Hong Kong

Hong Kong has become a by-word for all that is modern and sparkling in Asia today. Yet tourist brochures still play with the old cliche of Hong Kong as a place where 'East meets West¿. Images of so-called 'traditional¿ China, junks sailing Victoria Harbour or old women praying to gods in smoky temples, mingle with those portraying Hong Kong as a consumer and business paradise. This collection of essays attempts to transcend the old polarities. It looks at modern Hong Kong in all its splendour and diversity in the run-up to its re-absorption into Greater China through the mediums of film, food, architecture, rumors and slang. It explores the question of a distinct, modern Chinese identity in Hong Kong, and even when it explores the traditional stamping ground of the older anthropology in the New Territories it finds a dramatically changed context, in particular for women. This collection presents an intriguing insight into the process of transition from 'tradition¿ to 'modernity¿ in this Modern Chinese Metropolis.