“A Literary Celebration of the Hotel Central” was held last night on the rooftop of the eponymous hotel in Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro (亞美打利庇盧大馬路) last night, gathering book lovers for cocktails and book readings conducted by British writer and China historian Paul French, and Annemarie Evans, a broadcaster and journalist also from the UK.
Excerpts from books by four authors were read to last night’s attendees, with each featuring Hotel Central and the writers’ depictions of Macau’s past. Held as part of the 15th Macau Literary Festival– The Script Road, the excerpts read and discussed were by authors Han Suyin, Ernest Gann and Richard Mason, with the works published during the 1950s. The last of the excerpts came from the 1963 travelogue titled “Thrilling Cities” by British writer and James Bond creator Ian Flemming as a journalist for The Sunday Times. Yesterday’s speakers noted that all the writers had stayed at least once at the hotel, which opened nearly a century ago, on July 22, 1928.
Also presented yesterday was a brief introduction to Hotel Central, which was the tallest building in Macau and the whole Portuguese colonial empire and the city’s first building to have lifts. The hotel was, at one point, also Macau’s first premier integrated entertainment and gaming destination. After a period of decline, it was revamped and reopened as a two-star hotel in 2024.
Regarding the speakers, French, who first visited Macau in the late 1980s as a language student, has written various books on China, with among his works being The New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–winning murder mystery “Midnight in Peking”, “City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir”, and the biography “Her Lotus Year”. Macau has also been the subject of French’s works, those being his 2021 book “Strangers on the Praia: A Tale of Refugees and Resistance in Wartime Macao”, and “Destination Macao”, published just last year. The latter is the third of his “Destination” series and features “18 true stories of fascinating people who lived in or visited Macau in the 19th and 20th centuries”, according to a summary of the book on Amazon.
The Post published a book review by Harald Brüning, titled “‘Destination Macao’ by Paul French - a good read”, on April 27, 2025 https://macaupostdaily.com/news/24724
Evans, meanwhile, is based in Hong Kong, having lived there for 32 years. She is also a writer and noted that she loves visiting Macau.
The literary festival continues tonight with a book launch at the Portuguese Bookshop and a film-screening at Cinematheque•Passion. The schedule and more details of the festival, which lasts through Sunday, can be found on https://www.facebook.com/macaulitfest/
British writer and China historian Paul French reads an excerpt from one of the four books presented last night as broadcaster and journalist Annemarie Evans holds up a lamp for better lighting. – Photo: Rui Pastorin
