Hong Kong

Hong Kong is the epitome of the modern city and a crossroads between Eastern and Western cultures. Today the city is most famously characterized by its breathtaking skyscraper skyline, dominating its so-called “fragrant” harbour. The more-than-one hundred-year-old Star Ferry, which continues to ply the seven-minute route between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, enhances the magic of the night-time experience of this unique maritime city, composed of China’s southernmost peninsula and an archipelago of over two hundred islands.

Hong Kong has always been something of an anomaly, and an outpost of empire, whether British or Chinese. Once described as a “barren island”, the former fishing community has been transformed by its own economic miracle into one of Asia’s World Cities, taking in its stride the return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Beneath the surface of Hong Kong’s clichéd self-image as Pearl of the Orient and Shopping Paradise, Michael Ingham reveals a city rich in history, myth and cultural diversity.

CITY OF OCCUPATION & IMMIGRATION The Buddhists; the Sung emperor and the Mongols; the northern Chinese; the British; refugees; other expatriates; the Triads; sailors of all sorts; the Japanese army; the Filipino “maids”; the rugby fans.

CITY OF GLASS, BAMBOO & FUNG SHU Temples and markets; walled village and city; skyscrapers and hotels; buildings and values – ancient and modern.

CITY OF CULTURAL HYBRIDITY Sun Yat-sen and Sir Catchick Paul Chater; Chinese Opera and cinema; classical music and Canto-pop; Bruce Lee and Sir Norman Foster; Suzie Wong and Wong Kar-wai; Timothy Mo and Jackie Chan.

THE CITIES OF THE IMAGINATION SERIES offers in-depth cultural and historical guides to the great landscapes of the world. More than ordinary guide-books, they introduce the visitor to each landscape’s unique present day identity and its links with the past.

Michael Ingham teaches at Lingnan University, Hong Kong, and is a founder member of the local Theatre Action drama group.

“No-one who visits Hong Kong could ever be bored by the experience. Michael Ingham gives ample reason why this should always have been so.” —Lord Patten

“A combination of sound cultural history and sharp contemporary nous.” —Michael Kerr, The Sunday Telegraph