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A photo from August 2011 shows an aerial view of Central District in Hong Kong, China.
Hong Kong means “fragrant harbor” in Cantonese, but to me as a young girl in the 1980s it meant “mysterious dream.”
My family, like millions of others in mainland China, didn’t own a television at the time. But the most enjoyable after-school activity for me and my friends was to go to the home of our one neighbor who actually had a TV to watch Hong Kong kung-fu series.
He had a black-and-white TV, but managed to make it look like a colored one by gluing a few translucent colored plastic straps on the screen. We were happy enough with a fake colored TV. We were also all fascinated by the Hong Kong soap operas. None of us could speak a word of Cantonese (the dialect spoken in Hong Kong), but we all could sing a few songs in perfect Cantonese; the shows’ themes songs played repeatedly on TV.
People talked about Hong Kong like it was a paradise of milk and honey: “Mr. Li got a new watch from his relative in Hong Kong! Look at him!”
We also heard stories of mainlanders swimming across the sea between neighboring Guangdong province to sneak into Hong Kong, seeking asylum or a free life.
In those old days, Hong Kong was a land of “capitalist” treasure, closed off to mainlanders like me, but open to the rest of world. Hong Kong was a lofty faraway dream that none of us thought would ever come true for us.
Just a few years later, every family in my hometown could afford to buy a TV, a refrigerator, and a telephone. Some richer ones even got themselves video cassette players.
Then on July 1, 1997, we were told that Hong Kong was finally handed back to China after 100 years of British colonial rule. We were told to be proud of the return of the lost land cut off from its mother ship for a century.
It’s true that since Hong Kong’s handover it is no longer such a mystery – but in many ways it is still a world away for many mainland Chinese.
Not so open for mainlanders
For instance, on a recent trip, I left Beijing one hour earlier than my American colleague – but she arrived in Hong Kong several hours before me. She was able to hop a flight directly from Beijing to Hong Kong, but because I’m from a small city in mainland China, I was denied that privilege.
Not every mainlander can go to Hong Kong anytime they wish. For starters, they need a special blue pass that is issued only for trips to Hong Kong and nearby Macau. Like a regular China passport, this special pass is only given out by local police in the person’s hometown.
Take me, for example. Even though I have been living in Beijing for many years, I have to fly back to my hometown to apply for that blue pass. (I could apply for one in Beijing if I had Beijing residency, but I don’t and it is extremely hard to obtain.)
And – unlike my American colleague or most visitors other countries – I need a visa to go to Hong Kong.
Someone like me, who doesn’t have relatives or a business in Hong Kong, can only get a seven-day group tourist visa to visit. Individual tourist visas are only available to residents of many Guangdong province cities, such as nearby Shenzhen, and big cities in other provinces.
So to get there for our recent assignment, I had to fly to Shenzhen, known for its cheap labor and numerous factories. From there I took a bus from Shenzhen airport to the Shenzhen side of the Hong Kong border, where I met a travel agent.
The agent filled out a form to show the company had organized a “tour group” for me. Then he took me to the border inspection, where the officer stamped the form and my blue pass.
The border officer, the agent and I all knew I wasn’t joining any “tour group.” Everyone knew I was going to Hong Kong on my own. But I had to detour first through Shenzhen, with its population of 15 million, because I’m from a smaller faraway city (population of 3 million), not Beijing or Shanghai or Guangzhou.
Anchor baby battle: Hong Kong vs. China
Biggest surprise: bookstores
Hong Kong didn’t strike me as anything special when I first saw it in person. I had seen the city so many times on TV.
But certain things did surprise me. I was stunned by its bookstores: biographies of Chinese politicians, memoirs of dissidents, books about corruption and power struggles between Chinese officials were openly available. I could find any of the books normally banned in China.
I also noticed Hong Kong has the fastest escalators I’ve ever seen. There, everyone walks fast. Nobody would stop for me and my colleague when we tried to interview people on the street. In fact they didn’t even look at us. They were always rushing as if they had very important business to take care of.
The variety of food and drink in Hong Kong is also amazing, but it’s much more expensive than in Beijing and Shanghai. That doesn’t stop tons of mainlanders from buying it though. They come here to buy iPhones, computers, high-end cosmetics and expensive clothes. The mainland might have been Hong Kong’s poor cousin for decades, but with mainlanders’ new-found wealth things have completely changed – almost.
There is still an impression in Hong Kong that their nouveau riche cousins have a bit of impolite country bumpkin in them.
Once when I entered Hong Kong I was struck by a sign on the wall: “Please cover your mouth when you sneeze.” This is a sign I have never seen in the mainland.
In fact, during all my 16 years of mainland education, not a single teacher or parent ever told students, “don’t spit in public” or “wait in line.” There was no such thing as etiquette education back then.
I don’t know what’s going on in schools now, but I certainly hope the children in kindergarten these days are told to cover their mouths when they sneeze. (And I find it funny when I hear that Hong Kongers criticize mainlanders for being “loud.” I have the impression that the Cantonese are the loudest people in the world.)
Some friends tell me the recent tension between Hong Kong people and mainlanders – over issues like birth rights – is exaggerated by the media. Some other mainland friends say they clearly feel the hostility expressed by the locals. Some scholars say it is actually a conflict between Western and Eastern cultures, due to Hong Kong’s colonial past and international flavor.
Exaggerated or not, I sure don’t want to be called a “locust,” an insult currently being hurled at mainlanders by their Hong Kong brethren.
Many mainlanders yearn to have the same lifestyle as Hong Kong people have –just like the one Hong Kongers pursued all those decades when they left mainland China.
Leave a Comment:
Correction: Hong Kong was returned to China on July 1st, 1997, not 2007.
Good article nevertheless! Nice to see how Hong Kong is seen from a mainlander's point of view.
This article is based on the perspective of the author, which one should keep in mind, can be biased at times.
I am one of those "Hong Kongers" (which by the way, is not a bit of an insult to be called as such). Just as the author points out that it would be a prejudice to judge all mainlanders as "loud" and unpleasant, it is equally unjust to judge all people in the City to share the same sentiment as the author suggests. I happen to have very good personal friends from the mainland, and we share many values and respect our differences in opinion. We ackowledge and appreciate our diverse perspectives.
Just because someone has a platform to write an article and express their own opinion, it does not necessarily make one a representative of the truth.
So it strikes me that the people of Hong Kong, and the people of Arizona should meet up to compare notes at least once a year on tricks to get rid of those damn illegals :-)
I'm a native-born Hong Konger who moved to the US in 1980. I do visit HK every now and then but even during those brief visits I could sense the difference between HK people and the "mainlanders". The recent rants conducted by Prof. Kong Qingdong of Peking University is evident of the animosity between the two lands. This is not "separate but equal". Rather, it's "equal but separate". When you're in Rome, do as the Romans do!
Having worked with both Hong Kong and mainland chinese for 12 years, I can sense a difference between the 2 cultures. Hong Kong residents are more westernized. One thing I learned early on is travel outside of the mainland, is still a sticky subject, that can be summarized with a simple explanation, " it is difficult to get a permit ".
Just imagine if you reside in Seattle now but you must go back to Orlando, Florida to maybe get a chance of obtaining a passport because you were born in Orlando.
Hong Kong needs mainlanders to survive. I don't see why they so arrogant. Mainlanders may be less polished. But after all, they are the guests and come to help Hong Kong's economy. Professor Kong actually has a point. When did Hong Kong people ever protest in the face of blatant discrimination by British? when was the march for democracy before 1997? None!
The people of HK did not rebel against the British because they knew they had it good compared to the mainlanders and they do not need the mainland to survive, but rather the mainland needs HK to thrive.
