The Hong Kong I Knew: Scenes and Stories from a Childhood in Kowloon by Mark Isa

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Returning to Hong Kong in 1947 after the Japanese occupation, seven-year-old Mark Isaac-Williams had all of Kowloon as his playground. Billeted with his family in the once-grand but now dilapidated Peninsula Hotel, his life was replete with adventure. The mystique of Hong Kong in the 40s and 50s is brought to life by Mark's captivating story.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Returning to Hong Kong in 1947 after the Japanese occupation, seven-year-old Mark Isaac-Williams had the whole of Tsim Sha Tsui as his playground. Billeted with his family in the once-grand but now dilapidated Peninsula hotel, his life was replete with adventure from the rooftop to the basement, he knew the hotel's every inch. Roller-skating and horseback riding in Kowloon's streets and paddling in the hotel's fountain were a child's dream after the privations of war. From rickshaws to firecrackers and ladies with bound feet to the ever-present rat problem and smelly beancurd vendors, the mystique of Hong Kong in the 1940s and 50s is brought colourfully to life by Mark's captivating and richly illustrated story.

Author Biography

Mark Isaac-Williams was born in Hong Kong in 1939 and was evacuated to Australia with his mother as the threat of Japanese invasion grew. His father was a ship's captain in the Chinese Maritime Customs Service and became a prisoner of war. Returning to Hong Kong at the age of seven, Mark has remained in the city for most of his life. Immediately after the war, his family was billeted for five years in the Peninsula hotel, which had just been vacated by the Japanese Imperial Forces and was in terrible condition. Kowloon was then still largely undeveloped and it offered Mark an extraordinary playground for adventure and mischief. After secondary education in the UK, he returned to work for the Hong Kong government. He gained a degree in botany and specialised in the conservation of wild orchids, joining the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in 1979. Later, he trained as a botanical artist, recording wild orchids in watercolours. He has since returned to Kadoorie Farm where he worked until recently as the Artist in Residence. His idea for this book was in part conceived from his artistry of the natural world and from his dismay at seeing so many everyday sights from his childhood gradually disappear in the race to build bigger and better. His was a childhood enjoyed at a unique period in Hong Kong's history, and his recording of it in this way is an important contribution to the understanding of the territory's life in the 1940s and 50s.

Review

Mark Isaac-Williams brings the reader back to his Kowloon childhood in this delightful story of adventure and change. Growing up mainly at the Peninsula Hotel, he and his friends sometimes got up to mischief by "borrowing" rickshaws or spending days with a visiting circus. These were the years when Hong Kong was rebuilding after World War Two and absorbing millions of refugees from over the border, transforming a sleepy colonial outpost into one of the world's most modern cities, and Isaac-Williams was witness to it all. Accompanied by gorgeous illustrations of bygone Hong Kong customs like removing coffins from homes on bamboo slides and transporting cars in ferries across the harbour, The Hong Kong I Knew records a Kowloon that has all but disappeared in the name of "progress".--Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of Good Chinese Wife

Long Description

Returning to Hong Kong in 1947 after the Japanese occupation, seven-year-old Mark Isaac-Williams had the whole of Kowloon as his playground. Billeted with his family in the once-grand but now dilapidated Peninsula Hotel, his life was replete with adventure - from the rooftop to the basement, he knew the hotel's every inch. Roller-skating and horseback riding in Kowloon's streets and paddling in the hotel's fountain were a child's dream after the privations of war. From rickshaws to firecrackers and ladies with bound feet to the ever-present rat problem and smelly beancurd vendors, the mystique of Hong Kong in the 1940s and 50s is brought to life by Mark's captivating and richly illustrated story.

Review Quote

Mark Isaac-Williams brings the reader back to his Kowloon childhood in this delightful story of adventure and change. Growing up mainly at the Peninsula Hotel, he and his friends sometimes got up to mischief by "borrowing" rickshaws or spending days with a visiting circus. These were the years when Hong Kong was rebuilding after World War Two and absorbing millions of refugees from over the border, transforming a sleepy colonial outpost into one of the world's most modern cities, and Isaac-Williams was witness to it all. Accompanied by gorgeous illustrations of bygone Hong Kong customs like removing coffins from homes on bamboo slides and transporting cars in ferries across the harbour, The Hong Kong I Knew records a Kowloon that has all but disappeared in the name of "progress".

Details ISBN988796395X Author Lucy Parris Short Title The Hong Kong I Knew Publisher Blacksmith Books Language English Illustrator Lucy Parris ISBN-10 988796395X ISBN-13 9789887963950 Format Paperback Subtitle Scenes and Stories from a Childhood in Kowloon Imprint Blacksmith Books Country of Publication Hong Kong Pages 88 UK Release Date 2023-08-01 Audience General Year 2022 Publication Date 2022-03-24 Illustrations Illustrations We've got this

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