Category: Hong Kong
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Header artwork by Annysa Ng We’re accepting submissions. Please readour important NOTES. 茶 Hong Kongclick for information 茶 First Impressionsclick for information 茶 Essays click for information 茶 Proposals click for information 茶 Poetry: En Routeclick for information 茶 Hong…
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While we continue to welcome general submissions that fall within the remit and ethos of Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, we are especially keen to receive work related to Hong Kong. We would love to devote sustained attention to Hong…
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “The Metaphor of Trees: Stephanie Ellen Sy’s The Magnificent Banyan Tree and the Green Tong Lau” by Rebekah Chan Stephanie Ellen Sy (writer), Ishita Jain (illustrator). The Magnificent Banyan Tree…
![[ESSAY] “The Metaphor of Trees: Stephanie Ellen Sy’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑎𝑛 𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐿𝑎𝑢” by Rebekah Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Seed-Plant-Tree-3.png)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “The Authority to Continue in Kiwi Chow’s Deadline” by Qinlei Wang Kiwi Chow (director). Deadline, 2025. 117 min. By the time a teacher proposes suspending the final examinations at Enshan…
![[ESSAY] “The Authority to Continue in Kiwi Chow’s 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒” by Qinlei Wang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Kiwi-Chow-copy.jpg)
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[INCIDENTAL] “The Ties That Bind Us: Listening to Catherine Cho on The Devoted and Hong Kong” by Ming-yeh T. Rawnsley Catherine Cho. The Devoted. Fourth Estate, 2026. 368 pp. Listening to Catherine Cho speak about The Devoted on 2 October 2026 at this year’s Lincoln…
![[INCIDENTAL] “The Ties That Bind Us: Listening to Catherine Cho on 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑑 and Hong Kong” by Ming-yeh T. Rawnsley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/7101dHH2ZvL._AC_UF8941000_QL80_.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Limits of Universality in Mary Stephen’s Palimpsest” by NLL Mary Stephen (director), Palimpsest: The Story of a Name, 2025. 108 min. I live in the middle of nowhere…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Limits of Universality in Mary Stephen’s 𝑃𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑡” by NLL](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/THE-STORY-OF-A-NAME-Hong-Kong-film.png)
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[FICTION] “Engagement” by Greg Solomon Greg Solomon on his story: One of the things I enjoy about Hong Kong is the diversity of people who live, work (and love) side by side. This is the social embodiment of yin and…
![[FICTION] “Engagement” by Greg Solomon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Engagement-by-Greg-Solomon-for-Asian-Cha.png)
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[FICTION] “Blue Eyed Pigs” by Jonathan Han Jonathan Han on “Blue Eyed Pigs”: Twenty years ago, Hong Kong was the busiest port in the world, the greatest trade centre by measures that extended beyond the abstract and the fiscal. Older…
![[FICTION] “Blue Eyed Pigs” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Jonathan-Han-Blue-Eyed-Pigs.png)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s If I Do Not Reply Is Poetry, Gentle Irony and Defiance” by Cyril Camus Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on If I Do Not Reply. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho, If…
![[ESSAY] “Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s 𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝐷𝑜 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑦 Is Poetry, Gentle Irony and Defiance” by Cyril Camus](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/tammy-lai-ming-ho-2026-1.png)
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[ESSAY] “Hong Kong: A Lover’s Meditation” by Jeff Beyl Photo © Jeff Beyl Hong Kong Works To paraphrase travel writer Jan Morris, Hong Kong works. Someone asked me, many years ago, after my first trip to Hong Kong, “What’s it like…
![[ESSAY] “Hong Kong: A Lover’s Meditation” by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/jeff-beyl-dai-pai-dong.jpeg.png)
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[CONVERSATION] “Challenging the Patriarchy with Poetry and Prose” by Sadie Kaye and Shikha S. Lamba The Weight of Silence by Zuhra Nadem Sadie Kaye’s introduction: Some interviews begin with a résumé. This one began with a single sentence that clicked…
![[CONVERSATION] “Challenging the Patriarchy with Poetry and Prose” by Sadie Kaye and Shikha S. Lamba](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/shikha-s.-lamba.jpg)
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[CONVERSATION] “Mapping Loss in a Crowded City” by Sadie Kaye and Holly Sykes Holly Sykes at home in Hong Kong Sadie Kaye’s introduction: What happens when a self-proclaimed “shy, bookish person” swaps the muddy, rolling hills of northwest England for…
![[CONVERSATION] “Mapping Loss in a Crowded City” by Sadie Kaye and Holly Sykes](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/conversation-sadie-kaye-and-holly-sykes-mapping-loss-in-a-crowded-city.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Hong Kong, Cantopop and the Memory of Home: Emma-Lee Moss’s My Cantopop Nights” by Susan Blumberg-Kason Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon My Cantopop Nights. Emma-Lee Moss. My Cantopop…
