother. Determined to survive through he

27

The Language of Threads (Women of the Silk #2)

Gail Tsukiyama

4.3

Readers of Women of the Silk never forgot the moving, powerful story of Pei, brought to work in the silk house as a girl, grown into a quiet but determined young woman whose life is subject to cruel twists of fate, including the loss of her closest friend, Lin. Now we finally learn what happened to Pei, as she leaves the silk house for Hong Kong in the 1930s, arriving with a young orphan, Ji Shen,

28

The Leopard (Harry Hole, #8)

Jo Nesbo and Don Bartlet

4.3

In the depths of winter, a killer stalks the city streets. His victims are two young women, both found with twenty-four inexplicable puncture wounds, both drowned in their own blood. The crime scenes offer no clues, the media is reaching fever pitch, and the police are running out of options. There is only one man who can help them, and he doesn't want to be found. Deeply traumatised by The Snowma

29

A Many-Splendoured Thing

Suyin Han

4.3

A Many-Splendoured Thing tells the story of a married British foreign correspondent called Mark Elliot (Ian Morrison in real life and based in Singapore where he lived with his wife and children) who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from Mainland China who trained at the Royal Free Hospital Medical College in London University, only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Ho

30

Street Life Hong Kong: Outdoor Workers in Their Own Words

Nicole Chabot

4.3

Hong Kong is famous for its vibrant, busy street scene. This book introduces us to two dozen real people who provide its outdoor color. Here you'll meet a flower seller, a street musician, and a tram driver; a bouncer, a shoe shiner, and a gas canister delivery man; a tailor's tout and a lifeguard; one man who makes a living climbing bamboo scaffolding, and a woman who ferries visitors around the

31

Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong

Gordon Mathews

4.3

There is nowhere else in the world quite like Chungking Mansions, a dilapidated seventeen-story commercial and residential structure in the heart of Hong Kong’s tourist district. A remarkably motley group of people call the building home; Pakistani phone stall operators, Chinese guesthouse workers, Nepalese heroin addicts, Indonesian sex workers, and traders and asylum seekers from all over Asia a

32

Cities Without Ground: A Hong Kong Guidebook

Adam Frampton, Jonathan D. Solomon, Clara Wong

4.3

Hong Kong is a city without ground. This is true both physically (built on steep slopes, the city has no ground plane) and culturally (there is no concept of ground). Density obliterates figure-ground in the city, and in turn re-defines public-private spatial relationships. Perception of distance and time is distorted through compact networks of pedestrian infrastructure, public transport and natu

33

Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must Act, Now

Joshua Wong

4.3

An urgent manifesto for global democracy from Joshua Wong, the 22-year-old phenomenon leading Hong Kong’s protests - Nobel Peace Prize nominee and TIME , Forbes and Fortune world leader.

At what point do you stand up to power?

Aged 14, Joshua Wong made history. While the adults stayed silent, and China threatened to change their education policy, Joshua staged the first ever student protest i

34

A Small Band of Men: 20 years in the Hong Kong marine police

Les Bird

4.3

Les Bird joined the Hong Kong Marine Police in 1976 during a period of rapid change in one of the British Empire’s few remaining colonies, and witnessed the last years of the hard-working, hard-drinking colonial policemen handing out rough justice in the World of Suzie Wong. He led his men in combat with the growing organized crime in the years leading up to the handover of the colony back to Chin

Cover unavailable

35

Love in a Fallen City

Eileen Chang, Karen S. Kingsbury

4.3

Eileen Chang is one of the great writers of twentieth-century China, where she enjoys a passionate following both on the mainland and in Taiwan. At the heart of Chang's achievement is her short fiction—tales of love, longing, and the shifting and endlessly treacherous shoals of family life. Written when Chang was still in her twenties, these extraordinary stories combine an unsettled, probing, utt

36

The World of Suzie Wong

Richard Mason

4.3

The timeless story of the love affair between a British artist and a Chinese prostitute.

