Consumption forms an essential part of Hong Kong people's lives today, but until now little serious attention has been paid to it. This book fills this gap, in a fascinating way. The contributors to this volume explore such topics as:

- the coming of shopping malls to Hong Kong

- tenants' senses of home in cramped public housing

- the experiences of movie-going

- alcohol as a marker ofsocial class

- the pursuit of fashion

- Chinese art and identity among Hong Kong collectors

- the dream and reality of owning a flat

- Lan Kwai Fong and its mystique

- the McDonald's Snoopy craze of fall 1998

- cultural identity and consumption in Hong Kong today

This book shows how the detailed ehtnographic study of consumption in Hong Kong can lead to a deeper understanding of Hong Kong life as a whole, as well as of consumption in the world at large.

Gordon Mathews teaches anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has written Global Culture/Individual Identity: Searching For Home in the Cultural Supermarket (2000).

Tai-lok Lui teaches sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has co-edited The Dynamics of social movement in Hong Kong(2000), and co-authored City States in the Global Economy (1997).