WALK THE  STREETS OF HONG KONG WITH AN ACCOMPLISHED ARTIST, PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND PRIVATE TOUR GUIDE

IMPECCABLE ONE OF A KIND GUIDE SERVICES AND LOCAL experiences FOR INQUISITIVE AND DISCERNING WORLD TRAVELERS

INTRODUCTION

Greetings from Hong Kong!

Call me William, Bill or Big Bill whichever you prefer.

I am a semi-retired Asian American who has been an expatriate living in Hong Kong for 20 years. My earlier career for three decades was as an international corporate lawyer with a prominent New York firm. Later in life, I changed direction and switched to other creative pursuits. I now style myself as a professional photographer, visual artist and since 2015, a purveyor of premium private tours in and around Hong Kong. I have delivered over 1,500 private tours to date on behalf of various travel agencies. During the pandemic, I delivered over 500 livestreaming tours via Amazon Experiences and Tours By Locals.

This website is aimed principally at describing the general nature of my activities as a freelance tour guide specializing in private tours of Hong Kong and it’s surrounding environs for solo travelers, couples, families and small and large groups including on occasion corporate outings.

All of the experiences I deliver are unique and tailored to meet the particular preferences, requirements and expectations of my clients.

Local history, culture, food and all levels of photography are the primary themes I cover. Here you will find a detailed description of my background, professional highlights and my approach to private tours of Hong Kong, the sights, the narrative and the logistics.

Here on this web site, you will also find a Blog highlighting my musings on all things Hong Kong in the form of short dispatches and links to my street photography images all of which are available for acquisition as fine art prints.

Note: Following three years of the pandemic I have slightly re-calibrated my personal priorities as have many of you I am sure. In particular, I am allocating more time to other passions involving my lifelong interests in travel, history, story telling and photography. These activities are highly synergistic with my activities as a private guide inasmuch as I am eager to share whatever interesting information I am able to discover.

I love conducting private tours/experiences for many reasons, most importantly spending quality time with folks such as yourselves. Accordingly, I will continue to offer guide services on a first come first served basis into the foreseeable future.

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT I AM OFTEN TRAVELING AROUND ASIA AND ELSEWHERE. SO IT IS ADVISABLE TO CONTACT ME WELL IN ADVANCE OF YOUR ARRIVAL DATE. If I am unavailable I will always refer you to very capable colleagues whom I have known for many years.

You can learn more about my background and various interests as well as the kinds of tours I deliver by exploring this website. I know this website may seem clunky to some. I prefer this set up because it provides the reader with ample information regarding me. When I hire a private tour guide, I have a very good idea of who I am looking for. I shall assume the same with you! A well informed consumer is my favorite customer.

Contact me if you want to enjoy experiencing this great city in all its dimensions with someone who knows and appreciates it quite well and does this because he loves it!

See you on the Streets of Hong Kong!

William

A  Message  from  WilliaM

Greetings Fellow Travelers,

Welcome to Hong Kong SAR, the Pearl of the Orient!

Allow me to share with you the finest ways to experience all facets of this truly magnificent city, culturally, historically and visually, just as a local does; so that when we are finished, you will be able to confidently and knowledgeably relate the modern story of Hong Kong as an inquisitive and well informed cultural traveler!

Bob Marley was once asked: "Are you a rich man, do you have a lot of possessions?" To which he responded: "I don't have that kind of richness, my richness is life."

If you fancy yourself as one with a strong appreciation for the richness of life, then join me and together we will experience the full sensory extravaganza that awaits you on the Streets of Hong Kong!

An American Who Loves Hong Kong

I am a mixed Asian American who grew up in New York City and has spent many years living and working all around the globe, in particular the United States, Europe and Asia.

Most recently, I have resided in an old Chinese District of Kowloon coming on 20 years. This is my home, the people out on the street know me and I have lived here longer than any of the other neighborhoods I have lived in during the entirety of my adult life.

Myself a Tour Guide

I am also a retired international lawyer who has reinvented himself as a professional artist/photographer and street savvy Hong Kong private tour guide.  When I am not out on tour engaging with diverse clientele from all over the world, I am busy reading, exploring, photographing and creating. This is not a routine for me. This is both a passion and a blessing!

Now I am doing essentially the same thing with essentially the same kinds of folks who were previously my clients as an international lawyer (highly successful, driven, well traveled, well informed and demanding), only now, instead of closing a deal, the goal is fun!

Some would find the story of my transformation alone to be one worth hearing about. But as you will see, there is much much more that goes with it.

