Vintage vibe

Briton in Hong Kong helps connect local community through nostalgic book and music shop, Hou Chenchen reports in Hong Kong.

Rickshaws run along the streets and pass by the colorful advertisements of small shops. At road intersections, high-rise buildings and fashionable billboards come clearer into view.

This is Gary Brightman's first impression of Hong Kong — a harmonious mix of modernity and tradition — as if classic sci-fi film Blade Runner becomes reality.

"It was like getting into a dream world," said Brightman, a 63-year-old Briton and the owner of Vibe, a vintage music and book store.

Brightman used to be a global head of an information technology company. He lived in Britain for 48 years before running Vibe at the Silvermine Bay area of Mui Wo, Lantau Island, in Hong Kong since 2018.

A chance to visit Hong Kong in 1987 became a turning point for Brightman. The vibrant cityscape and the dynamic culture profoundly impacted his perspective on life.

Brightman said Hong Kong inspired his artistic, creative senses and it was the most energizing thing that could have happened to him.

"It was my sense that told me, I gotta live here."

In May 2018, Brightman took over the bookshop Imprint Books, operated by a British lecturer for 16 years. He rebranded the establishment as Vibe and carried out a special transformation, turning it into a welcoming community hub on Lantau Island.

Vibe offers a vibrant mix of multilanguage books and classic vinyl albums, featuring about 16,000 Chinese and English titles and thousands of records. Customers from at home and abroad can also find CDs of popular funk bands tracing back to the 1990s.

"My love for Hong Kong and its history inspired me to gather many Chinese books on the topic, especially books that detail the long history of China," he said.

Brightman said he had never imagined he would open a bookstore. "Compared to London, Hong Kong is not regimented into a certain way of living. There is an open mindset, that you can start any job you want to," he said.