Bethanie & Nazareth – French Secrets from a British Colony

Bethanie and Nazareth are two of Hong Kong's best-kept secrets. Now for the first time, the fascinating stories of these former French Mission foundations are brought to life by historian Alain Le Pichon. The text is extensively illustrated with previously unpublished historic photographs from the French Mission archives in Paris, and contemporary images by renowned architectural photographer Virgile Simon Bertrand. Bethanie was Hong Kong's first sanatorium. Built by the French Mission in 1875, it operated for a century on a hilltop surrounded by dairy pastures at Pokfulam. Nazareth, its sister building nearby, became the French Mission's linguistic and printing headquarters in Asia, publishing thousands of titles in dozens of Asian languages between 1894 and 1956.

“"What a wonderful journey with my confr”

"Alain's prose is spiced with vignettes of the missionary Fathers and the idiosyncrasies of missionary life. He illuminates their personalities with amusing anecdotes and quotations from letters written home to France, while the broader history of Asia un
"It is a masterpiece by both a scholar and an artist. Prof. Le Pichon has spared no effort in researching the history of Béthanie and the people working there. His artistic way of presenting the subject is admirable." - Fr Louis Ha, Archivist, Catholic Di
ères in the early days of Hong Kong! Many thanks to Alain Le Pichon for his time-consuming historical research." - Fr Emile Louis Tisserand, Missions Étrangères de Paris in Hong Kong

Alain Le Pichon was born and educated in France. After graduating from the Ecole Normale Superieure at St Cloud, he went on to teach at Eton. He then joined an English merchant-bank in the City and later on Wall Street. He now lives in Hong Kong and Paris and teaches British History at the Sorbonne. He has written extensively on British traders in the East. His recent China Trade and Empire was published by Oxford University Press for the British Academy. It is the first edition of letters written during the period 1825-1843 by the founders of Jardine, Matheson & Co. This latest work - Bethanie and Nazareth - French Secrets from a British Colony - recalls the presence and activities of the French missionaries in Hong Kong. It adds a colourful chapter in the history of foreigners' contributions to the development of Hong Kong.

History / Hong Kong

Bethanie is one of the notable historical buildings of Hong Kong, built by the French Missionary Fathers in 1875, it was used by them until 1974. It gradually deteriorated until 2006 when it was carefully restored and converted for use by the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. This book is a lavishly illustrated history of this notable building and its missionary occupants. The French Missionary Fathers were active Catholic missionaries groups in China. The strains of working in the China mission field were such that missionaries needed a place to rest, recuperate and rebuild their physical and spiritual strength. Bethanie was built to provide both accommodation and a fine chapel for them. However, after 1949 China was closed to missionaries and the need for it diminished and finally the Fathers sold it. In 2003, it was decided to restore it and convert it for the Academy of Performing Arts. This history of this historic building and of the missionaries for whom it was established has been written by Alain LePichon, a professor at the Sorbonne, who divides his time between Paris and Hong Kong and is uniquely qualified to write the story of the building and of the missionaries. A wealth of photos, plans and dcounments has been found in the archives in Hong Kong and Paris and used to illustrate this handsome book.

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