Old Hong Kong Photos And The Tales They Tell Volume 1

Not your typical photo book! David Bellis, founder of the popular local history website Gwulo, shows you a selection of his favourite photos of old Hong Kong. So far, so familiar. But then he takes you on a deep dive to discover and understand the photos’ most minute and revealing details. Plague-ridden rats (pg. 7), flapper hats (pg. 56), and chocolates (pg. 73) are just a few of the surprising clues you’ll investigate. Finally, David helps you piece the clues together to uncover the photos’ hidden stories.

Revisit old Hong Kong through this book’s collection of rare photos, many of them over 100 years old. Then join David to explore the photos’ details, and so discover their hidden stories: the women who toiled up the Peak’s slopes each day, carrying heavy loads of bricks and coal on their shoulders, buried treasure still waiting to be found, Kowloon’s vanishing hills, and many more. David runs the award-winning local history website Gwulo, home to over 25,000 photos of old Hong Kong.

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 (p. 107), disembodied feet (p. 13), and the most beautiful woman you’ll never see (p. 17) are just a few of the surprises in store for you.

Grab your flippers, mask, and magnifying glass – Volume 3 is full of old photos of people in, on, under, and around Hong Kong’s famous harbour. Many of the photos are published for the first time, and although they’re old, they are sharp and packed with detail. Join David in uncovering the photos’ secrets, deciphering their stories, and meeting the people of old Hong Kong. David runs the award-winning local history website Gwulo, home to over 20,000 photos of old Hong Kong.

The Peak is Hong Kongs top residential district, where property prices are as high as the altitude. How did it become an exclusive enclave in the bustling business centre of 19th-century Asia? The British wanted relief from summer heat and the Peak was the obvious place to escape it. When the Governor adopted Mountain Lodge as a summer getaway, development accelerated and the opening of the Peak Tram in 1888 made access easier. Gradually a community developed and a church, a club and a school were established. This book describes how the now-popular tourist area developed over time and adapted as needs changed.

“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 of Older Gay Men in Hong Kong: Unspoken but Unforgotten gives voice to the complexities of a “secretive” past with unique hardships as these men came to terms with their sexuality, adulthood, and a colonial society. The men talk with equal candour about how their sexuality remains a complication as they negotiate failing health, ageing, and their current role in society. While fascinating as life histories, these stories also add insight to the theoretical debates surrounding identity and masculinity, coming out, ageing and sexuality, and power and resistance. Confined within the heteronormative culture prescribed by government, family, and religion, these men have lived the whole of their lives struggling to find their social role, challenging the distinction between public and private, and longing for a stable homosexual relationship and a liberating homosexual space in the face of deteriorating health and a youth-obsessed gay community. ‘This book makes an original contribution. Very few scholars, anywhere, have recorded the lives of older gay men. The stories of the men in this collection are intrinsically interesting, often poignant, and make for a compelling read. These life narratives really need to be preserved and made available to a wide audience—they are valuable historical documents.’ —Stevi Jackson, The University of York ‘Kong’s work demonstrates the potential and power of research to not only understand and describe phenomena, but to effect change—to make a difference. Clearly, this book has made a difference—not only in the lives of the interviewees, but much more broadly as through the book in its original language and the hopeful, inclusive message the group epitomizes and shares.’ —Brian de Vries, San Francisco State University

Recounts the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong from 1942-1945 as Choi, a ten-year-old Chinese American boy, secretly joins the resistance and saves thousands of American, British and Canadian forces. Includes historical notes and photographs.

The last work of the internationally known, Booker-shortlisted writer is a memoir of growing up in 1950s Hong Kong.