Bookworms gather in Hong Kong for yearly feast as one of world’s largest book fairs opens for 7-day event
- Organiser expects visitor numbers to reach pre-pandemic levels of 1 million over seven-day event
- Foreigners and mainland Chinese visitors join queue to browse thousands of titles covering number of genres
Hundreds of enthusiastic readers, some with suitcases in tow, queued outside Hong Kong’s Convention and Exhibition Centre early on Wednesday, eager to browse thousands of titles at one of the world’s largest book fairs.
Foreigners and mainland Chinese visitors were among more than 300 people in line at about 9am. This year’s Hong Kong Book Fair is the city’s first since all borders reopened.
Ikki To, in his 40s, arrived at the venue around midnight and was first in the queue outside the exhibition centre in Wan Chai on Wednesday morning.
To, a Tuen Mun resident, planned to spend close to HK$2,000 (US$256) on books this year.
“I want to get my hands on Lam Wing-sum’s new book. There are limited signed copies so I want to make sure I get one,” he said of the Hong Kong novelist.
To, who has attended every Hong Kong Book Fair since 2011, said the crowd was visibly larger this time, almost twice the size of last year’s pandemic-hit edition.
The annual book fair started at 10am, with the organiser expecting visitor numbers to reach pre-pandemic levels of 1 million over the seven-day event.
