The late wuxia novelist whose martial arts books have inspired generations of Chinese youngsters the world over also fascinated Lung Ka-sing as a child, leading him to devour hand-me-down versions from the chefs working in his parents’ restaurant.
Lung moved to Holland with his parents at age six and credits Cha’s novels with helping him learn to read and write Chinese.
“My early impression of Hong Kong was very vague because I left at a young age,” he said. “But I love Hong Kong culture and used to read a lot of Jin Yong’s fiction.”
His first exposure to that world came with The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, which sparked his interest in other books in the collection, he said.
The recollection was one of several the soft-spoken Lung, 52, shared in an interview with the Post, during which he also drew a Labubu character exclusively for the newspaper’s readers.