As an American offering high touch cultural-historic-photographic tours of Hong Kong, one of the things I do is to dig up and integrate into my narrative historical nuggets of particular interest to American travelers. For example, what was the role of Yankee clippers and the California gold rush in the emergence of Hong Kong as the gateway to China; or

who was Commissioner Lin and why is his statue sitting in the heart of New York City's China Town; or why and where did Edward Snowden hole up when he passed through Hong Kong; or why is it that so many Americans are buried in the old Protestant Cemetery located next to the former British East India Company headquarters building in Old Macau; or which Taoist temple in Macau was the signing venue of the first treaty between the United States and China, or what brought FDR’s grandfather to Macau and later Hong Kong, or why was the US Consulate in Hong Kong reputed to be the largest in the world during the Cold War? How did American merchants behave during the opium wars? What was the early approach of the United States vis-a-vis China and how did that affect global events in the 20th and 21st Centuries?

My time spent living and working in the London further elaborates the depth of my gaze on the history of this former British Colony as well.

I have plenty of other intriguing facts and anecdotes I like to share: the old coastal China trade, triads and secret societies; South China pirates; Chinese folk religion; how to haggle in street markets; Hong Kong style messy urbanism (the squatter villages, the Kowloon Walled City, street markets and informal use of public space); the trading patterns of colonial Asia, the essential role played by the indigenous Tanka boat people in the development of Hong Kong and Macau as port cities; and my favorite regional Asian and Chinese cuisines, to name a few.

All of the information I have accumulated over the years is available to my private Hong Kong Tour and Hong Kong Photo Tour clients!

You see, it is one thing to blather on with marketing cliches about showing you the much touted "hidden gems"and "back streets" , it is another to put in the requisite elbow grease necessary to build and share a comprehensive framework connecting a multitude of cultural and historic dots in an engaging and user friendly narrative.  That is my singular aim!

In my preparations for your private Hong Kong walking tour, I have literally spent thousands of hours reconnoitering the streets of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories and Old Macau, camera in hand, searching for all manner of intriguing characters, urban legends, local points of interest, world class street art, delicious eateries and the wonders of raw Cantonese street culture (don't worry, I will explain what that is) in all of its curious manifestations. I have also logged hundreds of hours engaging in relevant historic research of precolonial, colonial and modern day Hong Kong, Macau and China as well as greater Asia.

During my private Hong Kong walking tour engagements, in addition to queries  concerning ground covered on the tour itself, I am routinely called upon to comment on other diverse topics, including:

-What it is like living, working and raising a family in Hong Kong;

-Local and regional business, politics and current affairs (Hong Kong's government and so called Basic Law, Hong Kong's world class transportation system, Hong Kong's real estate bubble, Hong Kong's massive commitment to public housing, Hong Kong's public and private educational system and Hong Kong's public healthcare system);

-Diverse historical matters including the origins of the European spice trade, the golden age of Macau (sometimes referred to as the Japanese Southern barbarian trade), the Canton (barbarian) trading system, early Sino-American relations, the opium wars, the age of the treaty ports and importantly, China's so called century of foreign humiliations,

-China's struggle towards modernity and the role of Hong Kong vis a vis same;

-the Battle of Hong Kong and the Japanese occupation;

-Hong Kong's rapid socioeconomic growth in the period from 1950-1990 (the "Tiger Economy");

-Hong Kong's adjustment during the post 1997 handover period.;

-Ongoing developments in US-China relations and my views leading into the future of the region.

-My experiences and knowledge of South East Asia and the greater China region.

Most importantly,  during my private Hong Kong walking tours, I always endeavor to relate these subjects in a personalized, engaging, entertaining and fully accessible style.

In other words, you can expect to be interacting with someone who is much more than a repository of trivial facts, figures and dates, spewing them forth like a walking tape recorder wearing a tour guide pass.

You will be visiting Hong Kong, but I consider it my calling to offer a well considered perspective on broader issues that will greatly illuminate your stay.

What can be learned from the culture, history and people of the Pearl River Delta region (including Macau, Old Canton (Guangzhou) and Hong Kong), the earliest commercial and cultural interactions between China and the West, all of which literally began here, and how this knowledge be applied to broader use?

As a simple example I will mention the re-animated US/China trade war you have no doubt been reading about. Would it surprise you if I said there is much more to it than meets the eye?

At the end of my private walking tours,  I want you to feel like you have learned something transcending a run of the mill tour. Something that will give you a better grasp of current global events as they unfold. Something interesting you can confidently share with your colleagues, family and friends following your return home. Something in addition to the differences between Cantonese and northern Chinese cuisines, a topic I consider of equal importance!

I always assume my clients fancy themselves as sophisticated well informed travelers and not mere tourists simply being led from Point A to Point B, with a jewelry factory stop in between.

Are you intrigued? Then please read on...

Now  I recognize that not everyone will want to delve into weighty topics on break. That's fine because you are on holiday, there is only so much one can manage out on a walking tour and we all want to lose weight. Indeed, there are more than a few occasions where silence is indeed golden.

So if you just want to go out, lighten up, have fun and enjoy the fabulous sights on the wonderful streets of Hong Kong, I'm with you. Let's go do it!

