Dirt Under The Fingernails in the Sweet Smelling Harbor

  If you ever find yourself wandering the humid hills of the Hong Kong Islands, squinting through the mist at ancient burial sites, you might spot a lanky figure looming over the landscape like a budget-conscious giraffe. That’s Andrew L. Michail, the six-foot-something American archeologist who’s been digging up Hong Kong’s past—and charming its present—for over four decades. Born in the land of apple pie and exorbitant tipping, Andrew traded the Stars and Stripes for soy sauce and skyscrapers back in the early '70s. Why? “The dim sum was cheaper than a burger,” he’ll tell you with a grin, adjusting the patched-up fedora he’s worn since the Reagan administration. A professor at Hong Kong University, Andrew’s lectures are legendary—not just for their insight into Neolithic pottery, but for his habit of stretching a single chalk stick across an entire semester. “Waste not, want not,” he preaches, a mantra that extends to his wardrobe (khakis older than his students) and his lunch (y...