![[REVIEW] “Hong Kong, Cantopop and the Memory of Home: Emma-Lee Moss’s 𝑀𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑝 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/emma-lee-moss.-my-cantopop-nights-a-memoir-in-songs.png)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Picked Up by Wingtips: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s Hula Hooping” by Jonathan Han Tammy Lai-Ming Ho. Hula Hooping, Chameleon Press, 2015. 108 pgs. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho at the launch of Hula…
![[REVIEW] “Picked Up by Wingtips: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s 𝐻𝑢𝑙𝑎 𝐻𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/hh1.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “What’s Queer about Hong Kong Comics?” by Ronny Chan What’s queer about comics? I’ve been grappling with this question ever since I took a stab at crafting my first queer…
![[ESSAY] “What’s Queer about Hong Kong Comics?” by Ronny Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/combsisters_008.jpg)
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[FICTION] “Matricide on the Morning Bus” by Maureen Tai Maureen Tai on her story: There is always a kernel of truth in everything I write. In “Matricide on the Morning Bus”, there are many kernels, mostly drawn from having lived…
![[FICTION] “Matricide on the Morning Bus” by Maureen Tai](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/maureen-tai-cha.png)
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[FICTION] “Consumption” by Sam Powney Photograph © Oliver Farry It was only when her gym closed down that Apple sensed things may have gone too far. She arrived one day to find, in typical Hong Kong fashion, that her gym…
![[FICTION] “Consumption” by Sam Powney](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/sam-powney.png)
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[FICTION] “Encroachment” by Hazel Shu Chen Hazel Shu Chen on her story: “Encroachment” is my very first attempt at fiction writing in an adopted language, English. The story is about a female expatriate’s life in Hong Kong, her choices, and…
![[FICTION] “Encroachment” by Hazel Shu Chen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/hazel-shu-chen-cha.png)
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[FICTION] “Detergence” by Jonathan Han Photograph © Oliver Farry The pantry was getting dirty. A wisp of tissue had fallen on the linoleum floor. Coffee grounds speckled the steel of the machine. A damp cloth, used earlier to wipe the…
![[FICTION] “Detergence” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/detergence-by-jonathan-han.png)
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[ESSAY] “Alibi” by Sam Yu Wing Chan “The Fire in Tai Po is still ongoing.” When I had got home (the phrase “getting back home” has become lost, written on social media afterwards by a resident who escaped after hours of…
![[ESSAY] “Alibi” by Sam Yu Wing Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/screenshot-2026-05-21-at-10.14.47.png)
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[ESSAY] “Hong Kong: Once in a Million Years” by Simon Patton Owen Chow 鄒家成 and his tatoo Between 2019 and 2021, Hong Kong was repeatedly in the international spotlight. A decisive clash between civilisations was the main reason for such…
![[ESSAY] “Hong Kong: Once in a Million Years” by Simon Patton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/718kdzhcgql._ac_uf10001000_ql80_.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “STEP OUT Studios’ The Next Movement Blasts Out Futuristic Sounds From the Dancers’ Feet” by by Dawna Fung Wong Chun-ho (director), Zoe Chan & Cal Tang (artistic directors & choreographers), hirsk…
![[REVIEW] “STEP OUT Studios’ 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑀𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 Blasts Out Futuristic Sounds From the Dancers’ Feet” by by Dawna Fung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/the-next-movement2.jpg)
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Editor’s note: Lydia Wong’s evocative essay explores salt as both a material and metaphorical force in Hong Kong’s cultural, political, and sensual identity. From ancient salt fields to contemporary political repression, she traces how salt symbolises preservation, resistance, and longing.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “SALTY WET 鹹濕” by Lydia Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/salted-fish_peng-chau_december-2019_oliver-farry.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Importance of Nomenclature in Pattern, Language, Setting—A Glossary of City Spaces in Hong Kong” By Vanessa Winghei Yeung in.light.of.living—Sik.Faan (author), jck (illustrator), and daanngaazai (calligrapher), Pattern, Language, Setting—A…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Importance of Nomenclature in 𝑃𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛, 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒, 𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔—𝐴 𝐺𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑆𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔” By Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/in.light_.of_.livinge28094sik.faan-author-jck-illustrator-and-daanngaazai-calligrapher-pattern-language-setting-e28093-a-glossary-of-city-spaces-in-hong-kong.jpeg)
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{Written by Jennifer Anne Eagleton, this review is part of Issue 46 (March/April 2020) of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Joshua Wong with Jason Y. Ng. Unfree Speech: The Threat to Global Democracy and Why We Must…
![[Review] “Unfinished Story: A Review of Joshua Wong’s 𝑈𝑛𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑐ℎ” by Jennifer Anne Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/unfree-speech_joshua-wong-with-jason-y-ng.jpg)