Wong How Man

Wong How Man (born 1949) is a Chinese explorer, writer and photojournalist from Hong Kong. Wong is the founder and President of the China Exploration & Research Society (CERS). In 2002, Time Magazine honored Wong as one of their 25 Asian Heroes, calling him 'China's most accomplished living explorer.

Early life and education Wong was born in Hong Kong.

In 1986, Wong founded the China Exploration & Research Society] (CERS), first in the United States and later moved to Hong Kong in 1994, a preeminent nonprofit organization specializing in exploration, research, conservation and education in remote China and periphery countries like Myanmar, Laos, Bhutan and the Philippines.

Wong led six major expeditions for the National Geographic magazine. His writing for the National Geographic was nominated for the Overseas Press Club Award of America. In his 1985 National Geographic expedition, Wong led a team that found a new source of the Yangtze River and documented this expedition in his 1989 book, Exploring the Yangtze: China's Longest River. During this expedition he came across the hanging coffins and developed a long life obsession with this particular historical custom, which later became the topic of an award-winning documentary by Discovery Channel. Twenty years later, Wong discovered a yet longer source. In 2004, Discovery Channel also made an hour-long documentary 'Crossings' about Wong's upbringing and subsequent exploration career. Subsequently, Wong led CERS expeditions that pinpointed the source of the Mekong in 2007 and discovered a new source for the Yellow River in 2008. In 2011, his team defined the source of the Salween River, followed by that for the Irrawaddy in 2017, and the Brahmaputra in 2018.

Wong has authored over two dozen books. Among these, From Manchuria to Tibet won the prestigious Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Gold Award in 1999. His book Islamic Frontiers of China was published in the UK in 1990, with a new and expanded edition in 2011. Wong has received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin in River Falls, Lifetime Achievement Award from Monk Hsing Yun. He is often invited as keynote speaker on important international lecture circuits for institutions, universities, corporations, both and select groups of audience.

Wong's organization, CERS, has conducted scores of successful conservation projects, many of which became full-length documentary films. His work and that of CERS has been featured on CNN over a dozen times, including a half-hour profile by anchor Richard Quest. His work has been featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and Al-Jazeera TV made a half-hour feature His nonprofit organization is mainly supported by private foundations and individuals. A large format book, Classic of Mountains and Seas: Wong How-Man and 30 Years of CERS (山海經) published in Taiwan, chronicled three decades of work of CERS.

In 2023 Wong is appointed by Westlake University in Hangzhou China as Fellow of Westlake Residential Colleges. In October 2023 the University of Hong Kong inaugurated the Wong How Man Centre for Exploration.

Personal life Wong lived in the United States until 1994 before moving back to Hong Kong.