Research Interests:
Collective Memories, Cultural Heritage, Politics of Identities, Family and Kinship.
Fieldwork Experience: Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Singapore.
Publications (Books)
Chan, S. C., & Lang, G. (2015). Building temples in China: Memories, heritage, and identities. London: Routledge.
Chan, S. C. (2015). Chaozhou hungry ghosts festival: Intangible cultural heritage, collective memories and identities (潮籍盂蘭勝會：集體回憶、非物質文化與身份認同). Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Book Co (HK) Ltd. (In Chinese)
Publications (Articles in Refereed Journals)
Chan, S. C. (2023) Unequal Inscriptions of the Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival Celebrations as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong. China Perspectives 132:49-59. https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.14625
Chan, S. C. (2019). Creepy no more: inventing the Chaozhou Hungry Ghosts Cultural Festival in Hong Kong. Review of Religion and Chinese Society, 6(2), 273-296. https://doi.org/10.1163/22143955-00602007
Chan, S. C. (2019). Tea cafes and Hong Kong identity: Food culture and hybridity. China Information, 33(3), 311-328. https://doi.org/10.1177/0920203X18773409
Chan, S. C. (2017). Moral taste: Food for ghosts in Hong Kong’s Chaozhou Hungry Ghosts Festival. The Journal of Chinese Dietary Culture, 13(2), 52-85.
Chan, S. C. (2016). Contesting identities: Golden Bauhinia Square in Hong Kong (香港金紫荊廣場：身份認同爭議). Router: A Journal of Cultural Studies (文化研究), 23, 165-186. (In Chinese)
Chan, S. C. (2011). Cultural governance and place-making in Taiwan and China. The China Quarterly, 206, 372-390.
Chan, S. C. (2010). Food, memories, and identities in Hong Kong. Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 17(2-3), 204-227. https://doi.org/10.1080/10702891003733492
Chan, S. C. (2010). Imagining and consuming cultures: Nostalgia and domestic tourism development in Taiwan. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 31(3-4), 367-380. https://doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2010.3673725
Chan, S. C., & Lang, G. (2007). Temple construction and the revival of religion in China. China Information: A Journal on Contemporary China Studies, 21(1), 43-69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0920203X07075081
Chan S. C., & Owyong, D. (2007). Microfinance in Singapore: Commercial sustainability and impact evaluation. Small Enterprise Development, 18(1), 57-64. https://doi.org/10.3362/0957-1329.2007.008
Lang, G., & Chan, S. C. (2007). Divination in Chinese temples. Chinese Cross Currents, 4(3), 57-78.
Chan, S. C., & Xu, S. M. (2007). Wedding photographs and the bridal gaze in Singapore. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 9(2), 87-103.
Chan, S. C. (2007). Temple-building and heritage in China (中國的廟宇建造與文化遺產). Journal of China Agricultural University (中國農業大學學報), 3, 118-127. (In Chinese)
Chan, S. C. (2006). Clansmen association and cultural education in Singapore (會館與文化教育: 華人身份認同和國族主義). China Studies (中國研究), 3, 38-53. (In Chinese)
Chan, S. C. (2005). Temple-building and heritage in China. Ethnology, 44(1), 65-79. https://doi.org/10.2307/3773960
Lang, G., Chan, S. C., & Ragvald, L. (2005). Temple and the religious economy. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, 4(1), 1-27.
Chan, S. C. (2003). Questioning the patriarchal inheritance model in Hong Kong: Daughters, sons and the colonial government. Berliner China-Hefte, 24, 66-75.
Chan, S. C. (2003). Memory making, identity building: The dynamics of economics and politics in the New Territories of Hong Kong. China Information: A Journal on Contemporary China Studies, 17(1), 66-91. https://doi.org/10.1177/0920203X0301700103
Chan, S. C. (2003). Interpreting Chinese tradition and identity: A clansmen organization in Singapore. New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 5(1), 72-90.
Chan, S. C. (2001). Selling the ancestors’ land: A Hong Kong lineage adapts. Modern China, 27(2), 262-284. https://doi.org/10.1177/009770040102700204
Chan, S. C. (2001). Socio-economic significance of the pawnbroking business in Singapore. Asian Journal of Social Science, 29(3), 551-566. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853101X00235
Chan, S. C. (1999). Colonial policy in a borrowed place and time: Invented tradition in the New Territories of Hong Kong. European Planning Studies, 7(2), 231-242. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654319908720513
Chan, S. C. (1998). Politicizing tradition: The identity of indigenous inhabitants in Hong Kong. Ethnology, 37(1), 39-54.
Chan, S. C. (1994). Des Indigenes Indignes [The Angry Indigenous Inhabitants]. Perspectives Chinoises, 22, 47-50.
