Hong Kong Books

I expected better. For someone described as a "truly international writer" and lauded for "weaving paradoxes" or some other critical crap, this book was a real flop.

Supposedly exploring the many sides of Hong Kong throughout the decades, it doesn't glue in any way, and the disjointed prose hardly helps. There was one good story (the one about the letters), and I forgot its name (sorry).

As a Hong Kong resident, I thought, ugh, I mean, just what is it, this trend of "new-wave oriental fiction", defiantly flouting their cultural identity while succumbing to capitalistic pleasures and all that? It just adds to the crumbling heap of bad-lit like "Daughter of China" and so on.

I went to Xu Xi's History's Fiction expecting a humorless survey of East meets West cultural musings, but I'm happy to say the book didn't deliver. What I found was a sharp and witty comment on four decades in the life of a city. Xu Xi acheives just that; she turns Hong Kong into the most compelling character of the book. The book is divided into four sections, the 90's, 80's, 70's and 60's. Each section has a pivotal event ripped from actual history. The 90's has the turnover, the 80's has Tienemen Square. The characters are ecclectic, and they truly surprise you in their quirks and reactions. My favorites include a women who receives a manuscript from her past, and a teenage pianist who feels more than a little stifled. As a totally Western reader, I'm grateful for the wide-ranging glimpse Xu Xi has given me into one the truly unique cities on the planet.

I found this book rather dull and not particularily well written. Let's face it, anyone reading this book is looking for information on the Dowager Empress, not Der Ling. Not much information on the Empress (although the information that was provided was good) and too much dull information on Der Ling. I would not recommend the book.

Engaging read from start to finish. I saw Mr. Hayter-Menzies do a book presentation and signing at the Freer Gallery at the Smithsonian, bought the book on the spot and read it immediately on the flight back to California. Hard to believe Der Ling not only survived, but thrived in this time period with such a before-her-time, women's rights attitude in Chinese society, not to mention French and American societies where women weren't supposed to be self-sufficient and bold. You could almost credit her with the popularity of compact, personally owned photo image cameras - Kodak should have paid her a commission or marketing fee. I'm also amazed that Der Ling was able to "pose" so readily as "Chinese royalty" and got away with it for so long. The fact that she did "live" the true life of a Chinese Princess within the royal court made her books, lectures and performances accurate, entertaining and believable - so I guess her audiences must have been captivated by her stories. If Bush can pose as a president, why couldn't Der Ling pose as a royal Chinese princess? Absolutely a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese culture and world history in general.

i found this book to be extremely helpful and easy to read. the "overload" of information didn't bother me. in fact, i liked it! for people who have time to do some serious sight-seeing, this book will not only highlight the major sights; it will also clue you into the lesser-known places worth looking into. and a definite plus to this book is its size. it was small and light enough to be carried everywhere in my sidebag (much to the embarassment of my best friend). the only reason i can't give this book five stars is because of a common flaw (i'm told) found in lonely planet guides: the economic places suggested are TOO cheap!

my advice to fellow hk tourists is to: 1) plan to spend at least two weeks there so you don't miss out and 2) be adventurous, don't just stay in central!

I've just returned from a week in Hong Kong, and, halfway thru my stay, chucked this book in the dustbin. It appears it tried to cover everything, and, in doing so, in effect, covered nothing. I found Fodor's guide to be much superior, in locating what might be of interest to me. Oh, by the way, "do" go to Hong Kong, it was the most eye-opening trip I've made in 35 years. But...leave this book at home!

Hong Kong was one of the stops on our 4 week Asia trip, and we only had a weekend to spend there. So since it was the only stop not included in our comprehensive SE Asia guide, we decided to get this small pocket guide to help us navigate the city and check out the top spots during our short stay.

Overall, this book is very helpful in terms of outlining major sites, detailed transportation information, and even includes a full-size fold out map. The only issue we had with it were the recommended restaurants listed. I don't know if this applies to all the recommendations, but we checked out 3 spots that were highlighted and ALL 3 were mediocre.

Bottom line, this is a great guide for a weekend visit, but don't follow the restaurant recommendations.

For my week in Hong Kong, I used Frommer's guide as my main guide, but took this as a secondary guide because of its maps. It has very good local area maps for the neighborhoods it covers, showing sights, hotels, restaurants, and shops. I found it most useful for locating shops and sights.

Unlike the other HK guides I looked at, this one includes the written Chinese names of the places it covers. This could be useful if you need to give a taxi driver written destinations.

The book's coverage is very limited. I would not recommend it as your only guidebook. I found it worth it for the maps, but it's a bit expensive just for that.

Cheap little foldout card in very small print that is hard to read. The free stuff found in Hotels is better.

Fantastic guides! Pocket size and easy to follow. The writers are hilarious and the shopkeepers are very appreciative when you walk in carrying the guide. They give you ideas on where to go, what to eat and where to shop, that other guides do not provide!

The only thing missing is an actual map!

This is an excellent book that demands reading by students and those who're interested in the subject. Some of the thoughts expressed may be rather alarming to some. Yet, the author always support them with cogent arguments. I've derived much insight from reading this. Recommended.

Please do not buy this book. Do an internet search and the data points you seek will be better presented. I considered using this book as a teaching tool at the college level and decided against it.
Often when my fellow professional academics write books they tend to get lost in detail, use a poor narrative voice, and become so impressed with their own ability to think that the book as a whole diminishes in value as it progresses. That is the case here.
All of this information is better found through a simple online search. As an added benefit to online work you'd be able to find original sources.
Clearly this is a case of a teacher out to line his own pockets by forcing his students to buy his work. A practice that in itself should be outlawed. At least this fellow will be able to capitalize on this disgusting gouging of students. I cannot in good faith recommend this text to anyone.

