Explore the real-world places that appear in The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC), Hong Kong Island Central Business District, The Peninsula Hong Kong, Victoria Harbour and the Star Ferry, Happy Valley Racecourse and 6 more.
2 Lower Albert Road, Central — the press haunt of Craw and Westerby
The Foreign Correspondents' Club is the home ground of the journalists in the novel. Old China hand Craw and the drifting journalist-spy Jerry Westerby gather with the rest of the press corps, trading rumours as the Circus's Hong Kong operation begins to unfold. Its bar talk and gossip form the backdrop to Westerby's cover as a roving reporter.
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong was founded in 1943 in Chongqing and moved to Hong Kong after the war. It has occupied the former Ice House building on Lower Albert Road since 1980, which dates to the 1910s.
The FCC remains a members' club with a restaurant and bar that welcome the public. It hosts talks, exhibitions and the Human Rights Press Awards.
Visit: Foreign Correspondents' Club Hong Kong (restaurant)
Queen's Road Central — Colony offices, banks and Circus cover
Central is the commercial heart of the Colony where Smiley's team traces the money trail behind Karla's operation. Westerby and the Circus's Hong Kong watchers follow the paper trail through banks and shipping offices. The district embodies the colonial dealings that conceal the Chinese connection at the heart of the plot.
Central grew from the British settlement of Victoria after 1841 and became the banking and trading center of the colony. Reclamation moved the shoreline progressively northward through the twentieth century.
Central is a dense district of skyscrapers, banks and shops. It is home to major financial institutions and many public landmarks.
Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui — grand colonial hotel
The Peninsula is the epitome of the Colony's old-world luxury, the kind of place frequented by the wealthy figures Westerby and the Circus's watchers shadow. It stands for the glamorous surface of Hong Kong beneath which the espionage business is conducted. Characters pass through such grand hotels while pursuing the money trail leading to the Drake Ko inquiry.
The Peninsula opened in 1928 and was known as the 'Grand Dame of the Far East'. It served as a Japanese headquarters during the occupation of 1941.
The Peninsula remains one of the world's most famous luxury hotels, with its afternoon tea in the lobby open to visitors. Its Rolls-Royce fleet and colonnaded facade are icons of Kowloon.
Visit: The Peninsula Hong Kong (landmark)
Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui — crossing between Kowloon and the Island
Characters cross between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island constantly as Westerby pursues his enquiries. The harbour crossing provides the novel's recurring sense of a city on the edge of China, with the mainland always in view.
The Star Ferry has carried passengers across Victoria Harbour since 1888. The Tsim Sha Tsui terminal opened in 1912 and is a long-standing icon of the colony.
The Star Ferry still runs between Tsim Sha Tsui and Central and Wan Chai, a cheap and scenic tourist ride. The Tsim Sha Tsui pier is a popular spot for skyline views.
Visit: Star Ferry (landmark)
Wong Nai Chung Road — racing, wealth and Drake Ko
Horse racing is the passion of the Colony's rich, and the racecourse is a setting where the Chinese tycoon Drake Ko appears in public life. Westerby watches the wealthy elite at play as he closes in on Ko, whose brother's ties lead to Karla's network. The track captures the mix of money, gambling and status that surrounds the target.
Happy Valley Racecourse opened in 1845 and is run by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. A disastrous fire in 1918 killed hundreds in the temporary stands.
Races are held on Wednesday evenings in season, drawing crowds, and the Hong Kong Racing Museum is on site. Visitors can attend as tourists.
Visit: Happy Valley Racecourse (landmark)
The Peak — where the wealthy of the Colony live
The Peak is the traditional address of the Colony's elite, and the dwellings above the city represent the wealth and privilege of the Chinese magnate Drake Ko's world. Looking down on the harbour, the story's pursuit of money and secrets takes on a sense of height and distance. The luxury of the heights contrasts with the grubby work of the Circus's agents below.
Victoria Peak was reserved for Europeans under the Peak Reservation Ordinance of 1904. The Peak Tram began service in 1888.
The Peak is a major tourist destination reached by the Peak Tram, with viewing terraces and walking trails. Luxury homes still line its slopes.
Visit: Victoria Peak (park)
Kowloon City — gateway for Westerby's arrivals
Kai Tak was the old airport through which travellers entered the Colony, with its dramatic approach among the apartment blocks. Westerby and the Circus's people use it as their entry and exit to the wider Asian network that includes Bangkok and Phnom Penh. The airport anchors the novel's sense of a restless web of travel across Southeast Asia.
Kai Tak opened in 1925 and became Hong Kong's international airport in 1936. It closed in 1998 when Chek Lap Kok opened.
The site is being redeveloped as the Kai Tak Development, with a cruise terminal and Kai Tak Sports Park. A runway park is open to the public.
Visit: Kai Tak Runway Park (park)
Wan Chai — bars, dealings and the Colony's seamier side
Wanchai represents the seedier underbelly of the Colony, with its bars, brokers and shady figures. Westerby moves through such districts while piecing together the trail of the money. The area contrasts with the polished Peak and grand hotels in the story's portrait of Hong Kong.
Wan Chai was a red-light district for sailors and became famous in the 1960s after The World of Suzie Wong. It later developed into a commercial and convention area.
Wan Chai is a mixed district of offices, markets, bars and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The Blue House and Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences nearby are open to visitors.
Cambridge Circus, London — Secret Intelligence Service nicknamed 'the Circus'
The Circus's London headquarters is where George Smiley rebuilds the service after Bill Haydon's betrayal. From the upper floors Smiley, Connie Sachs and their colleagues plan the operation against Karla. The Hong Kong inquiry is directed from here, with Smiley sending Jerry Westerby to chase Karla's money.
The Circus in le Carré's fiction is based on the real MI6, whose offices were in Century House and earlier in the West End. The nickname derives from the fictional location at Cambridge Circus in Soho.
Cambridge Circus is a busy West End junction near the Palace Theatre. No intelligence agency occupies the spot.
Albert Embankment, London — real-world home of MI6
The fictional Circus corresponds to the real-world British Secret Intelligence Service, whose later headquarters stands at Vauxhall Cross. In the novel Smiley's team operates from London to run the Hong Kong operation and strike at Karla's network. It stands as the real-world equivalent of the centre of Smiley's world.
The building was completed in 1994 to designs by Terry Farrell and became MI6 headquarters. Earlier, SIS was based at Century House in Lambeth.
The building remains the headquarters of MI6 and is not open to the public. It is visible from the Thames Path and Vauxhall Bridge.
Capital of Cambodia — war-torn backdrop in the story's Indochina strand
Westerby's past and the story's wider war setting draw on the collapsing Indochina of 1974 in which Phnom Penh is under siege. The region's chaos provides cover for smuggling and intelligence dealings that interest Smiley's team. Westerby's wanderings across Southeast Asia link Hong Kong to the wider conflict.
Phnom Penh was besieged by the Khmer Rouge in the early 1970s and fell in April 1975. The city was emptied by the regime.
Phnom Penh is a busy capital with the Royal Palace, National Museum and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum open to visitors.
Visit: Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (museum)
More by John le Carré: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy locations map · A Murder of Quality locations map · The Spy Who Came in from the Cold locations map · All John le Carré books
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