Chan, S. C. (1992). Some brief reflections on structural continuity in Chinese peasant society. Journal of Anthropological Society at Oxford, XXII(1), 49-56.
Book Chapters
Chan, S. C. (2020). Heritage conservation and ethnic associations: the Chaozhou Hungry Ghosts Festival in Hong Kong. In S. L. Wang, M. Rowlands, and Y. Zhu (Eds.), Heritage and Religion in East Asia (pp 124-147). London: Routledge.
Chan, S. C. (2019). Religious festival and local stories in a global city: 30 houses Hungry Ghosts Festival celebration (宗教節日與大城市的小故事：中環士丹頓街三十間盂蘭勝會). In V. W. Zheng & M. K. Chow (Eds.), The path along the mid-level escalator (半山電梯青雲路) (pp. 348-380). Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Book Co (HK) Ltd. (In Chinese)
Chan, S. C. (2018). Heritagizing Chaozhou Hungry Ghosts Festival in Hong Kong. In C. Maags & M. Svensson (Eds.), Chinese cultural heritage in the making: Experiences, negotiations and contestations (pp. 145-168). Amsterdam: University Press.
Chan, S. C. (2014). Ecological and cultural heritage: Construction and sustainable use (文化遺產與生態遺產——建構與持續發展利用). In S. C. Chan (陳蒨), T. Tsu (祖運輝) & C. K. Au (區志堅) (Eds.), Ecological and cultural heritage: Experience and research in China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (生態與文化遺產：中日及港台的經驗與研究) (pp. 2-13). Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Book Co (HK) Ltd. (In Chinese)
Chan, S. C. (2014). Hong Kong Chaozhou Hungry Ghosts Festival: Chinese intangible cultural heritage and identities (香港潮人盂蘭勝會：中國非物質文化遺產與身份認同). In S. Chan (陳蒨), T. Tsu (祖運輝) & C. K. Au (區志堅) (Eds.), Ecological and cultural heritage: Experience and research in China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (生態與文化遺產：中日及港台的經驗與研究) (pp. 28-43). Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Book Co (HK) Ltd. (In Chinese)
Chan, S. C. (2012). Terroir and green tea in China: The case of Meijiawu Dragon well (Longjing) tea. In L. Augustin-Jean, H. Ilbert & NeantroSaavedra-Rivano (Eds.), Agriculture and international trade: The challenge for Asia (pp. 226-238). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chan, S. C. (2011). Small entrepreneurs in China: Selling Longjing Tea in Hangzhou. In F. L. Yu, S. K. Lee & W. K. Yuen (Eds.), Economy and society in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong: Studies in entrepreneurship, finance and institutions (pp. 18-32). Hong Kong: Ovis Press.
Chan, S. C., & Lang, G. (2011). Temples as enterprises. In A. Y. Chau (Ed.), Religion in contemporary China: Revitalization and innovation (pp. 133-154). London: Routledge.
Chan, S. C., & Owyong, D. (2009). Pawnshops in Singapore: Traditional credit providers in modern society. In A. Goenka & D. Henley (Eds.), Southeast Asia’s credit revolution: From moneylenders to microfinance (Routledge studies in the growth economies of Asia) (pp. 84-94). London: Routledge.
Chan, S. C. (2007). Cultural imagination in Taiwan: Cultural imagination and nation building. In S. K. Cheung, T. Harold & X. Li (Eds.), Narratives and perspectives in Sociology: Understanding the past, envisaging the future (pp. 183-189). Hong Kong: CA Digital Printing Company.
Chan, S. C. (2006). Indigenous inhabitants: Politicized tradition in the colonial period (原居民的身份：殖民時代下政冶化的傳統). In K. S. Chan (陳國成) (Ed.), Hong Kong regional history research III: Fanling (粉嶺：香港地區史研究之三) (pp. 85-100). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Company. (In Chinese)
Chan, S. C. (2006). Nostalgia and identities: Indigenous inhabitants and Hong Kong people (懷舊與身份認同: 原居民與香港人). In T. T. Wu (吳天泰) (Ed.), Ethnicity and society (族群與社會) (pp. 415-424). Taipei: Wunan Publisher.
Chan, S. C. (2006). Love and jewelry: Patriarchal control and conjugal ties. In J. S. Hirsch & H. Wardlow (Eds.), Modern loves: Romantic courtship, companionate marriage, and the political economy of emotion (pp. 35-50). Michigan: University Press.
Lang, G., Chan, S. C., & Lars, R. (2005). Temple and the religious economy. In F. Tang & J. Tamney (Eds.), State, market, and religions in Chinese societies (pp. 149-180). Netherlands: Brill Publisher.
Chan, S. C. (2004). Fossilization of Chinese customs under colonial rule in Hong Kong: Implications for gender and development. In Nagel, Mudacumura & Haque (Eds.), A handbook of development policy studies (pp. 195-208). New York: Marcel and Dekker Press.