For some reason I thought this book was a history of the Silk Road.
Written like in aa history book. Much of it involves information
for tourists; where to stay and eat along the route. Each page is
devoted to a seperate city or kingdom. Almost impossible to follow
if you wanted a history of the Silk Road. There are other books about
the Road I am sure that are much better.

I have not used this book as a guide to travel yet, but I hope to in about 2 years. Given that I'll say my reservations up front. This travel guide does not give enough detail to really help you comfortably travel in the region. There is little detail about such issues as how to actually get from one place to another; where is the bus station, etc. The information about accomodations is very brief and for one such as I who really depends on travel guides to help me select hotels, this will be of little help. Even more scanty is the information on food, another important topic for me. I usually rate travel guides on the detail they give to food, and this one falls short. Most of the descriptions are the same; "small resturants line the square."

If what you are looking for is a good, basic coverage of cultural issues and history, this is a good. . .make that very good. . .book. The photography is excellent and the material covered is informative, comprehensive and well written. I enjoyed reading this book very much and I am passing it along to my potential travel companions. The writers put the history of the Silk Road and the Taklamakan desert in perspective for me so that when I do get there, I'll be better prepared to understand what I see.

If you are looking for arm chair travel only, this is an excellent book. The writing is clear and includes all the detail you need to enjoy the experience of the Silk Road. On that basis it should receive 5 stars.

The book provides an excellent overview of the cricketing history of Hong Kong, with some focus on all the competitions, teams and players that have graced the local playing fields over the 150 years.

However, the most conspicuous items in this book are the omissions - the major events and matches, both domestic and international, which are not mentioned at all. The statistics and records are also notable for their glaring inaccuracies - which is rather remarkable considering that all the data and information is readily available. It seems odd that the author was unable to provide correct and complete information for cricket played in the late eighties and early nineties !

That said, it is still an interesting read - though I suspect it will be enjoyed mostly by those who have played or participated in the Hong Kong cricket scene.

by Brett Scott

I'd like to meet Michael LaRocca- he seems like a great person. I admire those who turn adversity into something positive. After losing two very important people in his life, his mother and his brother, Michael can still see humor in the world. I selected American Redneck in Hong Kong to review because the title indicated it would be something humorous. I wasn't disappointed, but I found that the vignettes, or short stories, as Michael prefers to call them were more entertaining than funny. I was delighted to see that someone else survived bad luck with pets, and I developed an immediate admiration for Michael because he continued to love and provide homes for them. I never knew I would read a book that would give me so much information about boar masturbation and sow fertilization, nor did I ever imagine knowing so much about the thickness of the embryonic sac of a colt, let alone what caused it. Michael has certainly had a well-rounded life, and I'm still amazed that someone who held a boar's penis in his hands on a daily basis ended up teaching conversational English in China. Michael Larocca taught me a lot in his stories... I learned that I don't want to go to Hong Kong because I most likely wouldn't be able to find clothes (too fat) or shoes (big feet) to fit me, and I wouldn't be very good at squatting over a hole in the floor rather than sitting on a toilet. I'm not a very good passenger either, so I need to be where I can drive my own car. Most of all, I learned, I'm happy right here in America, but I applaud Michael for living out his dreams abroad. An American Redneck in Hong Kong is an entertaining read and I may even look for his first book to give me some more background on this seemingly likeable individual.

If you have ever seen a "Chinese Circus" you have probably seen quite a few of the stunts described in this volume demonstrated, such as the wrapping of long steel rebars tightly around the neck of the performer by two husky assistants, with no apparent harm being done.

Here we have some very brief discussions of a number of stunts performed in China by "masters" of "Vagabond"-style chi-kung. Some tricks will be familiar to those well-versed in "geek"-style US magic, others are a bit more exotic and unusual. The book is well-illustrated by strangely-styled line drawings, together with black-and-white and color photos.

Chapter 5 discusses "body tricks" in which the performer appears able to make parts of his body rock-hard or super-strong; Chapter 6 discusses tricks to make it appear you can exert force at a distance, without touch. Chapter 7 discusses the standard levitation illusion often done by Indian fakirs in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Chapter 8 discusses some very simple magic tricks with an oriental flavor, routined to be done on stage for a large audience. Chapter 9 continues with more stage magic and psychic feats. At least half of the stunts described will already be more-or-less familiar to well-posted US magicians.

The explanations are very, very terse and often incomplete, while many of the stunts described are potentially very, very dangerous. Furthermore, many of the methods presented are laughably primitive, clumsy and hazardous. For example, the spoon-bending (!?!) method does not use sleight-of-hand and ordinary spoons, as favored by all US magicians, but rather depends on hand-made fake spoons and mild acids! Another effect is achieved by dropping dilute acid on an audience member!

I believe an expert, professional magician who frequently presents bizarre or "geek"-style magic could find some ideas here that he could develop or evolve into something both practical and safe, but much thought, work and experimentation would generally be required. About 10 years ago a performer here in Austin seriously injured his wife doing one of the stunts described in this book, namely cutting a watermelon resting on someone's stomach completely in two with a single blow from a Samurai-style sword.

This book is the second in a projected series of three. I have not seen the first, and the third (announced by an advertisment in the first and only, 1991 edition of BEHIND THE INCREDIBLES) was apparently never published.