Sincere Talk: A Retail Revolution And Wholesale Social Change

The Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex | The University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong

168 Victoria Road

Mount Davis, Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong SAR

In 1900, Ma Yingbiao (aka Ma Ying-piu 馬應彪, 1860-1944) opened the world’s first Chinese-owned department store: Sincere (先施), originally based at 172 Queen’s Road Central in Hong Kong. Over the following decades, Sincere would open stores in 14 other Chinese cities, while the stores themselves added restaurants, movie theaters, and other entertainment; the company also expanded into manufacturing, shipping, insurance, and other activities. Sincere’s success inspired imitators, leading to the emergence of four national department store chains that transformed patterns of consumption and leisure in urban China. 

Join us to learn how department stores revolutionized retailing and were part of creating a modern society, with new choices, new media, new entertainment, and new challenges. 

Speaker

Kenneth Pomeranz

University Professor of Modern Chinese History and the College

Faculty Director, The University of Chicago campus in Hong Kong

In-person Event

Program

6:15 – 6:30 pm     Guest check-in

6:30 – 8:00 pm    Talk

8:00 pm               Event ends

REGISTER IN-PERSON EVENT

 

*Kindly note that no parking spaces are available on campus.

Online webinar

Dec 9, 2025 (Tuesday)

6:30 pm        Hong Kong | Beijing | Singapore 

4:00 pm        Delhi

11:30 am        Paris

10:30 am       London

7:30 pm        Japan 

4:30 am        Chicago

REGISTER ZOOM WEBINAR