Welcome to Gwulo

Here you'll find over 50,000 pages about old Hong Kong to explore, including over 30,000 photos. The content is added by a friendly community of people who enjoy sharing what we know about Hong Kong's history, and you are very welcome to join us.

Kind regards, David

P.S. To receive more old Hong Kong photos and stories, please sign up for our free weekly newsletter.

New on Gwulo: 2024, week 04

Submitted by David on

What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:

 

General

 

Updates on the new Gwulo book

Some good news with Volume 5 is that airmail services are working well again. The last few overseas orders have gone to customers in Australia, UK, and the US, and all have arrived in under two weeks. The last few years have seen all sorts of headaches with overseas mail, so it is great to see shipping times get back to their pre-Covid standards.

Thank you to two of those overseas readers for their reviews. Patricia O'Sullivan has posted her review of Volume 5 to her website, and also lets us know her favourite photo in the book. For the record, my favourite is this one at the bottom of page 21:

 

Thanks also to new reader jenchou, who dived in with a purchase of the full set of five books:

The existence of the 5 volumes of Old Hong Kong Photos and The Tales They Tell came to my attention on Facebook via the Hong Kong - The Past page. I jumped on the website and ordered the books less than a week ago and they were delivered this morning!! So speedy and the books arrived in impeccable condition.

 

Each book and the photos are most beautifully produced to the highest quality. They worth every single penny!  In the fast changing world and the Hong Kong I knew disappearing fast, to have a glimpse into the old Hong Kong before I was even born keeps Hong Kong alive in my heart.

Closer to home, Hong Kong readers can now find Volume 5 at these additional bookstores:

  • Art & Culture Outreach Books, in Causeway Bay

     
  • SUP Retail (Hong Kong) Limited, better known by the names of its bookstores: Joint Publishing / Chung Hwa Book Co. / The Commercial Press. They also run an online bookstore, My Book One

 

And finally, thanks to Jill Fell who has reported the first mistake in Volume 5. If you've noticed any other mistakes, please could you add a comment for each mistake with details? Then I can be sure to get them all corrected when it is time for a reprint.

 

 

People

1958 Jan Jan's Map of Hong Kong

Submitted by David on
NB: This is a hand-drawn commercial map and, as described below, its layout isn't always accurate. It is still a good source to see what was in Hong Kong in 1958, but don't rely on it to pinpoint the location of a building, street, etc. - please use one of the government maps for that instead.

I've just finished adding this 1958 copy of Jan Jan's Map of Hong Kong to the maps on Gwulo. You can see it as an overlay by selecting the new '1958 HK' layer on any of Gwulo's maps, or go straight to it by clicking one of the links below:

New on Gwulo: 2023, week 50

Submitted by David on

What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:

 

General

 

Update on the new Gwulo book

On Monday, Suk Woon sent over photos showing that printing was underway. Here's the printing press that would print the new Gwulo books.

 

And here's one of the printing plates being mounted. There are four plates in all, one each for the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks (CMYK).

 

After mounting all the plates, the technicians can print sample sheets and make adjustments to get the best results. They check the registrations of the four colours to make sure they are all aligned, to get the sharpest final image. They also tweak the four ink levels to get the printed colours as close as possible to the proof prints we saw in the previous update.

 

 

Once they are satisfied, they set the printer going. I've ordered 1,000 books, so they'll print 1,000 copies of the sheet.

The whole process is repeated another three times for the rest of the sheets that make up the book's pages, and then once more for the book's cover.

On Thursday I saw the results of their work, when Suk Woon gave me copies of all the printed sheets and the cover. Looking good!

 

 

Back at the printing company, the printed sheets were being folded, cut, and sewn into 16-page signatures. Finally they'll glue the signatures into the covers, and trim them to produce the finished books.

The latest estimate from the printer is that they will deliver the books to me on Wednesday, 20 Dec.

