In 1997 the United Kingdom returned control of Hong Kong to China,
ending the city's status as one of the last remnants of the British
Empire and initiating a new phase for it as both a modern city and a hub
for global migrations. Hong Kong is a tour of the city's postcolonial
urban landscape, innovatively told through fieldwork and photography.
Caroline Knowles and Douglas Harper's point of entry into Hong Kong is
the unusual position of the British expatriates who chose to remain in
the city after the transition. Now a relatively insignificant presence,
British migrants in Hong Kong have become intimately connected with
another small minority group there: immigrants from Southeast Asia. The
lives, journeys, and stories of these two groups bring to life a place
where the past continues to resonate for all its residents, even as the
city hurtles forward into a future marked by transience and transition.
By skillfully blending ethnographic and visual approaches, Hong Kong
offers a fascinating guide to a city that is at once unique in its
recent history and exemplary of our globalized present.