Hong Kong’s Disappearing Traditions with Author Lindsay Varty

Going Places

Villain hitters. Fortune tellers. Bamboo cage makers. Meet the people keeping Hong Kong's traditions alive.

Lindsay Varty is an author and former professional rugby player from Hong Kong who writes about Cantonese culture and history in an attempt to generate a greater love and understanding of her home for herself and her readers. So today on the show, we're traveling to Hong Kong with Lindsay and me.

Lindsay is the author of several books including Hong Kong Slang, Welly the Wild Boar and the local best-seller, Sunset Survivors, which features a collection of photographs and interviews with local artisans who work in some of the city's oldest, most traditional trades.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Meet the keepers of some of Hong Kong's disappearing traditions like villain hitters, fortune tellers, and bamboo pole noodle makers
• Why some Hong Kong artisans don't want more sales
• Is growth always good?
• What Hong Kong leaves behind when it moves forward
• Hong Kong's real estate problem
• How to avoid the cliches of Hong Kong
• Looking for identity and belonging as third-culture kids
• Hong Kong's walking tours with Lindsay
• Lindsay's upcoming book on third culture kids

Featured on the show:

• Learn more about Lindsay's work on her website
• Check out Lindsay's book, Sunset Survivors
• Follow Lindsay on Instagram
• Follow Lindsay's Sunset Survivors project on Instagram
• Check out VoiceMap
• Check out The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir by Karen Cheung

Get more information at: Going Places website

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Going Places with Yulia Denisyuk is a show that sparks a better understanding of people and places near and far by fostering a space for real conversations to occur. Each week, we sit down with travelers, journalists, creators, and people living and working in destinations around the world. Hosted by Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel journalist, photographer, and writer who's worked with National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC Travel, and more.

Learn more about our show at goingplacesmedia.com.