Gweilo 1886

British Colony of Hong Kong, 1886.
Fini is a jaded ex-priest with a long history of opium addiction, returning to the birthplace he thought he had left behind.
His father—a British naval veteran of the Opium Wars and an influential merchant in Southeast Asia’s opium trade—is dead. What remains is a final request, something about a jade ring, and unfinished family business.
With Xiao, a sharp-tongued feline whose presence is as comforting as it is suspicious, follow Fini from Victoria Harbour into the streets, institutions, opium dens and private rooms of Victorian Hong Kong. Piece together a fractured family history in a city shaped by empire, faith, greed and vice.
FOLLOW THE TRAIL
Question the people who knew his father’s world. Inspect objects, follow clues, and discover where the legacy of a jade ring leads in this third-person investigation and mystery adventure.
Some encounters feel too convenient. Some faces seem to belong to another time. As Fini struggles with his addiction, separating what he discovers from what he believes becomes increasingly difficult.
Who can he trust—and how much can he trust himself?
A CITY BUILT ON CONTRADICTIONS
Explore a dramatic vision of British-ruled Hong Kong: Cantonese shops and alleys beside colonial institutions, missionary faith beside private vice, and extraordinary wealth beside desperation.
The city’s history, people and tensions are woven into the investigation. Behind its public facades lie the relationships and interests that shaped his father’s fortune—and may explain what he left behind.
AN UNLIKELY COMPANION
Xiao travels at Fini’s side, bringing curiosity, suspicion and a dry sense of humor to a deeply personal search for identity, memory and truth.
He has an opinion about almost everyone. He rarely keeps it to himself.
Whether Xiao is the clearest voice in Fini’s world—or simply the one he trusts most—is another question entirely.