Blue Dragon

Tea. A dark, strong and flavourful black Chinese tea. Named because, according to legend, the first tea bush of this type was found behind a roadside altar containing an iron statue of Kwan Yin.
    Tin Hau (Cantonese): Taoist deity, worshipped by seafarers.
    Triad: Hong Kong organised-crime syndicate. Members of the syndicates are also called triads.
    Tsim Sha Tsui: Main tourist and entertainment district on Kowloon side, next to the Harbour.
    Tsing Ma Bridge: Large suspension bridge connecting Kowloon with Lantau Island, used to connect to the Airport Expressway.
    Typhoon: A hurricane that occurs in Asia. Equivalent to a hurricane in the US or a cyclone in Australia.
    Wakizashi: Japanese dagger, usually matched with a sword to make a set called a daisho.
    Wan Chai: Commercial district on Hong Kong Island, between the offices and designer stores of Central and the shopping area of Causeway Bay. Contains officebuildings and restaurants, and is famous for its nightclubs and girlie bars.
    Wan sui (Putonghua): ‘Ten thousand years’; traditional greeting for the Emperor, wishing him ten thousand times ten thousand years of life.
    Wei? (Cantonese): ‘Hello?’ when answering the phone.
    Wing chun: Southern style of Chinese kung fu. Made famous by Bruce Lee, this style is fast, close in (‘short’) and lethal. It’s also a ‘soft’ style where the defender uses the attacker’s weight and strength against him or her, rather than relying on brute force to hit hard.
    Wire-fu: Move kung-fu performed on wires so that the actors appear to be flying.
    Won ton (Cantonese): Chinese dumplings made mostly of pork with a dough wrapping and boiled in soup stock. Often called ‘short soup’ in the West.
    Won ton mien (Cantonese): ‘won ton noodles’; won ton boiled in stock with noodles added to the soup.
    Wu shu (Putonghua): A general term to mean all martial arts.
    Wudang (Putonghua): A rough translation could be ‘true martial arts’. The name of the mountain in Hubei Province; also the name of the martial arts academy and the style of martial arts taught there. Xuan Wu was a Celestial ‘sponsor’ of the Ming Dynasty and the entire mountain complex of temples and monasteries was built by the government of the time in his honour.
    Wudangshan (Putonghua): ‘Shan’ means ‘mountain’; Wudang Mountain.
    Xie xie (Putonghua): ‘Thank you.’
    Xuan Wu (Putonghua) pronounced, roughly, ‘Shwan Wu’: means ‘Dark Martial Arts’; the Black Turtle of the North, Mr Chen.
    Yamen: Administration, as in Yamen Building.
    Yang: One of the two prime forces of the Universe in Taoist philosophy. Yang is the Light: masculine, bright, hot and hard.
    Yang and yin: The two prime forces of the universe, when joined together form the One, the essence of everything. The symbol of yang and yin shows each essence containing a small part of the other.
    Yellow Emperor: An ancient mythological figure, the Yellow Emperor is credited with founding civilisation and inventing clothing and agriculture.
    Yin: One of the two prime forces of the universe in Taoist philosophy. Yin is Darkness: feminine, dark, cold and soft.
    Yuexia Loaren (Putonghua): ‘Old Man Under the Moon’; a Taoist deity responsible for matchmaking.
    Yum cha (Cantonese): Literally ‘drink tea’. Most restaurants hold yum cha between breakfast and midafternoon. Tea is served, and waitresses wheel around trolleys containing varieties of dim sum.
    Yuzhengong (Putonghua): ‘Find the True Spirit’; the name of the palace complex on Wudang Mountain.
    Zhu Que (Putonghua) pronounced, roughly, Joo Chway: the Red Phoenix of the South.

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
    T he journey is far from complete, but the publication of the final book in the Dark Heavens trilogy is something of a milestone, and I’d like to thank those who helped along the way.
    Alana and Fiona, who have been reading this story from the first day I started writing it, and have provided help, encouragement, advice, and viral marketing.
    My family in Canberra who have told everybody they know all about my books with unrestrained pride.
    Anni Haig-Smith my agent, who is accountant, advisor, and sometimes babysitter.
    Stephanie Smith who took a gamble on an unpublished author which I hope has paid off as much as she wished it to. All the staff at HarperCollins, who work so very hard to make these books as successful as they could possibly be, and a particular thank you to Darren Holt for making the covers of my books so