Hong Kong Today – Before the 10th Anniversary of its Return
Hong Kong Today – Before the 10th Anniversary of its Return
As the 10th Anniversary of handover of Hong Kong approaching, I've been attracted by large quantity of various TV programms on Today's Hong Kong. It arouses me
lots of feelings about this historical event.
Thirteen years ago in 1994, before Hong Kong was returned to mainland China, my
relatives there invited me to visit Hong Kong, then a capitalist society and also a British colony. They said that maybe this was a rare chance to see a real Hong Kong because there was lots of uncertainty about its future - What would bring to the political change? Would freedom be eroded? Would its free-willing capitalist way of life be compromised? Many people were trying to immigrate to Britain, Canada and Australia before 1997. Many western politicians even predicted that Hong Kong would die before long.
It was my first trip to such a land. I had mixed feelings and was full of curiosity. My first impression was the fine food, the good public order and the polite
people I met. They showed perfect discipline in public areas in particular.
One thing was interesting. I felt as if everyone in HK was sharp-eyed. Whenever
I took a taxi or entered shops or restaurants, drivers or shop-assistants would
ask if I were from Taiwan or from mainland. And most of them spoke only Cantonese or English and received only HK dollars or foreign currencies. I guessed, from
my hairstyle, my dressing and my mainland mandarin accent, it was not difficult
to make a guess that I came from mainland. There was a bit uncomfortable feeling - why would they ask such a question? Were they suspicious that mainland Chinese would not afford such a meal or such a shopping in their subconscious? It was
true that their living standard was higher than ours. Take one thing for example, before I came, everyone told me that Hong Kong was a Shopping Paradise; but I
found soon after I stepped on to the land that it was not my Shopping Paradise
at all!
There were very few mainland individual tourists in HK at that time. But now, HK
tourism industry is greatly relied on mainland tourists, up to three fifth, they say. And almost everyone in HK can speak mandarin; and every shop receives RMB
!
During 60s and 70s, many mainland Chinese people, especially Cantonese, were so
desperate to move to HK that some of them even resorted to illegal approaches. The reason was very simple – across the small river, there was a better life! But now, things have been changing – quite a lot of HK people are working in mainland for better career future.
Ten years is not a long period to a country, but it is important to an individual person. Now we’ve seen with our own eyes that Hong Kong is not dying. HK is still rapidly developing and becoming stronger in politics and more prosperous in
economics. A native HK person says “I used to think of myself as a Hong Kong person. But since the handover, now I’d love to say that I'm Chinese. HK is now
part of the mother country.”
I'm proud of Hong Kong; I love my country – China!
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