Chan, S. C. (2003). Politicizing tradition: The identity of indigenous inhabitants in Hong Kong. In P. Ngai & L. Yee (Eds.), Narrating Hong Kong culture and identity (pp. 73-94). Hong Kong: Oxford University.
Chan, S. C. (2003). From dispersed to localized: Family in Singapore. In K. B. Chan & C. K. Tong (Eds.), Past times: A social history of Singapore (pp. 57-69). Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Chan, S. C. (2003). Consuming food: Structuring social life and creating social relationship. In K. B. Chan & C. K. Tong (Eds.), Past times: A social history of Singapore (pp. 123-136). Singapore: Times Academic Press.
Chan, S. C. (2003). Social networks and modern management style: Pawnbroking business in Singapore. In H. Dahles & O. Muijzenberg (Eds.), New economy, New people? Capital and knowledge under changing power relations in Southeast Asia (pp. 131-145). London: RoutledgeCurzon.
Chan, S. C. (1997). Negotiating tradition: The changing pattern of customary succession in the New Territories in the 1990s. In G. Evans & M. Tam (Eds.), Hong Kong: The Anthropology of a Chinese metropolis (pp. 151-174). Hawaii: Curzon Press.
Chan, S. C. (1997). Folk custom in Hong Kong (香港的民間傳统風俗). In G. W. Wang (王賡武) (Ed.), Hong Kong history: New perspectives (香港史新編) (pp. 941-956). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Company.
Book Reviews
Chan, S. C. (2015). [Review of the book Puer tea: Ancient caravans and urban chic, by J. Zhang]. The China Journal, 74(July), 234-236. https://doi.org/10.1086/681758
Chan, S. C. (2012). [Review of the book Faith on display: Religion, tourism and the Chinese state, by T. Oakes & D. S. Sutton]. The China Journal, 67(Jan), 227-228. https://doi.org/10.1086/665771
Chan, S. C. (2007). [Review of the book Gender and community under British colonialism: Emotion, struggle and politics in a Chinese village, by S. K. Cheung]. The China Journal, 58(July), 144-146.
Chan, S. C. (2006). [Review of the book Made in China: Women factory workers in a global workplace, by P. Ngai]. Asian Anthropology, 5, 172-174.
Chan, S. C. (1995). [Review of the book Marriage and inequality in Chinese society, by R. S. Watson & P. B. Ebrey]. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford, XXVI, 220-221.
Refereed Conference Paper
Chan, S. C., & Cai, S. (2023). Preserving and Exhibiting Intangible Cultural Heritage via Virtual Museum: A Case Study of the Hungry Ghosts Festival in Hong Kong. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLVIII-M-2–2023, 405–411. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-M-2-2023-405-2023
Conference Proceedings
2013. Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference of the Asian Studies Association. Hong Kong Shue Yan University: The Contemporary China Research Center. (CD, ISBN 978-988-1845-0-7).
Working Papers
2001. The Return of the Refugee God: Wong Tai Sin in China. CSRCS Occasional Paper no. 8, pp. 1-46. (co-authored with Graeme Lang, and Lars Ragvald).
1996. Negotiating Coloniality and Tradition: The Identity of Indigenous Inhabitants in Hong Kong. Department of Sociology Working Paper no. 131, pp. 1-36.
Non-academic Book and VCD
2021. Festivals in Hong Kong: Past and Present. (節慶今昔報告). For Hong Kong History Museum (呈交香港歷史博物館)。
2013. Hong Kong Cargo Vessel Traders’ Industry: 50th Anniversary Special Issue (香港貨船業總商50周年紀念特刊). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Cargo Vessel Traders Association. (In Chinese)
2013. (VCD). Video on the Hong Kong Cargo Vessel Traders’ Industry: 1963-2013.