A FAIR Bit More THAN JUST ANOTHER Hong Kong Tour Guide

In addition to Europe, more than half of my time abroad was spent in and around Japan, Hong Kong, China and South East Asia. Both my Dad and my Grandfather managed trading businesses in China (Hong Kong and Shanghai) and Asia during the first and latter part of the 20th century. Half of my immediate and extended family is Asian, so Asian history and culture is in my blood. Experience, brings context and if you are coming from any of those places, you can count on me to help you connect all of the cultural and historic way points you may have passed during your journey. Conversely, if you are headed to those places, you can ask  me for whatever insights I may have to share. 

My Mom, who was Japanese, was a spiritually gifted human being and raised me to relish and respect all cultures and religions. While I grew up going to church on Sundays, I discovered Zen Buddhism living in Japan as a teenager.  My wife is a Thai Buddhist who has lived in Hong Kong 26+ years.  Some guides will show you an authentic local temple. I will show you the temples where my family goes to pray and what awe inspiring temples they are!

Having spent a lifetime perfecting my skills at persuasive oratory and written communication (gift of the gab) I have now redirected those skills to sharing my unique portfolio of local knowledge and experience with maximum efficacy. Optimal communication translates into maximum information sent and received.

Which direction we turn in our discussions is entirely up to you. Suffice it to say that having lived abroad more than half of my life, I have resided, worked in and visited some extraordinary places (60+ countries and counting) and I have plenty of interesting memories and experiences to share as I am sure you do as well.

I take pride in being a keen social observer, an artist/entertainer, a lover of good food and a culturally intelligent human being.

And speaking of entertainers...

Photography: A Lifelong Passion leading to new opportunities

Detailed information about my private Hong Kong Photo tours and Hong Kong street photography courses can be found at this link.

I have been a photographer all of my life. In fact I got my first job with a camera.

My Dad taught me how to take photographs on his Leica film camera when I was 8 years old. I grew up with film, darkrooms and plenty of photographic exploring during my travels. My first summer job opportunity as a 14 year old, literally fell onto my lap as a result of my documentary photography with the camera pictured to the left.

Following my retirement from the law, which coincided with the advent of digital cameras, I was finally able to channel my lifelong passion for photography. More specifically, I was able to stylistically refine my "photographic eye" and develop a visual style that connects with my viewers.

I am happy to share all I have learned over the years with all of my clients and very happy to shoot lots of memorable photographs of you during your premium private Hong Kong walking tours and Hong Kong photo tours!

My street photography and artwork has racked up more than 260 million views on the internet. Check out some of my Hong Kong Street photography here. My digital artwork and Hong Kong photography has been acquired by collectors and followers from all over the world.

I have scouted and know exactly where to capture the best images along all my tour routes and I am eager to share all of my hard won secrets with you! Here are some of my Hong Kong fine art images for your perusal (print inquiries are also welcome).

My Mission

My mission can be simply stated as follows: To provide all of my private Hong Kong walking tour clients with an entertaining, deeply informative and street savvy premium travel experience ultimately leading to cherished memories, a portfolio of stunning on-tour photographs, an urge for further investigation and a strong desire to navigate your way back to this wonderfully engaging city.

All of my premium Hong Kong private tours discussed on this website are performed soulfully by me. Business professionals will recognize immediately what I mean when I say I am a "high touch" service provider. By engaging me to be your guide, you can expect the utmost attention to detail in personalized service, proactive communication, positive attitude, transparency, the highest standards of best practice and client service professionalism. There is no such thing as overkill.

So you may ask, why have I written this somewhat lengthy description of my background and personality? Well the answer is plain and simple, you are about to make a very important decision: Is this someone I want to spend a full day or several days with on my visit to Hong Kong? I want you to make that decision as a well informed consumer. Because who you see above is who you are going to get!

Now hopefully, I will have provided you with a fair idea of who I am, where I am coming from, the nature of my expertise, the style of my patter and the overall multi-dimensional spirit of my endeavors.

Enough so that you will find yourself sufficiently intrigued to take the next big step and click the Inquiries button below!  

The bottom line, spend a day or two with me and I guarantee that you will leave Hong Kong with a memorable and entertaining experience exploring the richness of life on the Streets of Hong Kong.

And on the way you will have also gained a friend for life!

NEXT STEPS

For details concerning the private Hong Kong tours I offer, please jump to my Private Private Tours page. Please note that all of my tours are personalized and are meant to be configured to meet your specific preferences and requests. This means, with advance notice, I am perfectly willing to deliver a tour designed specifically for you. Alternatively,  as many do, you can just leave it with me.

Finally, to inquire as to how to engage me to be your guide, or send me a message, please jump to my Inquiries Page or click the red navigation button you see below and through out the rest of this website.

LIVE FEED FROM THE STREETS OF HONG KONG...