She was on the prowl for a health book by her idol, actress Skye Chan Sin-yeung, who collaborated with nutritionist Sylvia Lam to publish the title with Wan Li Book Company.

“I lost 30 pounds in five months reading their previous book. I have been obsessed with their publications since then. I was early this morning to buy their new book, because I want to get the limited goodie bags with health and beauty products,” Lee said.

Danny Leung Cheuk-lun, an assistant general manager with Wan Li, said the title had topped the charts but stopped short of revealing its volume of sales. He added that healthy recipe books were also proving popular.

“As long as you have the right titles for the right audience, you can still make sales regardless of the types of books,” he said.

But the assistant general manager said he wished the company could achieve the same sales figure as the previous year.

“Though there are more people coming in the afternoon, some students are still not having their summer holidays. It definitely affects sales. We have high hopes for the coming Saturday and Sunday,” Leung said.

School books were also popular among parents, with housewife Carmen Wong Ka-man, 32, on the hunt for such publications for her eight-year-old daughter, two shopping trolleys in tow.

“I’m preparing my daughter for Primary Three. Now I’m buying Chinese and mathematics exercises. I need to head to other booths for English books that align with her school syllabus,” Wong said.

She said she expected to spend HK$3,000 (US$382) on such books alone, while also keeping a look out for novels and atlases for her girl.

Billy Kwong Kwok-kau, director and deputy general manager of Hong Kong Educational Publishing, said the company had done really well last year and he was optimistic business would reach the same levels this time out.

He added that parents were willing to buy from the publisher because of its wide variety of academic books.

“I think I can finish five to six of the Wisley series youth version in a week,” Kennis said.

Kwan spent slightly more than HK$2,000 on Ni Kuang titles alone, adding she particularly enjoyed compilations of articles by the late writer.

Some publishers also said that titles on local history were also selling well at the book fair.

Lai Yiu-Keung, director and deputy editor-in-chief of Chung Hwa Book, told the Post that, apart from books about mainland China’s Forbidden City, people appeared to be very interested in titles on local history.

“We had a book published this year that contains the works of more than 70 local architects. Through interviews and photos, they share their design concepts and some of the stories behind them,” he said.

“We all know Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery in Fanling, but no one knows about the architect’s perspective.”

Lai also said he hoped to reach the same level of sales as the previous year, adding political books still had a market in Hong Kong.

The Post observed several customers buying a new book by the publisher, which curates 25 of the city’s key events over the past 25 years and focuses on the relationship between Hong Kong and the mainland.

Books did not necessarily have to be a political satire to grab people’s attention, Lai said.

Hung Wing-hei, senior manager at Hong Kong Open Page Publishing, said lots of visitors during the morning had bought the company’s recently released title, which focused on the history of local entertainment over the past few decades.

The publisher also showcased several modern Chinese history books and translated Japanese and Korean novels. Hung added that the company hoped to appeal to more parents by offering Cantonese versions of classic stories, such as Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

“Of course, we hope to make more sales than last year … But the economic situation in Hong Kong is not that good since the pandemic started,” Hung said.

“Some people might still be reluctant to spend money on leisure items. That could be a challenge for us.”

This year’s book fair is among several activities centred on the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule.

The seven-day annual event, themed on history and city literature, will run from Wednesday until next Tuesday, alongside the Hong Kong Sports and Leisure Expo and the World of Snacks event, totalling more than 700 exhibitors showcasing their products.

Sophia Chong Suk-fan, executive director of organiser, the Trade Development Council, was at the venue to check on crowd control and booth operations. Chong said she was optimistic about the turnout.

“I think people are longing for a physical exhibition to take place, a large-scale one like the book fair, because it has been quite some time that Hong Kong residents have not been able to join an event of this magnitude,” Chong said.

The council had previously rejected applications by some publishers such as Hillway Culture and One of a Kind to join this year’s event.

Chong on Tuesday said organisers had never censored any titles ahead of the fairs.