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Valery Garrett - Richard Garrett

I was born in England but I’ve lived in Hong Kong for over thirty years. At first I worked as a fashion designer for some large international companies. But at weekends I’d be off travelling round the New Territories photographing and interviewing women in the remote villages about their life, clothing and festivals. During quiet lunch breaks back in the design studio, I would type up my notes. A friend asked to see the finished work, and eventually I passed it to him. Some months later, I had a call from an editor at Oxford University Press. They wanted to publish my book - Traditional Chinese Dress in Hong Kong and South China.

Designing then gave way to full time freelance writing, and I now specialise in Chinese culture and travel, especially Hong Kong and Guangzhou. I am an acknowledged authority on Chinese dress and my major book on the subject, Chinese Dress from the Qing Dynasty to the Present , was published by Tuttle in 2008. Some years ago I was the subject of a thirty minute documentary by Hong Kong TV station RTHK on my work in the New Territories.

I have written eleven non-fiction books. My latest, Discover Hong Kong, the City’s History and Culture Redefined’, just published by Marshall Cavendish, includes sixty of my favourite places to visit in Hong Kong. Almost all the photos in the book were taken by me, and I illustrate all my articles. I’ve had over a hundred articles published in Hong Kong and overseas including The Age, Australia; South China Morning Post, Hong Kong; Piecework, USA; The Lady, UK; Solitaire, Singapore; Flora, UK; and City Weekend, Beijing.

My work as a writer and lecturer takes me around Asia and I was invited to be Enrichment Lecturer on board the ship The World as it sailed down the South China coast from Shanghai to Hong Kong. I was also a tour guide for the Hong Kong Tourism Board for many years and helped establish the popular Hong Kong Heritage Tour. For several years I wrote the commentary for new tours run by the HKTB. I still love Hong Kong after all these years and I am always discovering something new. I also enjoy my frequent visits to Guangzhou and other cities in China.

I am Council Member of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong.