About Us

Chris Rowthorn

Born in the UK and raised in the United States, I’ve made my home in Kyoto, Japan, since 1992. In 1995 I started working as a Regional Correspondent for The Japan Times, a national English-language newspaper published in Tokyo. In 1996 I started writing for Lonely Planet Guidebooks and since then I have worked on 17 guidebooks to Kyoto, Japan, Tokyo, Malaysia, South-East Asia and Victoria (Australia).

Like most of Lonely Planet’s readers, I’m an inveterate traveler. I’ve traveled widely in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. My true passion is hiking and climbing and I’ve climbed in the Rockies, the Alps, the Japan Alps, the Himalayas and the Patagonian Andes. I’m also a keen diver and snorkeler, and my idea of heaven is floating over a coral reef somewhere in south-east Asia. While Kyoto is my home, in the past I’ve lived in New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Melbourne, and Tokyo. I’ve also spent long periods of time in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Paris.

I spend part of each year in Hong Kong, exploring the city, and meeting and training guides.

When I’m not traveling, I enjoy seeking out new restaurants, bars and hot springs in and around Kyoto.

My Guides

I work with two Hong Kong Chinese guides who are fluent in English, and two long-term ex-pats residing in Hong Kong. All of my guides know the city and the culture inside and out. I have personally interviewed, trained and worked with each of these guides to insure that they offer the tours and services available anywhere. Basically, I want my guides to give the sort of tours that I myself would enjoy taking: informative, comfortable and special. In a word: the exact opposite of what you’d get on a large bus tour of the city. My guides will function as your personal assistant as well as your tour guide. Their goal is to make your trip as smooth and painless as possible, while insuring that you find what it is you’re looking for in Hong Kong. Please consider them your close personal friend in this wonderful city.