Thanks to everyone who has already pre-ordered the new book. If you're still planning to order, I recommend you order before Wednesday, so we can send your book(s) out as soon as the printer delivers: click here to pre-order Volume 5.

 

 

People

Pre-order the new Gwulo book for special pricing, free shipping, signed copies, and a free sample

Submitted by David on

28 Dec 2023 update: The printer has delivered the new book, so the pre-order offers have now finished, and the book's price is back to the regular HK$168. Shipping remains free for all orders to a Hong Kong address, and free for orders of 2 or more copies to international addresses. The discounts for larger orders also continue, so you'll save 15% on orders for 5 or more books, and save 20% on orders for 10 or more books. Please click the links below to place your order:

Take advantage of these pre-order offers as we get close to the launch of the new Volume 5: 

Special price

The book's list price will be HK$168, but regular readers can pre-order copies at HK$150 until 22 December.

Please click a "Pre-order ..." link below to pre-order your book(s). Payment can be made online using a credit card or a Paypal account. Readers with a bank account in Hong Kong also have the option to pay by bank transfer, or HK$ cheque.

 

Add other volumes

If you're missing any of the earlier volumes, you can use the links below to either buy the whole set, or to add individual volumes to your shopping cart:

Bigger orders, bigger savings

In the past I've received occasional larger orders where people buy for a group of friends, for their company's clients, and even to put a copy in each room of a boutique hotel. If you order a larger quantity of any combination of my books, you will automatically receive additional discounts, e.g.:

Free shipping

All deliveries to addresses in Hong Kong and Asia are shipped free of charge.

If you live outside of Asia, orders for two or more of any of Gwulo's books delivered to the same address are shipped free of charge. Orders for a single book pay HK$84 for shipping.

Please note the special instructions for customers in the European Union in the Q&A section below.

 

Signed copies

If you'd like me to sign your book(s), that's easy to arrange. Once you've completed your order you'll receive an order confirmation email. Please reply to that with a message as follows:

If you'd like ... you send the reply ... and I'll write ...
Standard signature Please sign With best wishes,

David
Standard + names Please sign to Emma and John To Emma and John,

with best wishes,

David
Custom message Please sign: A gift from Ann and Charles A gift from Ann and Charles

 

Free sample

If you'd like a look inside Volume 5, please click here to download a PDF sample of pages from the book.

 

Q&A

Q. When will the orders be mailed out?

A. The latest news from the printer is that they will deliver 'on or before 22 December'. I've seen photos of the printing underway and it was going well, so I'm crossing my fingers the delivery will happen on the 20th instead. As soon as the books arrive, we'll get to work packing and mailing your orders.

 

Q. So will they arrive in time for Christmas?

A. If we can get the earlier delivery from the printer, then I expect that Hong Kong orders placed before 20 December will arrive before Christmas. Overseas orders will be sent by airmail, and so should reach you in early January.

 

Q. I live in the European Union. Why isn't my country listed as a shipping destination?

A. In recent years the EU countries have got much stricter about claiming VAT on books arriving from overseas. Customers have to pay VAT plus a handling charge that can be as much as, or more than, the cost of the book. If you're happy to accept that risk, please email me details of the books you'd like to order, your mailing address, and whether you prefer to pay by credit card or PayPal, and I'll arrange the order for you. Alternatively, you may prefer to wait until the books are in stock at Amazon, and order from them.

 

Q. Do you still use PayPal to handle credit card payments?

A. No, credit card payments are now handled by Stripe.

 

Q. I live overseas and don't have a Hong Kong bank account. Can I still pay by bank transfer?

A. Sorry, but no. You'd need to arrange a T.T. / wire transfer, and from past experience they have caused too many headaches.

 

 

If you have any other questions about ordering, or run into any problems, please contact me at david@gwulo.com

Regards,

David

PS If you have friends who like old Hong Kong photos but may not be subscribers to Gwulo's newsletter, please could you let them know about this offer?

Subscribe to