Hong Kong’s Indie Bookshops: I’m Thirsty (For Travel)

We’re shining a light on some of the independent bookshops that are keeping Hong Kong’s literary scene alive. Stay tuned for our upcoming Zolima’s Picks roundup!

It all started when Fred Lam went on his first solo trip for an exchange to Australia at 16. The experience opened his eyes and sparked a hunger to see more. Travel has run through everything he has done since. In 2015, Lam and his partner Sonya Fock founded the travel agency Sherpas, then opened the travel-themed restaurant Lonely Paisley during the pandemic. Their latest venture is even wilder: renting a five-storey tong lau to create a travel-inspired book cafe. 

Painted in eye-catching yellow, blue and orange, I’m Thirsty stands out in Cheung Sha Wan’s industrial area. Housed in a 70-year-old tong lau, it features a ground-floor cafe, an exhibition room on the second floor, a bookstore called Thirsty for the Unknown on the third, an event space on the fourth and a rooftop for planting. 

As a freelance travel writer, opening a bookstore had long been Lam’s dream, but practical concerns pushed it back in favour of opening a restaurant in 2019. “We knew it’s hard to sustain a living from a bookstore. If we were to do it, it had to come with coffee and a space for events,” he recalls. 

The opportunity came in 2024 when Fock found a tong lau for lease. They spent three months transforming the old residential building and in the same year they closed their restaurant due to management difficulties.  The bookshop-café marks a shift from running a restaurant. Its name, which is 渴喝 (hot3 hot3) in Chinese — meaning “thirsty and drink” — reflects their vision for the space. 

“We are all thirsty for something. Whether it’s a drink, an adventure on a trip or a hunger for knowledge when we read,” says Lam, 46. “It represents both the feeling of thirst and the act of drinking to satisfy it. It’s a place where people can come with curiosity and leave having found something.” 

A bookstore for travellers

Climbing up to the third-floor bookshop, visitors discover a collection divided into three categories. There are informative titles on history and world politics; recreational books on topics like photography, architecture, food and culture; and publications on Hong Kong.

“Of course there is market consideration when we introduce the books, but 80 per cent of them are topics that I enjoy reading,” says Lam. “Just by looking at the selection, you could basically understand what kind of person I am and what I like,” he adds, laughing. “I hope this becomes a place where both Hong Kongers and visitors can get to know the city and the world.”

Aside from the shelves of travel-related books, there is a corner dedicated to a series of Lonely Planet guides that are not for sale. Founded in Australia in 1973, it is a best-selling travel guide offering expert advice and destination information. Before smartphones, many backpackers would set off with the blue book in hand. 

Though still publishing, Lonely Planet has lost some edge in the social media era. It exited the Chinese market in 2024 and launched a mobile app this March. The change reflects how trip planning is shifting toward digital, on-the-go platforms and it has also contributed to a growing sense of sameness in travel.

Guidebooks like Lonely Planet were once criticised for shaping popular tourist routes, such as Southeast Asia’s “banana pancake trail,” which gradually became a standard itinerary for backpackers. Today, that same effect is even more pronounced on social media, where Instagram-driven “must-see” spots make trips feel increasingly alike. 

“Travel becomes a theatre experience,” Lam says. “Those hotspots, top 10 places, are staged around what others expect you to see.”

If you’re travelling for the first time, visiting tried-and-tested spots can be appealing. But Lam wants to show another way of travelling. “You can stay with a local family, meet people and visit more down-to-earth places,” he says. “That’s the kind of experience many backpackers are after, trying to understand what life is like there. But it takes time and you have to find your own way into it.” 

A community for travellers

Beyond books, Lam also organises regular events for people to connect and learn more about the city. Around 20 events are held each month in the building, ranging from book talks and walking tours to traveller gatherings. One of them is the “traveller’s stall” (旅人地攤 leui5 yan4 dei6 taan1). Each session invites around six travellers to set up stalls with items they carry on the road, from photos and maps to souvenirs, and share their travel stories with visitors.

“I know many travellers want to share what they’ve seen and gained on their journeys,” says Lam. “I believe, as the saying goes, happiness is real only when shared. I hope this bookstore can grow into a community where you can find knowledge and like-minded people who enjoy travel and care about the world.” 

Another event Lam takes particular joy in is a Cheung Sha Wan walking tour themed around death. Before moving to the former industrial area, the bookstore owner had little interest in the neighbourhood. But the traveller’s instinct has driven him to understand what’s around his bookshop. 

Why death? It’s because, after researching, Lam found that Cheung Sha Wan actually bore witness to some of Hong Kong’s deadliest events. The 1956 Double Tenth Riots — a clash between pro-Communists and pro-Nationalists — erupted at Lei Cheng Uk Estate, leading to multiple fatalities. In 1962, a fire in a building on Un Chau Street, not far from I’m Thirsty, killed 42 people. 20 years later, a mass stabbing at Anne Anne Kindergarten injured 44 people. 

Each walking tour ends back at I’m Thirsty, where participants can sit for a drink or head upstairs to browse books for further reading. “Adventure, knowledge and community are what we want to develop here,” says Lam. “Ultimately, we hope to encourage people to start their journey and find what they’re thirsty for.”

No risk, no gain

Thirsty for the Unknown faces many of the same financial challenges as Hong Kong’s other independent bookshops. Its earnings are barely enough to cover staff salaries and it has to close on Tuesdays to save costs. Luckily, the operation remains viable thanks to the café, non-book sales and events.

The biggest challenge is book pricing, says Lam. Unlike beverages and other products, books have fixed market prices: “Take the example of the soap from Syria that I sell here,” he says. “I can set the price myself because there’s an information gap; people don’t know where or how much I got it. But books are different. All bookstores sell with a market price. You can only offer discounts to make them cheaper, not more expensive, otherwise no one would buy them.”

There’s also the political pressure of selling books in today’s Hong Kong. In March, the owner and staff of Book Punch in Sham Shui Po were arrested under the National Security Law for selling seditious titles, including a biography of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai. After the raid, some independent booksellers voiced concerns on social media and even closed their doors until further notice. 

“It’s obvious that running a bookstore in Hong Kong is now a high-risk industry and those standing in the frontline are doing the best to survive,” says Lam. “The indie bookstore is really a loving industry and I’m grateful to have each other to support.”

But the tightening political restrictions on publishing have not stopped the traveller’s passion for running the bookstore. “Going on a trip always comes with risk and it’s of course not as safe as staying at home,” says Lam. “If you only opt for a safe journey, you might miss out on a lot of things. The most interesting trips are always the ones with a bit of unknown.”

The key, he says, is to always find a balance. “If you have enough experience, ability and a backup plan to handle a situation, then it’s safe to take risks within your control. I think running a bookstore follows the same logic. We think about our bottom line, see where the red line is and move through the space in between.”

I’m Thirsty is located at 452 Castle Peak Road, Cheung Sha Wan. The bookshop, Thirsty for the Unknown, is closed on Tuesday.