‘Glory to Hong Kong’ does indeed make an appearance at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Ronson Chan, chair of the HK Journalists Association, gets five days in prison for obstructing police – not showing ID when asked by a plain-clothes cop. He is on bail pending appeal. The judge…
…acknowledged that there were inconsistencies in the testimonies of the four police officers who gave evidence in court. But she said this did not undermine their credibility, as the officers had arrived at the scene at different times and had different interactions with Chan.
The 55-year-old HKJA, unlike many other civil-society groups, still functions – though it has considered disbanding because of government pressure. Is this a judge trying hard to be harsh or trying hard to be lenient?
HKFP looks at a growing trend among young Mainland tourists in Hong Kong…
Instead of lining up to shop in luxury stores in Hong Kong’s commercial heart, many visitors have turned their attention to local neighbourhoods, thanks to tens of thousands of travel guides on Chinese social media and e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu, nicknamed the Little Red Book.
…In Hong Kong, Kennedy Town has been identified as one of the best destinations for tourists to roam, with some Xiaohongshu users calling it “the most romantic neighbourhood” in the city.
I’m a big fan of strolling through local neighbourhoods – the older, relatively dense districts between CBDs and suburbs are ideal. Cities in Taiwan and Japan (and indeed Hong Kong) are especially interesting and/or pleasant. But as the article explains, the Mainlanders tend to follow fixed routes recommended by others, and they are here in large numbers. So they just end up parading through particular streets and lining up to take selfies in the same hyped-up spots. I see in my own area that no mural is too lame, no bakery too unimpressive, no vista too bland to persuade the Mainlanders to explore elsewhere for themselves. Still, it’s an improvement on buying stupid handbags.
“I see in my own area that no mural is too lame, no bakery too unimpressive, no vista too bland to persuade the Mainlanders to explore elsewhere for themselves. Still, it’s an improvement on buying stupid handbags.”
Indeed a Yuuuge improvement and soon enough they’ll grow weary of even this kind of lemming activity and dare to venture out on their own. Good for them but bad for all those trying to convince the Chinese – especially the younger gens – to spend, spend, SPEND for love of country!
In our locality around TST & HH there are in TST young Chinese who do seem obsessed with one bakery, one noodle shop & one street food stall. In HH it’s busloads of very elderly, very low-cost tour groups whose buses block the traffic & seem to go to just one or two shops that sell cheap confectionary or such & one restaurant for buffet lunches.
I don’t think either group is doing a great deal to stimulate the HK tourism/F&B industry
The coastal village of Shek-O is on the map/app. For the more ‘adventurous’. Mainlanders come down in groups of 2/3, all female. They come by No.9 bus, so no coaches, follow-me pennants. It’s selfie wonderland. A gweilo joining in a wider photo brings squeals of delight.
I’m all for it. They spend close to zero on F&B but that’s not the point. All are average age 20 hereabouts and they’re taking home compelling pics and stories about the quirkiness of Hong Kong. The difference. It’s Hong Kong telling a good story, but not quite in the way the Govt might want it.
But, David, is it true? Are there still those they call “gweilo”? My grandfather used to tell me stories from the olden days while I was riding on his lap: there was a borough they called “Wanchai”. In there were “real English pubs” (yes!) In the pubs were Englishmen, Irishmen, Australians and a sub-species called “Kiwi” but nobody took them serious. They looked quite tall, they had big bellies, red faces, red bulbous noses and they spoke in tongues that even other gweilos often did not understand. They would eat “crisps” from a small bag and talk about “footsie” while pinching the behinds of little, brown and cheerful waitresses. According to National Geographic, most of that exotic tribe has vanished to distant parts like Lamma, Sai Kung, Pattaya and Angeles City. Some may still be lurking there but should not be approached while unarmed. Apparently they bite.
Bjorn, realise you’re just having keyboard fun; but not sure I get your point here. The LBFM thing has been derided since Simon Winchester’s piece in Discovery Mag, decades ago. Lamma, distant? Perfectly normal people complaining about ferry fare hikes.
My point was that young Mainlanders (many of them ‘influencers’) will take back stories of how there is heritage here. Or totally strange things like people living in pastel painted houses. And the pristine beaches and crashing surf. It’s a world beyond, but now within.
david price, the Simon Winchester LBFM mention that got him banned from CX was in the foreword to Hong Kong: Here Be Dragons, not in CX’s Discovery Mag.