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

37

Night of Many Dreams

Gail Tsukiyama

4.3

Night of Many Dreams is the bestselling novel from Gail Tsukiyama that tells the tale of two sisters separated by ambition, bound by tradition

As World War II threatens their comfortable life in Hong Kong, young Joan and Emma Lew escape with their family to spend the war years in Macao. When they return home, Emma develops a deep interest in travel and sets her sights on an artistic life in San Fra

38

Diamond Hill: Memories of growing up in a Hong Kong squatter village

Feng Chi-shun

4.3

"Diamond Hill was one of the poorest and most backward of villages in Hong Kong at a time when Hong Kong itself was poor and backward. We moved there in 1956 when I was almost 10. I left in 1966 when I was 19. Those were the formative years of my life. It’s a time that I remember well and cherish."

This memoir of a native son of a Kowloon-side squatter village – the first book ever on Diamond Hill,

39

A Concise History of Hong Kong (Critical Issues in History) (Critical Issues in World and International History)

John M. Carroll

4.3

40

Ghostwritten

David Mitchell

4.3

A gallery attendant at the Hermitage. A young jazz buff in Tokyo. A crooked British lawyer in Hong Kong. A disc jockey in Manhattan. A physicist in Ireland. An elderly woman running a tea shack in rural China. A cult-controlled terrorist in Okinawa. A musician in London. A transmigrating spirit in Mongolia. What is the common thread of coincidence or destiny that connects the lives of these nine s

41

Lost Hong Kong: A History in Pictures

Peter Waller

4.3

Hong Kong is one of the world's most exciting cities and its story is one of constant change. From a sleepy fishing community, Hong Kong has grown into one of the world's most significant financial and trading centres. Hong Kong Island itself has witnessed massive rebuilding over the years, with much of the colonial-era architecture swept away and replaced by skyscrapers. Moreover the first high-r

42

Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink

Wasserstrom Jeffrey

4.3

The rise of Hong Kong is the story of a miraculous post-War boom, when Chinese refugees flocked to a small British colony, and, in less than fifty years, transformed it into one of the great financial centers of the world. The unraveling of Hong Kong, on the other hand, shatters the grand illusion of China ever having the intention of allowing democratic norms to take root inside its borders. Hong

43

HONG KONG State of Mind: 37 Views of a City That Doesn't Blink

Jason Y. Ng

4.3

Hong Kong is a mixed bag of a city. It is where Mercedes outnumber taxi cabs, party-goers count down to Christmas every December 24, and larger-than-life billboards of fortune tellers and cram school tutors compete with breathtaking skylines.

HONG KONG State of Mind is a collection of essays by a popular blogger who zeroes in on the city’s idiosyncrasies with deadpan precision. At once an outsider

44

Hong Kong

Jan Morris

4.3

In its last days under British rule, the Crown Colony of Hong Kong is the world's most exciting city, at once fascinating and exasperating, a tangle of contradictions. It is a dazzling amalgam of conspicuous consumption and primitive poverty, the most architecturally incongruous yet undeniably beautiful urban panorama of all. World-renowned travel writer Jan Morris offers the most insightful and c

45

No City for Slow Men: Hong Kong's quirks and quandaries laid bare

Jason Y. Ng

4.2

Author and popular blogger Jason Y. Ng has a knack for making the familiar both fascinating and achingly funny. Three years after his bestselling début HONG KONG State of Mind, the razor-sharp observer returns with a sequel that is bigger and every bit as poignant.

No City for Slow Men is a collection of 36 essays that examine some of the pressing social, cultural and existential issues facing Hong

46

Generation HK: Seeking Identity in China’s Shadow

Ben Bland

4.2

Teenage activists turned politicians, multi-millionaire super tutors, and artists fighting censorship—these are the stories of Generation HK. From radically different backgrounds yet with a common legacy, having grown up in post-handover Hong Kong, these young people have little attachment to the era of British colonial rule or today’s China. Instead, they see themselves as Hong Kongers, an identi

47

Severance

Ling Ma

4.2

Maybe it's the end of the world, but not for Candace Chen, a millennial, first-generation American and office drone meandering her way into adulthood in Ling Ma's offbeat, wryly funny, apocalyptic satire, Severance.

Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine. With the recent passing of her Chinese immigrant parents, she's had her fill of unc

Recommended by Jenny Davidson.

Jenny Davidson

It’s a brilliant book, the one on this list that I most strongly recommend to people trying to take their mind off the news. [source]

48

Around the World in Eighty Days (Extraordinary Voyages, #11)

Jules Verne, Michael Glencross, Brian Aldiss

4.2

One night in the reform club, Phileas Fogg bets his companions that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, he immediately sets off for Dover with his astonished valet Passepartout. Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand—whether train or elephant—overcoming set-backs an

Recommended by Cristina Riesen.

Cristina Riesen

Chronologically, my first favourite book probably was Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. [source]

49

The Umbrella Movement: Civil Resistance and Contentious Space in Hong Kong

Ngok Ma, Edmund W. Cheng

4.2

50

Somewhere Only We Know

Maurene Goo

4.2

10 00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she's just performed her hit song "Heartbeat" in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She's about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She's in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger.

11 00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assign

51

Kowloon: Unknown Territory

Nicole Chabot, Ira Chaplain

4.2

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 t

52

Witness: documentary photography of Hong Kong’s umbrella movement

Eric Boman, Harold Koda, et al.

4.2

A book documenting Hong Kong's umbrella movement.

53

City of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City

Ian Lambot, Greg Girard

4.2

Girard and Lambot spent four years exploring the notorious Walled City of Kowloon (Hong Kong), before its final clearance in 1992. With over 320 photographs, 32 extended interviews, and essays on the City's history and character, this reprint is not only an informative glimpse of a now vanished landmark but a sensitive and penetrating portrait of a unique community.

54

Remembering Shanghai: A Memoir of Socialites, Scholars and Scoundrels

Claire Chao and Isabel Sun Chao

4.2

WINNER - 2019 Rubery Book Award BOOK OF THE YEAR and over 20 other literary awards ... An Engaging and Extraordinary Multigenerational Saga

A high position bestowed by China's empress dowager grants power and wealth to the Sun family. For Isabel, growing up in glamorous 1930s and '40s Shanghai, it is a life of utmost privilege. But while her scholar father and fashionable mother shelter her from ci

55

The Water Rat of Wanchai (Ava Lee, #1)

Ian Hamilton

4.2

Ava Lee is a young Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant who works for an elderly Hong Kong–based “Uncle,” who may or may not have ties to the Triads. At 115 lbs., she hardly seems a threat. But her razorsharp intellect and resourcefulness allows her to succeed where traditional methods have failed.

In The Water Rat of Wanchai, Ava travels across continents to track $5 million owed by a seafood comp

56

Myself a Mandarin: Memoirs of a Special Magistrate

Austin Coates

4.2

Unexpectedly appointed magistrate in a country district in Hongkong, the author found himself plunged into a Chinese world about which he knew next to nothing an had to learn as fast as possible.

This he does, taking the reader with him through the errors, puzzles, and bafflements of sixteen cases which came into his court.

Whether he is dealing with cows, watercress beds, squatters, dragons, quarre

57

Dragon Ride: True Stories of Adventure, Miracles, and Evangelism from China

Grace Jacob

4.2

58

Marvels of a Floating City

Xi Xi, Eva Hung

4.2

A collection of Xi Xi's short fiction on life in the turbulent and fascinating Hong Kong of the 1980s.

59

More Sex, Better Zen, Faster Bullets: The Encyclopedia of Hong Kong Film

Stefan Hammond, Mike Wilkins, et al.