The people of Hongkong fled the mainland to come here owing to hardships and wars in China. In a sense they had it better in HK. But that was long long ago. You are way way out of date already. Nowadays HK needs the mainland more than ever, and the mainland doesn't need HK that much. China is now more prosperous and HK now has to latch on to its successs in order to survive. Without the mainlands concessions to Hongkong, it would be in deep trouble in 1998 Asia Financial Crisis, the DOT.COM crash, the 2008 USA Subprime disaster, the Leyman Brothers bankruptcy, now the EU sovereign debt crisis. China could have just let it go to the dogs and let Shanghai pick up the pieces to replace HK as the financial capital of Asia. Hk depends everything on the mainland, even its very survival, ts food, its water, its financial backing.
The Hongkongers didn't rebel because they have been lulled into submission due the opium that the British had been selling them, and the false sense that the British were superior. They have been conditioned to be the servants of the British. They didn't fight for freedom and democracy, so why should they deserve it now?
@Josh-422587
As a former "Hong Konger" I can say that life under British rule was fine. That is why no one ever protested. Why march for democracy when you already have it?
Mainland people have no manners, no self-control, no respect for rule of law. Now that they are rich, they feel like they can do and say whatever they want.
I was born in Taiwan. There are three major political undercurrents there. unite with the mainland, be independent, and maintain the status quo (do nothing). I was contemplating to move to Shanghai two years ago. After a brief visit in Shanghai, Beijing, hangzou, and other cities I decided to come back to the US. The main reasons: some people spit in the public; step on your toes and never say sorry; do not wait in line; stare at you impolitely. There is lack of social ethics and courteous behavior across the land. Theses things should be taught in elementary school when the child is growing up. Finally, I do enjoy going back to breath the democratic air in Taiwan.
@Pete-1991848
As a British, of course your life under British colonial rule was fine, much better than the colonial subjects the Hongkongers. No one protested because they know that their forefathers were brutally murdered before. They don't want to be their turn to be massacred. Besides, they know jolly well that time is on their side. The British only had up till 1997 to relinquish sovereignty back to the motherland.
Was there ever Democracy in HK? Was the Governor elected by the people of HK? Was the lawmakers elected by the people of HK. Was there ever a free democratic election ever held in HK? Was there a referendum to return HK back to the motherland? No. You lied.
The British subject that were Hongkongers were denied the right to settle in Britain. Yet millions of Indians and Pakistanis were allowed to immigrate to Britain. That's the kind of discrimination we konw in America as the "Chinese Exclusion Act". That's the kind of democracy that the Hongkongers live with for more than 150 years of colonial rule.
@been there, done that:
Ah the illegals. From what I know, the present state of Arizona once belonged to Mexico. That makes you an illegal. Returning to the illegals in Hongkong, the really illegal ones are the so-called "expatriates" from Britain and India. The majority Hongkongers were former mainlanders across the border. Ask them about their grandfathers, where did they come from?
No it really doesn't
I also find it funny to see the no spitting signs inside the metro stations. In mainland China I haven't ever seen a no spitting sign, but as soon as you pass through customs and are officially in Hong Kong, the signs are there. In America no signs are needed, in China they don't want to waste their money, and in HK it's a requirement.
I frequent Hong Kong and I live in Guangzhou, raised in America. I truly have a non-biased opinion. I have good friends that were born and raised in HK (now living in Mainland). I think Hong Kong is over-rated. I go there out of necessity, if I didn't have to go I wouldn't. Ride the 360 Gondola to see the statue, visit the Harbor, go clubbing, and spend some time on the beach and you've done everything there is to do. Every place has people like this so I'm definitely not about to put a label, but "pretentious" is the word that pops into my head. Mainlanders, the grass is always greener on the other side, right? Go to Hainan!
There's a warm tingling feeling that runs down my spine when I found out that America wasn't alone in its constant struggle against "anchor babies"!Of course,it appears those that go to Hong Kong,go home afterwards,unlike what Mexican do here in America!
Whats with the stupid alliterations to the United States and its immigrants being taken from this story? Just shut up and learn about culture differences in another part of the world.
Do they have more female toilets in Hong Kong than on the mainland? (See related article)