Bonanza at book fair
Jennifer Lai
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Actress and singer Theresa Fu Wing stole the spotlight at yesterday's opening of the Hong Kong Book Fair, with some of her fans waiting up to 44 hours to get their hands on her new photo collection and CD.
A fan, Bao Jie, flew in from Shanghai on Tuesday afternoon to ensure she got three sets of both versions of Fu's CD and planned to return in the evening to buy around 80 sets for other fans in her hometown.
Others who stood in line for hours included Secondary Five student Foo Wing-shan and 22-year-old Chow Yuk- ching, who said they expected to spend up to HK$15,000 to buy CDs for themselves and fans in Guangzhou.
Foo said she and others had taken turns to stand in line outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where the book fair is being held, so that they could return home to shower and eat. They had also prepared large stocks of water to prevent dehydration in the summer heat.
Fu became popular in a series of puppy-love movies from 2002 to last year before devoting more time to her singing career.
Besides Fu's pictures and CDs, books were also very much to the fore.
Leung Chiu and his daughter said they were prepared to spend up to HK$6,000 on their purchases. To prove their point they pointed to the two suitcases they brought with them. Leung said he was mainly interested in travel and self-help books.
The charity Sowers Action, which promotes foundation education in the mainland, is working with the Hong Kong Publishing Federation to
sell more than 33,000 books during the fair.
Alison Chan Yee-ka, a Sowers Action volunteer at the One Book One Hope stall, said the group hoped to raise HK$78 million with all proceeds going to help build school libraries in Sichuan.
The Trade Development Council said 14,000 people visited the fair in the first hour - 40 percent more than last year.
And they do not appear to be worried that books are becoming more expensive.