4.2

Hong Kong films tore up kung fu stereotypes in the 80s/90s. Here's the definitive tome on stunt hazards, pistol ballets, snarky gangsters and toothsome molls, hopping vampires, and Hong Kong noir. Start with John, Jacky and Michelle -- evolve to Johnnie To, Ringo Lam, the fantastic world of Tsui Hark, and the auteurdrome of Wong Kar-wai. How and why did films from Hong Kong--a British Crown Colony

60

Lonely Planet Hong Kong

Lonely Planet, Lorna Parkes, et al.

4.2

Lonely Planet: The world's number one travel guide publisher*

Lonely Planet's Hong Kong is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Soak up views of Hong Kong's iconic skyline from the Star Ferry or Victoria Peak, satisfy your food cravings in Wan Chai, and shop for anything and everything at Temple Street Night Market - a

61

Eating Smoke: One Man's Descent Into Crystal Meth Psychosis in Hong Kong's Triad Heartland

Chris Thrall

4.2

Chris Thrall left the Royal Marines to find fortune in Hong Kong, but following a bizarre series of jobs ended up homeless and in psychosis from crystal meth.

He began working for the 14K, a notorious crime syndicate, as a nightclub doorman in the Wan Chai red-light district, where he uncovered a vast global conspiracy and the 'Foreign Triad' - a secretive expat clique in cahoots with the Chinese g

62

Borrowed Spaces: Life Between the Cracks of Modern Hong Kong: Penguin Specials

Christopher DeWol

4.2

63

城邦舊事：十二本書看香港本土史

徐承

4.1

隨著本土意識及香港人身份認同問題一再成為全城焦點，
要在迷失及爭論中尋回身份，何不從源頭出發？
從歷史中找回香港本土意識的冒起及演變的線索，再決定今天該如何自處和定位！

不論是認同殖民地制度的西方學者，還是持國族史觀的中國學者，皆未有著墨於香港人的本土生活及本土認同。到了八十年代，香港才開始有一群受過現代學術訓練的學者以本土的角度進行香港研究。可惜他們的著作都以充滿學術辭彙的英文寫成，並多早已絕版。本書旨在填補這個空間，向以中文為母語的普羅讀者引介這些著作，藉此以本土角度描述香港過去幾百年的歷史。

作者無意僅僅將十二本著作的內容複述一次，而是運用這些著作的資料，按本土史觀描述筆者自己的香港故事。

Cover unavailable

64

The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China

Jonathan Kaufman

4.1

An epic, multigenerational story of two rival dynasties who flourished in Shanghai and Hong Kong as twentieth-century China surged into the modern era, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

Shanghai, 1936. The Cathay Hotel, located on the city's famous waterfront, is one of the most glamorous in the world. Built by Victor Sassoon--billionaire playboy and scion of the Sassoon dynasty--the hotel

65

Islands and Continents: Short Stories by Leung Ping-kwan

John Minford, Brian Holton, et al

4.1

66

The Dyer's Daughter: Selected Stories

Xiao, Hong

4.1

This collection includes some of Xiao Hong's most famous short stories, such as "On the Oxcart," "Spring in a Small Town," "The Family Outsider," "Flight from Danger," "Vague Expectations," "The Bridge," and "Hands."

67

Kowloon Tong

Paul Theroux

4.1

Ninety-nine years of colonial rule are ending as the British prepare to hand over Hong Kong to China. For Betty Mullard and her son, Bunt, it doesn't concern them - until the mysterious Mr. Hung from the mainland offers them a large sum for their family business. They refuse, yet fail to realize Mr. Hung is unlike the Chinese they've known: he will accept no refusals. When a young female employee

68

Song of the Azalea: A Former Chinese Communist in British Hong Kong

Kenneth Ore

4.1

In 1917, at the age of eight, Kenneth Ore's mother was sold to a wealthy Chinese businessman by her opium-addicted father. Rather than becoming a concubine, she was employed as a maid and educated as a doctor. She married the man's son and bore three children. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in 1941, her skill and bravery ensured the family's survival. Having witnessed terrible violence and su

69

Flèche

Mary Jean Chan

4.1

Flèche (the French word for 'arrow') is an offensive technique commonly used in fencing, a sport of Mary Jean Chan's young adult years, when she competed locally and internationally for her home city, Hong Kong. This cross-linguistic pun presents the queer, non-white body as both vulnerable ('flesh') and weaponised ('flèche'), and evokes the difficulties of reconciling one's need for safety alongs

Recommended by Anthony Anaxagorou.

