• ISBN13: 9780700706020
• Binding: Paperback
• Subject: Sociology and Anthropology
• Publisher: T&F
• Publisher Imprint: Routledge
• Publication Date: January 1, 1997
• Pages: 352
• Original Price: GBP 43.99
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 445 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General and Asia / China

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 in mid-97, through the mediums of film, food, architecture, rumours 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.