The Peak


Book Description

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.




The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire


Book Description

Up to World War II and beyond, the British ruled over a vast empire. Modern western attitudes towards the imperial past tend either towards nostalgia for British power or revulsion at what seem to be the abuses of that power. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire adopts neither of these approaches. It aims to create historical understanding about the British empire on the assumption that such understanding is important for any informed appreciation of the modern world. Through striking illustration and a text written by leading experts, this book examines the experience of colonialism in North America, India, Africa, Australia, and the Caribbean, as well as the impact of the empire on Britain itself. Emphasis is placed on social and cultural history, including slavery, trade, religion, art, and the movement of ideas. How did the British rule their empire? Who benefited economically from the empire? And who lost?




Hong Kong Apothecary


Book Description

Hong Kong Apothecary transports us to the exotic world of Eastern medicine, a world of oils, powders, pills, and cures for every known ailment from impotency to opium addiction. As peculiar as pink pills for pale people are the packages containing these medicaments. Author Simon Go has combed manufacturers, shops, and home medicine cabinets for years collecting the most compelling examples. the result is a visual cabinet of curiosities, a graphical pharmacopoeia. Divided by type such as ointments, herbal teas, infused oils Hong Kong Apothecary presents the fascinating graphics and tantalizing descriptions of hundreds of medicines and gives us an insight into Chinese customs afforded only by examining the artifacts and customs of everyday life. many of these medicines are no longer produced, making Hong Kong Apothecary a memoir of a quickly disappearing culture. This lavishly illustrated book is of interest as much for designers seeking inspiration in the unknown vernacular of commercial graphics as for anyone interested in Eastern medicine.




The Cambridge Illustrated History of China


Book Description

A look at the over eight thousand year history and civilization of China.




A Concise History of Hong Kong


Book Description

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.




China Illustrated


Book Description

This beautifully illustrated social history of China highlights various aspects of traditional China as seen through the eyes of foreign visitors and residents from the time of the first trading contacts with China in the mid-sixteenth century to the beginning of World War II. The lives and lifestyles of the fascinating mix of people who came to China, as well as the places they visited and the sights and customs that attracted their attention, are set against the backdrop of China's great cities and it's ancient culture. A short history of the period sets the scene in each chapter, allowing the reader to follow the dramatic changes that took place through the turbulent years when China moved from feudal empire to republic. The illustrated sections which follow focus on notable themes and topics. The hundreds of unique images in China Illustrated, including early engravings and maps, hand–colored prints, studio portraits and amateur photographs, postcards, drawings and cartons come from the private collection of Arthur Hacker. Collected with the eye of an artist and the knowledge of a historian they eloquently bring China's social history to life.




An Illustrated History of Hong Kong


Book Description

The history of Hong Kong is as dynamic as its economic and social achievements, but it has too often been told solely from the Western perspective. Drawing heavily on Chinese sources, this authoritative introduction to Hong Kong traces its history from prehistoric times to the present, andconsiders its future in the light of the 1997 transfer of sovereignty.




Hong Kong as a Global Metropolis


Book Description

Hong Kong has remained the global metropolis for Asia since its founding in the 1840s following the Opium Wars between Britain and China. David Meyer traces its vibrant history from the arrival of the foreign trading firms, when it was established as one of the leading Asian business centres, to its celebrated handover to China in 1997. Throughout this period, Hong Kong has been prominent as a pivotal meeting place of the Chinese and foreign social networks of capital and as such has been China's window on to the world economy, dominating other financial centers such as Singapore and Tokyo. Looking into the future, the author presents an optimistic view of Hong Kong in the twenty-first century, challenging those who predict its decline under Chinese rule. This accessible and broad-ranging look at the story of Hong Kong's success will interest anyone concerned with its past, present and future.




Hong Kong Comics


Book Description

Asian comics are increasingly popular in the West, where comic and illustration enthusiasts prize them as objects of cult-like devotion. Wendy Siuyi Wong's voluminously illustrated book examines the history of this genre from its beginnings to its most influential contemporary practitioners. Over 1,000 color manhua, each with an English annotation.




City Between Worlds


Book Description

Hong Kong is perched on the fault line between China and the West, a Special Administrative Region of the PRC. Leo Ou-fan Lee offers an insiderÕs view of Hong Kong, capturing the history and culture that make his densely packed home city so different from its generic neighbors. The search for an indigenous Hong Kong takes Lee to the wet markets and corner bookshops of congested Mong Kok, remote fishing villages and mountainside temples, teahouses and noodle stalls, Cantonese opera and Cantopop. But he also finds the ÒrealÓ Hong Kong in a maze of interconnected shopping malls, a jungle of high-rise residential towers, and the neon glow of Chinese-owned skyscrapers in the Central Business District, where land development, global trade, capital accumulation, consumerism, and free-market competition trump every valueÑexcept family. Lee illuminates the relationship between Hong KongÕs geography and its colonial experience, revisiting colonial life on the secluded Peak, in the opium-filled godowns along the harborfront, and in crowded, plague-infested tenements. He examines, with a criticÕs eye, the ÒHong Kong storyÓ in film and fiction: romance in the bars and brothels of Wan Chai, crime in the walled city of Kowloon, ennui on the eve of the 1997 handover. Whether viewed from Tsing Yi Bridge or the deck of the Star Ferry, from Victoria Peak or Lion Rock, Hong Kong sparkles here in all its multifaceted complexity, a city forever between worlds.