Anthony Anaxagorou

Current reading pile. I finished the biography of Simón Bolivar yesterday which was somewhat extraordinary. @maryjean_chan debut Flèche is also a total delight. Getting into the first chapter of @PriyamvadaGopal book which is a fascinating hike. Really enjoyed Salt Slow too. https://t.co/xPcbAO92C6 [source]

70

Charlie Chaplin: A Political Biography from Victorian Britain to Modern America (Routledge Historical Biographies)

Richard Carr

4.1

Richard Carr’s Charlie Chaplin places politics at the centre of the filmmaker’s life as it looks beyond Chaplin’s role as a comedic figure to his constant political engagement both on and off the screen.

Drawing from a wealth of archival sources from across the globe, Carr provides an in-depth examination of Chaplin’s life as he made his way from Lambeth to Los Angeles. From his experiences in the

71

Hong Kong for Kids: A Parent's Guide

Cindy Miller Stephens

4.1

Hong Kong's best selling parents' guide is back, completely revised and more comprehensive than ever before, with 70+ outing ideas! Filled with exciting child-friendly activities to do, see and experience, Hong Kong for Kids gives parents and educators all the important information they need to have a successful and stress-free outing with kids. Whether you're a tourist visiting the city for the f

72

Hong Kong Beat: True Stories from One of the Last British Police Officers in Colonial Hong Kong

Simon Roberts

4.1

Sex, drugs, gambling, ghosts, drinking, rugby, overseas adventures - and even some police work. Hong Kong on the edge of empire was a place teeming with triads, smugglers, Chinese immigrants and Vietnamese refugees. Simon's memoir of his time in the Hong Kong police force - from the 1970s until after the 1997 handover - is a fast-paced tale of his exploits. From the murky back streets of Kowloon t

73

Sex and Zen A Bullet in the Head: The Essential Guide to Hong Kong's Mind-bending Films

Stefan Hammond, Mike Wilkins, Jackie Chan

4.1

Far from the orbit of Planet Hollywood, the new cinema of Hong Kong beckons.
Gone are the flying pigtails and contrived fist-thuds of your father's favorite chopsockies. These are punch-straight entertainers, movies juddering with the excitement that put the "motion" in motion pictures. Dodge a thousand bullets as you contemplate the heroic gangster-knights of Master Director John Woo. Watch inte

74

Oral Histories of Older Gay Men in Hong Kong: Unspoken but Unforgotten

Travis Shiu Ki Kong

4.1

“This is very personal and private, but I’ve told you everything.” Old Chan thus gives voice to the attitude expressed in all thirteen stories told in this intimate oral history of life at the margins of Hong Kong society, stories punctuated by laughter, joy, happiness, and pride, as well as tears, anger, remorse, shame, and guilt. Illustrated with photos, letters, and other images, Oral Histories

75

The Bourne Supremacy (Jason Bourne, #2)

Robert Ludlum

4.1

A killer with no face, no identity and a name the world wanted to forget:

Jason Bourne

Reenter the shadowy world of Jason Bourne, an expert assassin still plagued by the splintered nightmares of his former life. This time the stakes are higher than ever. For someone else has taken on the Bourne identity—a ruthless killer who must be stopped or the world will pay a devastating price. To succeed, the

76

Kong Boys: Seven Friends from Hong Kong Take on Eleven European Cities for Their Thirtieth Birthdays

Gerald Yeung

4.1

77

A Death in Hong Kong: The MacLennan Case of 1980 and the Suppression of a Scandal

Nigel Collett

4.1

In January 1980 a young police officer named John MacLennan committed suicide in his Ho Man Tin flat. His death came mere hours before he was to be arrested for committing homosexual acts still, at that point, illegal in Hong Kong. But this was more than the desperate act of a young man, ashamed and afraid; both his death and the subsequent investigation were a smokescreen for a scandal that went