Creative Work
Documentary
1. 2022. Hungry Ghosts Festival (Yulan) Celebrations by the Chaozhou (Chiuchow) Community in Hong Kong: Collective Memories and Communal Spirits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtW1O9W6KQM
Virtual Tour (can be accessed via Oculus/PC)
1. 2022. Hungry Ghosts Festival (Yulan) Mixed Reality Tour https://yulanvrtour22.hksyu.edu/ (A short video of the Hungry Ghosts Festival (Yulan) Mixed Reality Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9fJthI77og)
Virtual Museums (can be accessed via Oculus/PC)
1. 2022. National Intangible Cultural Heritage: Adaptation of Buddhist Sam Kok Pier Hungry Ghosts Festival under COVID-19 Pandemic Spatial – Create Immersive UGC, Virtual Classrooms, Experiential Marketing (A short video of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage: Adaptation of Buddhist Sam Kok Pier Hungry Ghosts Festival under COVID-19 Pandemic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v39o90vvk_k&ab_channel=QESSHKSYU)
2. 2023. Hong Kong Memory: Hungry Ghosts Festival (Yulan) Virtual Museum Spatial – Create Immersive UGC, Virtual Classrooms, Experiential Marketing (A short video of the Hong Kong Memory: Hungry Ghosts Festival (Yulan) Virtual Museum): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lYmYS0wGnU&feature=youtu.be)
Short Videos on the Hungry Ghosts Festival during the Pandemic:
1. 2021. Hong Kong’s Chaozhou Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival in Covid-19 Pandemic: Buddhist Sam Kok Mar Tou. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n_enlbdGV0&t=1s
2. 2021. Hong Kong’s Chaozhou Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival in Covid-19 Pandemic: Chiuchow Kung Wo Tong Friendly Association. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iolJYnXRX3c
Comics & Animations
1. 2021. The Religious Significance for the Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival Celebrations by the Chaozhou (Chiuchow) Community https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyNqNGPehaU
2. 2021. Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival Celebrations by the Chaozhou (Chiuchow) Community and the Development of Hong Kong’s Early Entrepot Trade Port https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeUf4uke8F4
3. 2021. The Community Spirit Embedded in the Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival Celebrations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjE4p9HWIkU
External Research Grants
2020. Three Celebrations of the Chaozhou Hungry Ghosts Festival: Research Transmission and Promotion. Intangible Cultural Heritage Office, HKSAR government, HK$1,004,400.
2018. Festivals in Hong Kong: Past and Present. Hong Kong History Museum, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Hong Kong Government. HK$649,478.
2014. Together with Federation of Chiuchow Community Organization, $430,400 was received from Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for the research on Hungry Ghosts Festival in Hong Kong, 2014-2015.
2013. Together with Federation of Chiuchow Community Organization $359,000 was received from Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for the research on Hungry Ghosts Festival in Hong Kong, 2013-2014.
2013. Project Director, HK$205,000 from Japan Foundation for organizing an International Conference on Sustainable Conservation and Use of Cultural and Natural Heritage in Japan and China: Comparative Studies and Cross-sectoral Dialogue.
2012. Together with Federation of Chiuchow Community Organization, $237,000 was received from Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for the research on Hungry Ghosts Festival in Hong Kong, 2012-2013.
2010-2013. A study on the Cargo Vessel Trader’s Association, funded by Cargo Vessel Traders’ Association in Hong Kong. HK$150,000.
2006. Religion and Society in Hong Kong: A Benchmark Study in a Chinese City. CERG Grant, City University of Hong Kong. (with Graeme Lang) HK$178,913.
2005. Disciplining the Imagination of Culture: Nostalgia, Collective Memories and Domestic Tourism in Taiwan. Council for Cultural Affairs (Taiwan), NT$300,000 (HK$75,000).
2000. Temple Construction in PRC: Hong Kong’s Effects on Jinhua, Academic Research Grant from the City University of Hong Kong Research Committee (with Graeme Lang) (HK$137,400).
Public Service
2023 onwards Member, Antiquities Advisory Board
2021 onwards Member, Subcommittee, Intangible Cultural Heritage Items under the Intangible Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee
2021-2024 Board Member, the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust, HKSAR Government.
2020 onwards Member, Editorial Board, Hong Kong Chronicles.
2015-2019 Council Member, the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust, HKSAR Government.
2013-Present Panel member, Sir Edward Youde Scholarship, HKSAR Government.
2008-2014 Member, Intangible Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee, HKSAR Government.
2008 Expert, Chinese Customary Marriage. Hong Kong High Court.
2001 Expert, Chinese Customary Marriage. Singapore High Court.
1997 Consultant, MPA, Singapore Government.
As Consultant to Non-Governmental Organizations
2012-Present The Conservation Association Center for Heritage.
2008-2009 St. James Settlement.
As External Examiner
2018 PhD thesis examiner, Anthropology Department, Australian National University.
2009-2020 Open University of Hong Kong.
2015 PhD thesis examiner, Sociology Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
2010 MPhil thesis examiner, Sociology Department, University of Hong Kong.
2008 MPhil. thesis examiner, Sociology Department, Hong Kong Baptist University.
As Reviewer
External Assessor of Promotion Exercise
Universiti of Sains Malaysia.
Reviewer for Research Grants Councils
2002-Present RGC Assessor.
2013-Present External Reviewer: University of Macau, Multi-year Research Grant.
Reviewer of Books/Journals
Journal of the Institute of Conservation
Modern China
Modern Asian Studies
Ethnos
China Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
Asian Journal of Social Science
Asian Anthropology
Oxford University Press (Hong Kong)
Graduate Program Advisor
2012 Member of the Advisory Peer Group for Master of Cultural and Heritage Tourism Program at Open University of Hong Kong