The Evergreen Tea House (Gerakbudaya)

The Evergreen Tea House is a deftly crafted, provocative and poignant tale – blending mismatched love and twisted ambition with political intrigue and diplomatic mendacity. Set in Hong Kong during the twilight years of British rule, the characters live through tumultuous events – the Japanese occupation, the Korean War, the Cultural Revolution and the emotional trauma associated with the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

The unique and noteworthy element of this novel, beyond its strong evocation of time and place and its careful melding of facts with fiction, is its interpretation of historical events through a Chinese perspective. 

“David Wong is a brilliant observer of the tradition versus modernity problem, which had dogged China since the end of the 19th century … He also brings his own experience as a (very senior) Hong Kong civil servant into the story with illuminating anecdotes. There is a great deal to be learnt in this novel, as one races through the many-layered stories. And one is left with a strong sense of the author through the many-layered stories. And one is left with a strong sense of the author as a deep thinker and a man of high principles.  

Review by Dr. Frances Wood,

Curator of the Chinese Collections at the British Library,

in the Royal Society for Asian Affairs journal

“David Wong has all the powers of empathy that a novelist requires above all other virtues. . . . It is the breadth and detail of the political picture and the imaginative involvement of contrasting and opposing points of view that give this novel its fascination.”

Review by Jeremy Trafford 

in the PEN International Magazine