78

Hong Kong Eye: Contemporary Hong Kong Art

Chang Tsong-zung and Serenella Ciclitira

4.1

79

News under Fire: China’s Propaganda against Japan in the English-Language Press, 1928–1941

Shuge Wei

4.1

News under Fire China’s Propaganda against Japan in the English-Language Press, 1928–1941 is the first comprehensive study of China’s efforts to establish an effective international propaganda system during the Sino-Japanese crisis. It explores how the weak Nationalist government managed to use its limited resources to compete with Japan in the international press. By retrieving the long neglected

80

Old Hong Kong Photos and The Tales They Tell Volume 2

David Bellis

4.1

David puts more of his favourite old Hong Kong photos under the magnifying glass, revealing the photos’ secrets, and uncovering their hidden stories. Flying Italian miners, ghostly feet, and the most beautiful woman you’ll never see are just some of the surprises in store for you.

David runs the popular local history website Gwulo, home to over 20,000 photographs of old Hong Kong.

[Download a free P

81

Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. - 618 C.E

Lily Xiao Hong Lee

4.1

This new volume of the "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women" spans more than 2,000 years from antiquity to the early seventh century. It recovers the stories of more than 200 women, nearly all of them unknown in the West. The contributors have sifted carefully through the available sources, from the oracle bones to the earliest legends, from Liu Xiang's didactic Biographies to official and un

82

Surviving Nirvana: Death of the Buddha in Chinese Visual Culture

Sonya S. Lee

4.1

The Buddha’s nirvana marks the end of the life of a great spiritual figure and the beginning of Buddhism as a world religion. Surviving Nirvana is the first book in the English language to examine how this historic moment was represented and received in the visual culture of China. It is also a study about a pictorial image that has been in use for over 1,500 years. Mining a selection of well-docu

83

The Walled City

Ryan Graudin

4.1

730. That's how many days I've been trapped.
18. That's how many days I have left to find a way out.

DAI, trying to escape a haunting past, traffics drugs for the most ruthless kingpin in the Walled City. But in order to find the key to his freedom, he needs help from someone with the power to be invisible....

JIN hides under the radar, afraid the wild street gangs will discover her biggest secret: J

84

A Naturalist's Guide to the Birds of Hong Kong

Ray Tipper

4.1

This easy-to-use identification guide to the 282 bird species most commonly seen in Hong Kong is perfect for resident and visitor alike. The author’s high quality photographs are accompanied by detailed species descriptions which include nomenclature, size, distribution, habits and habitat. The user-friendly introduction covers geography and climate, vegetation, opportunities for naturalists and t

85

Citizenship, Identity and Social Movements in the New Hong Kong: Localism after the Umbrella Movement (Routledge Contemporary China Series)

Wai-man Lam and Luke Coope

4.1

86

The Couturier of Milan (Ava Lee, #9)

Ian Hamilton

4.1

Ava attends London Fashion Week for the launch of the PÖ fashion line, one of the major investments she and her partners in the Three Sisters — May Ling Wong and Amanda Yee — have made during the last year. With the exponential expansion of the luxury-brand market in China, Ava and her partners are determined to see a young Chinese designer break out in Europe and North America and they go full ou

Cover unavailable

87

River of Smoke

Amitav Ghosh

4.1

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book of Year
A NPR Best Book of the Year

In Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies, the Ibis began its treacherous journey across the Indian Ocean, bound for the cane fields of Mauritius with a cargo of indentured servants. Now, in River of Smoke, the former slave ship flounders in the Bay of Bengal, caught in the midst of a deadly

88

Hong Kong on the Brink: An American Diplomat Relives 1967's Darkest Days

Syd Goldsmith

4.0

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 repor

89

The Tao of Wing Chun: The History and Principles of China's Most Explosive Martial Art

