“I want to get my hands on Lam Wing-sum’s new book. There are limited signed copies so I want to make sure I get one,” he said of the Hong Kong novelist.

To, who has attended every Hong Kong Book Fair since 2011, said the crowd was visibly larger this time, almost twice the size of last year’s pandemic-hit edition.

The annual book fair started at 10am, with the organiser expecting visitor numbers to reach pre-pandemic levels of 1 million over the seven-day event.

Angela Lee Wai-lum, who arrived at 7am and was third in line, had her sights set on Skye Chan Sin-yeung’s book on low-carb meals.

The 49-year-old said this was the third year she had attended the event just to buy the actress’ diet books, which came with limited edition goodie bags containing supplements and meal replacement kits.

She said she expected to spend around HK$1,500 on books and other merchandise and would use her consumption vouchers if vendors accepted them.

“As the first fair post-pandemic, there are a lot more people this year. Not many have their masks on, which is refreshing to see. It feels like we are back to normal. I also saw some foreigners who travelled here with their suitcases,” she said.

Bookshop owner Andrew Nian, 35, flew to Hong Kong from Chengdu in Sichuan province on Tuesday night to attend the fair.

Nian, whose shop sells titles on humanities and social sciences, was eyeing the latest titles at the fair, some of which might not be available in mainland China. He brought an empty suitcase to store his haul.

“I am excited to discover more books and see what the fair has to offer. It has been three years since I’ve been back,” he said.

James Dodge Perez of US publishing company ReadersMagnet was one of the overseas vendors at the book fair this year.

The San Diego-based company brought titles from 25 authors, covering a variety of genres, such as biographies and science fiction.

“This is the first time we are participating in an international event in Asia,” he said.

“The Hong Kong Book Fair is undoubtedly the biggest market, and this is the gateway to Asia. We’ve been waiting to do this, but there was a pandemic, so we are excited that Hong Kong has reopened its borders.”

The week-long event differed from US fairs, which usually only ran over a weekend, Perez noted.

Ho Wai-ming, a 55-year-old cleaner, visited the fair especially to buy a copy of Beyond the Dream, a biography of Wong Ka-kui, the late vocalist of local rock band Beyond.

The book, written by a long-time fan, was released to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Wong’s untimely death at age 31 after falling off the stage while filming a Japanese game show.

“I’ve been a fan of theirs since 1984 since the time they were still an underground band. He was a musician like no other,” said Ho, tearing up.

One available at a booth was a new collection of articles by former legislator Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, who was fined HK$4,000 last year after being convicted of failing to register a legal defence fund for those involved in the 2019 anti-government protests.

Travel books by veteran journalist Allan Au Ka-lun, who used to write a column for the now-shut Stand News, could be found at publisher BBluesky’s booth. The travel books were removed from public libraries after he was arrested last year by national security police for allegedly conspiring to publish and reproduce seditious materials.

Leslie Ng Chi-ching, editor-in-chief of BBluesky, told the Post that Au’s travelogues, first published more than 10 years ago, were in line with the fair’s guidelines.

“We are not worried because the government said bookshops are allowed to sell these titles and we have been doing so,” Ng said.

“If you see the book’s contents, you can tell there’s nothing sensitive, so we are not concerned. We fulfil all their requirements.”

The guidelines state that exhibitors are only allowed to sell Class 1 articles, a category of publications suitable for distribution to any age group.

Sophia Chong Suk-fan, deputy director of fair organiser the Trade Development Council, earlier said it did not have a list of books that could or could not be displayed.

The theme of this year’s fair is children’s and young adult literature, with a focus on Hong Kong writers and illustrators. The event will run from Wednesday until July 25, concurrently with a sports and snacks fair.

Admission to all three fairs costs HK$30. Doors are open from 10am to 10pm on Wednesday and Thursday, 10am to 11pm on Friday and Saturday, 10am to 10pm on Sunday and Monday, and 9am to 5pm on Tuesday.