King Hui: The Man Who Owned All the Opium in Hong Kong [Paperback]

Jonathan Chamberlain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 16, 2010

Some periods in history are best illuminated by the stories of the people who lived through them. This is one such story ? the bizarre but true account of Peter Hui, a man involved with scandal, corruption, drugs, pirates, triads and colonial high society; who collaborated with the Japanese, spied on the Communists and fought with American servicemen on R&R; who really did, for a short time, own all the opium in Hong Kong.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An insightful, street-side view of Hong Kong. The turbulent events ... turn this eye-witness account into a solid history book. -- Cairns Media Magazine, June 2008

A book of stories recounting Hui's adventures, loves, appetite for sex and drinking, influence over triads and a life of fortune and destitution. -- Sunday Morning Post, January 27, 2008

A remarkably accessible depiction of life under British and Japanese control... an incredibly informative read, and a must for all Hong Kong enthusiasts. -- HK Magazine, January 4, 2008

A rich account of Hong Kong as seen at street-level... set against a backdrop of colonial rule, Japanese invasion and communist revolution. -- Hemlock's Diary, January 2008

Hui's story gives us glimpses of a Hong Kong ... not adequately reflected in official histories of the city. -- Asia Times, Feb 23, 2008

From the Back Cover

From the start of the Korean war to the end of the Vietnam war, Hong Kong was a major R&R centre for soldiers and sailors. And there were thousands of local people who made their money making sure these visitors had a good time and got the suits and the girls they wanted. In fact they didn't just wait for their customers to arrive - they sailed out in a flotilla of small boats to greet the ships as they entered the harbour. And then, when the ships had anchored, they shimmied up the anchor chain to be the first to get the orders for shirts and trousers. These were the tailor shop order men. Peter Hui was one of them.

But who was Peter? What was his story?

Well, before he took to being a tailor he had been a famous kung fu fighter; a rich playboy, a regular frequenter of the pleasure houses of Macau; a gambler (he had run three gambling joints in Canton when the Communists walked in); the brains behind a gang of armed robbers (he alone escaped arrest when their third robbery went wrong); an associate of triads - and, before all that, he had been the owner of the biggest string of Mongolian ponies at the Hong Kong Jockey Club - that was during the war years when he was a leading collaborator of the Japanese. He had once, for a very short time, owned all the opium in Hong Kong!

Later, after his tailoring days had gone flat, he was paid by a CIA officer to report on events in China. This was during the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution, when Red Guard factions fought amongst each other.

Some periods in history are best illuminated by the stories of men and women who lived through them. This is one of those stories. As we follow Peter's life - his ups, his downs - we see in sharp focus what it was like to be a Chinese man in the British colony of Hong Kong through most of the years of the 20th century.

This is the true, bizarre story of a man who knew everybody and saw everything. He wasn't a wicked man. He was just trying to get by, like everyone else. This is his truly fascinating story.

And yet this book is not just one man's story. It is the story of a time and place - colonial Hong Kong, Portuguese Macau and the south China hinterland between Hong Kong and Canton - seen from the unique point of view of a man who was at home at all levels of society. There are, for example, no other published accounts of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong as seen from the non-combatant Chinese perspective.

The World of Suzie Wong was a best-selling novel in the 1960s - and this story is its background. If Suzie had been a real girl, Peter would have known her.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: Blacksmith Books (July 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9889979985
• ISBN-13: 978-9889979980
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #466,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > History > Asia > Hong Kong

More About the Author

I decided to be a writer at the age of 16 because Hemingway made it seem both fun and easy! How wrong can you be? Now, many years later, writing is still the most interesting thing I do. My books are almost always a response to a problem of ignorance. I didn't know anything about Chinese folk religion but I wanted to know who the Gods were so I wrote Chinese Gods; I didn't know about the alternative approaches to cancer so I wrote Cancer: The Complete Recovery Guide. King Hui was an exploration into the life of a Chinese playboy and Wordjazz for Stevie a celebration of the life of my profoundly handicapped daughter who brought meaning into my life. To see some very flattering reviews of these books go to www.blacksmithbooks.com. Also I have a website at www.fightingcancer.com and a blog at www.cancerfighter.wordpress.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The All-time Hong Kong Tale . . ., January 8, 2011

By 

Chris Thrall - See all my reviews

This review is from: King Hui: The Man Who Owned All the Opium in Hong Kong (Paperback)

Jonathan Chamberlain has done history a great favour; filling in what for many a keen observer is a void in Hong Kong's not-so-distant past.

In KING HUI, he preserves from the sands of time a story like no other; one that weaves its way through the Fragrant Harbour's colourful colonial heritage; a rich tapestry as depicted by an aging `Peter' Hui, a man that at one time owned all the opium in Hong Kong.

". . . Scandal and corruption, drugs and pirates, triads and flower boats; the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and the Communist takeover of Canton. Peter Hui was there. He knew everybody and saw everything. This is the real story of Hong Kong, told with the rich flavours of the street . . ."

How true the backcover blurb! But this story is so much more. It's an invitation into the psyche of the Chinese mind. It's where East accommodates West, then fellow East, then West again. It's a rare insight into Hong Kong's idiosyncratic culture and meteoric rise to become the trading capital of the world, as told, rather refreshingly, from the straight-talking perspective of a local witness and without an Orientalist agenda.

It's the story of Peter Hui - revered kung fu fighter, slickly dressed entrepreneur, handsome womaniser, gambler, drinker; friend of the rich, the famous, the powerful . . . as well as the destitute, the deviant and the downright dangerous. But most of all it's a touching story, told with candour and flavoured with nostalgia, from the heart of an endearing old man; one who no doubt realises he is not long left for this world and has a tale he believes should to be told . . .

. . . and when you're compelled to read the last page of this book again and again as I was, head spinning with thoughts and emotions brought to bear by the life of someone you've never even met, you fully appreciate why Jonathan Chamberlain is best placed to tell it.

Chris Thrall is the author of Eating Smoke: One Man's Descent into Drug Psychosis in Hong Kong's Triad Heartland