John Little

4.0

Wing Chun is the most popular form of Chinese Kung Fu in the world today, with over four million practitioners. The art as it is presently understood has been handed down from teacher to student for more than three hundred years.
Until now, no one has ever stepped back and taken a critical look at why this art's techniques are presented and performed the way they are. This book, by Wing Chun master

90

The Archaeology of Hong Kong

William Meacham

4.0

Archaeological investigation began in Hong Kong in the 1920s and showed that the territory had a considerable prehistoric occupation, now known to extend back at least 7,000 years. Sites abound on outlying islands and along the coastline of the New Territories. More than two hundred sites of the Neolithic and Bronze Age have been recorded, and many have been systematically surveyed and excavated;

91

The Dragon Head of Hong Kong (Ava Lee, #0.5)

Ian Hamilto

4.0

The prequel to the wildly popular Ava Lee series.

Young Ava Lee is a forensic accounting who has just opened her own private firm. One of her clients, Hedrick Lo, has been swindled of more than a million dollars by a Chinese importer named Johnny Kung. Desperate, Lo persuades Ava to find and retrieve the monies owed. Ava goes to Hong Kong, where she plunges into the dangerous underground collection

92

The Last Six Million Seconds

John Burdett

4.0

93

The Leisurely Hiker's Guide To Hong Kong

Pete Spurrier

4.0

94

Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City

Kai-cheung Dung, Anders Hansson, Bonnie McDougall

4.0

Set in the long-lost City of Victoria (a fictional world similar to Hong Kong), "Atlas" is written from the unified perspective of future archaeologists struggling to rebuild a thrilling metropolis. Divided into four sections--"Theory," "The City," "Streets," and "Signs"--the novel reimagines Victoria through maps and other historical documents and artifacts, mixing real-world scenarios with purel

95

Fate (Uncle Chow Tung #1)

Ian Hamilton

4.0

Hong Kong, 1970. The Dragon Head (also known as the Mountain Master) of the Fanling Triad has died and there is a struggle to replace him among senior members of the gang. Normally, the Deputy Mountain Master is next in line, but this one is weak and ineffectual and has only survived because of the protection of the Dragon Head. Up to this point, the Fanling Triad has operated in relative isolatio

96

Hong Kong (Jake Grafton #8)

Stephen Coonts

4.0

97

Poverty in the Midst of Affluence: How Hong Kong Mismanaged Its Prosperity, Revised Edition

Leo F. Goodstadt

4.0

Hong Kong is among the richest cities in the world. Yet over the past 15 years, living conditions for the average family have deteriorated despite a robust economy, ample budget surpluses, and record labour productivity. Successive governments have been reluctant to invest in services for the elderly, the disabled, the long-term sick, and the poor, while education has become more elitist. The poli

98

Access

Xu XI

4.0

What do we think we desire? What do we truly desire? These are the two competing forces underlying Xu Xi’s latest fiction collection Access. These thirteen tales are at once acerbic and heartbreaking, directing our gaze at the incongruities of human relations and the persistence of wounds our hearts cannot heal. Those in the multi culti world of these fictions seek answers to questions they have y

99

This is Hong Kong

Miroslav Sasek

4.0

Like the other Sasek classics, this is a facsimile edition of the original book. The brilliant, vibrant illustrations have been meticulously preserved, remaining true to his vision more than 40 years later. Facts have been updated for the 21st-century, appearing on a "This is . . . Today" page at the back of the book. These charming illustrations, coupled with Sasek's witty, playful narrative, mak

100

The Imam of Tawi-Tawi (Ava Lee, #10)

Ian Hamilton

4.0

Ava has spent two nights luxuriating in a hotel in Yunnan Province with the actress Pang Fai, with whom she has begun a secret relationship. She receives an urgent phone call from Chang Wang, the right hand to the billionaire Tommy Ordonez and one of Uncle’s oldest friends. Years ago, Ava and Uncle helped Tommy recover $50 million in a land swindle.

Uncle Chang asks Ava to fly to Manila to meet wit