Lindsay Varty takes the audience on a spoken tour through the streets and alleys of Hong Kong.  She tells obout the tradesmen and women at work in some of the oldest and most traditional industries in the city.  From pawn brokers to paper effigy makers, she describes the people who make up a vital ingredient of Hong Kong’s cultural identity and tells their story.

 Lindsay tells of craftsmen, market workers and gangsters, plus traditional pawn shop workers, octogenarian letter writers and copper pot hammerers.  She describes the survivors' fading industries, how they got into their trades and what kinds of changes have led to their decline.  This includes the lives and hardships of craftsmen and women who have dedicated their lives to traditional trades and crafts that have become largely obsolete in today's modern society.  

From face threaders to farmers, herbal tea shop owners to dai pai dong workers, she shows that Hong Kong still has many of these wonderful and ancient jobs. She also tells of some jobs which are now demised, such as rickshaw drivers, tram conductors, nightsoil collectors and more. 

Local author Lindsay Varty is half-British, half-Macanese and was raised in Hong Kong and has a long interest in its history.  She studied at the University of Nottingham in the UK and has been a freelance journalist for nearly 10 years.  She is also a professional rugby player for the Borelli Walsh USRC Tigers and a Rugby 7s player for the Hong Kong Sports Institute.   She is also Business Development Manager at The Pavillion, Hong Kong.  Her book Sunset Survivors Meet the People Keeping Hong Kong's Traditional Industries Alive, has been featured on CNN, The Guardian, SCMP and more.  She is also the author of A Celebration of the Hong Kong Sevens Week.

Members of the RGS, their guests and others are most welcome to attend this event, which is HK$150 for RGS Members and HK$200 for guests and others, including a complimentary glasses of white or red wine.  This event is free of charge for our Student Members.

 The Royal Geographical Society - Hong Kong wishes to express its thanks to Jacada as the Venue Sponsor of this talk.