Book Fair Reflects Transformation of the City
At the 34th Hong Kong Book Fair that opened on Wednesday, eager visitors pushed through the crowded halls, seeking the books that interested them and queuing to buy many at discounted prices.
There are over 600 seminars and cultural activities and 760 exhibitors, against nearly 780 in 2023, when the average visitor spent HK$872. The exhibitors hope the number of visitors will surpass the 990,000 last year, similar to the 1.04 million and 980,000 in the pre-Covid years of 2018 and 2019 respectively.
That much is the same as before, but the event has been transformed by the protests of 2019 and the National Security legislation that has followed. Absent are titles on the politics of Hong Kong and the mainland that used to be a staple of the fair, attracting hundreds of mainlanders who wanted to buy books they could not obtain at home.
Before the fair, organisers told exhibitors that they must comply with the National Security Law and Article 23 on National Security passed by the Hong Kong government earlier this year.
“We received this notice, like other publishers,” said an exhibitor from Taiwan. “It did not contain a list of what books are banned. So we had to make our own decision, which is difficult. Our books were not inspected at customs, but there will be inspectors at the Fair itself.”
Similarly, Hong Kong booksellers have been given no lists of banned books. They have to make their own decision on which titles to sell. Most err on the side of caution. The Book Fair represents their most important sales opportunity of 2024; they sell more during the fair than during any other week of the year.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Wednesday, Margaret Fong, the executive director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC), said the book fair would “[solidify] the city’s reputation as the events capital of Asia. This year’s book fair… will stage more than 600 cultural activities on-site and off-site, inviting over 250 prominent Chinese and foreign-language writers and celebrities to host seminars, promoting literary exchange and connecting book lovers through literature.”
The theme this year is “Film and Television Literature”. Being held at the same time is the HKTDC Hong Kong Sports and Leisure Expo and the HKTDC World of Snacks.
The theme city is Beijing, for the first time, with 10,000 books from the mainland. The Beijing area has about 150 square metres and nearly 3,000 copies published by Beijing agencies. It features more than 100 cultural and creative products that highlight Beijing and traditional Chinese culture. 12 cultural organisations from Beijing, including Beijing Publishing Group.
China Daily described the mainland exhibition area: “It has set up a thematic exhibition of books, with a focus on the display and sales of works by President Xi Jinping and related study materials, like the first two volumes of Selected Readings from the Works of Xi Jinping and four volumes of Xi Jinping: the Governance of China.
“It also features books that introduce the practice of Socialism with Chinese characteristics, as well as ancient classics and cultural series that encapsulate the fundamental values of traditional Chinese culture,” it said.
There is a Buddhist corner, with stalls of Buddhist organisations, including two from Taiwan, Fo Guang Shan and Tzu Chi Foundation. The latter was introducing the Great Love Chinese Medicine Clinic which it has opened in Yaumatei and the Tzu China Environmental Action Centre, which it opened in December 2021, with the support of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
The centre aims to promote environmentalism in architecture, lifestyle, science and other fields. The Foundation has a company called Da Ai (Great Love) Technology which makes products out of recycled goods. They include blankets made from recycled plastics – it has distributed 1.17 million such blankets to victims of natural disasters in 44 countries.
Among the visitors was Mary Leung with her daughter Alice, aged 12. “I bring her to the Fair each year,” said Leung. “We buy many study books for her at discount prices. I also want her to develop a love of reading physical books, not only electronic ones. The Fair provides the widest selection of the year.”
Ann Huang was another visitor, with her two daughters. The family emigrated to Canada in 2021. “There are very few Chinese books in Canada. My daughters are weak in reading and writing Chinese. I need books to help them improve.” She planned to spend HK$3,000 on such books.
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