Hong Kong is a difficult place for independent bookstores.
Rents are high and space is limited, but in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to browse the law. China implemented strict national security laws on Hong Kong in 2020, and the government also began to implement dormant colonial sedition laws.
The ambiguous wording of the law raises questions about the judge’s sensitive material, and after the regulations were enacted, the public library deleted orders from government authorities. In 2022, five speech therapists were sentenced to 19 months in prison for publishing children’s books, which the court said violated the sedition law. Independent Bookstores struggled to block several local favorites such as Zero Mountain Books and Desolate House Books, prompting high-profile writers and vibrant goodbye parties to push them to pay tribute.
But those closed stores and other closed stores are not the last ones. Despite the challenges, some booksellers still exist, relying on the integration of creativity, generous landlords and a reading community, for which rare books or skewed old second-hand books still have the magic that feels special in Hong Kong. Here are some places to take advantage of this magic.
When Lorence Johnston studied a business idea from decades ago, he realized that the adoption of Hong Kong stood out among major cities because it lacked rare bookstores. He said he was surprised given that the city is the third largest financial center in the world. So Johnston is a passionate reader who has never had a rare book before and set out to browse the vast amount of knowledge this academic community needs.
He opened his own bookstore, Lok Man Rare Books, in 2006, and recently moved from Chancery Lane to Central District Pedder Building’s new luxury retail arcade with luxury center. Sources of this perfect store with deep armchairs in Johnston invite long-term accommodation and sell exquisite rare and special books.
He said his library sweeps the literature genre – “I can’t focus on anything, so it’s great for me,” he said – most people are looking for gifts when some of his clients are collectors. “They want you to find their favorite books or three or four books, or books that really influence their decision to turn their lives into different directions,” he said.
The store has many opportunities to attract casual customers, and although the price is not casual, it has climbed several times from about 3,000 Hong Kong dollars ($386).
Recently, the best copy of The World of Games and Economic Behavior, written by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern, is known as the Outstanding Work. Three volume illustrations of French fashion magazine “The Gazette”; and a first edition copy of E. Nesbit’s “Five Children and IT” bound to Crimson Leather of Bayntun-Riviere Bindery in England, to which Johnston sent many restoration projects.
A gentle book
Diane Wang and Jessica Cheung noticed how many people they attracted in several books running stalls at flea markets in 2023, mainly second-hand clothes and second-hand household items.
Wang said: “We said ‘What should we do next time we only make books?'” Wang said. “This book is a simple connector.”
Not wanting to commit to the store’s overhead costs, friends began asking for donations, weekend sales at the coffee shop and well-planned English books. In June 2023, they sold more than 100 books in the rain, and in the rain, the business quickly grew into a full-fledged project, they wrote in their mission statement aiming to “build a circular book economy and foster a community of readers.”
The gentle book popups that Wang and Cheung advertise on Instagram have a friendly feel. They are usually locked on common ground, in the so-called Ladder Street cafe in Hong Kong: narrow streets, made entirely of steps, extending to the slopes of the central and Sheung Wan area. The area attracted a weekend crowd and Dogbook arranged steps, which is another reason for ongoing.
They found one of several creative ways to attract readers, and the Wang and checklist-style quiet reading courses encouraged participants to remain silent for an hour. Others, Wang said, include book exchange dinners and theme book club nights such as “books that make you cry.”
Book of Dionysus
Stephanie Chong quit his annoying job and spends a lot of time every day doing what she loves – buying and reading – her husband Samuel Li eventually suggested they open a store where she could continue to do what she loves.
The result of this idea is Dionysus Books, a small, exotic decor shop tucked away on the small streets of the new town of Saigong. About 13 miles from the city center, there is no good transportation connection, and the area is less renting, attracting visitors, but struggling at seafood restaurants to access the surrounding beaches and hiking trails. Dionysus books are now the only bookstore left in town.
It sells used English books at affordable prices, all of which have been donated, as well as new Chinese books. She is particularly interested in literature and history books, helping to narrate the circular landscapes of the world. “I think our mindset or our thoughts, who we are, should depend on the notion of nature, country or nationality,” Chong said.
Started about four years ago, a passionate project that goes a little more this way than the business, and the couple is the only employees in the store. Lee said the books they sold were “enough to make a living.”
“It’s not all about money,” Chong added.
Lily Bookstore
On the first floor of Sheung Wan near the center, there are books at the entrance to Lily Bookshop, waiting to be admitted to the crowded room. The series consists primarily of donated books, most of which are in English, so it is expected that the hug of the nose on the nose will find any treasure that is loved by the various residents of the city.
Owner Lily Wang is a special antique book collector who collects various rare signatures and first editions on the store’s cash register. For example, you might have a hard time finding another 1967 Hong Kong catalog in the city, with a book with Coca-Cola with a front cover decoration, and everything from the tram schedule to the governor of Hong Kong.
The store opened in 2017 at its current location and has a partner store around the corner, Flow Bookshop, a second-hand bookstore in Hong Kong, and sales first opened in Central in 1997. The process had to be closed in 2017 when the store lagged behind rent and the court ordered the store’s assets to be frozen. However, after owner Surdham Lam sought community support, it was saved. The two bookstores shared Lily’s space for a while until Lin split his adventures focused on building social enterprises with the goal of lending books to the bookstore with the aid of the library system.
His simple task, he said, is to prevent people from losing their “reading habits.”
