andrew yanne and gillis heller

n the street names of Hong Kong, a rich history of the city can be found. The authors, in this illustrated book, explore that history as they explain the origins and meanings of those names. Through their exhaustive research, Signs from a Colonial Era provides the stories behind the well-known streets and those that are obscure and puzzling. But a few have resisted their efforts, so there is a chapter of mysteries to intrigue and challenge the reader.
This is a book to be read in two ways. From the front you can find all the streets named after royalty, or governors, or other groups such as taipans, and see the naming of streets as a narrative of Hong Kong's development and society. In the other direction, starting from the index, it can be used as a reference book to find the answers to those names that have long puzzled you.

The bilingual author team gives the Chinese street names, exploring those that were just chosen to sound like the English name and sometimes changed to avoid unfortunate Cantonese meanings, and those others for which the Chinese name has no connection with the English one.

This is a book for everyone who has ever puzzled over a street name as they explore Hong Kong.