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This is an ongoing topic - click here for Most Recent Post . . . from the People's Daily. Some revealing attitudes expressed here. You can bet the people of Taiwan keep a close eye on papers like this. Hong Kong political system - why go step by step? Go to Last Entry for most recent posts.

An ongoing topic - click here for Most Recent Post SCMP - How time-lapse film showing Hong Kong's stunning beauty came to be made Francis So was inspired to try time-lapse photography by a video of New Zealand scenery. It's now his full-time job, and his first film, of Hong Kong's natural beauty, has been viewed 320,000 times

2020+ new posts click here Anyone fly into the old airport located IN Hong Kong? The airport was closed back in 1998 just after the new safer airport opened, the old Kai-Tak is reopening, but not for air trafic, it has been converted into a cruse ship port. from CNN Travel 20 years on: Remembering the glory days of Hong Kong's old Kai Tak Airport

An ongoing topic - click here for Most Recent Post This place seems to crop up every so often in articles in various publications - very remarkable, considering that it was demolished in 1992. For more information, Google "Kowloon Walled City" or check the Wikipedia article. The latest article from a couple of days ago - Peek Inside the Most Densely Populated Place on Earth from the SCMP Infographic: Life Inside The Kowloon Walled City

Plus an extra little treat - the Star Ferry I decided to upgrade my cell phone, and that Hong Kong was the place to do it. Hong Kong phones provide access to the Google services, which phones purchased in China do not. I had rooted my previous phone, but was still unable to access Google, unless I was willing to burn it into the ROM (I was not). While I was there, I decided to upgrade my camera. So without a whole lot of shopping around, this is what I found. Prices listed are from the Ocean Center Harbor City mall in Hong Kong, Taobao in China (which I expect to be similar to prices here in Yulin), and Amazon and B&H Photo in the U.S. Amazon seems to be a good point of comparison for just about everything, while B&H Photo seemed to come up often with Google searches. Prices in the left three columns are in the local currency. Prices in the right columns are converted to USD for comparison. The prices I actually paid are in green. China and Hong Kong do not charge sales taxes, which you may have to pay in the U.S. Merchants on Taobao often do not charge shipping. The Hong Kong merchants were extremely pleasant, helpful, and knowledgeable. One even referred me to another shop across the harbor when he didn't have the phone I wanted - Samsung Galaxy S8. Sony A5100 and Samsung S8 The Hong Kong merchants threw in a LOT of little extras, including an external battery pack, carrying pouch, 32 GB SD card, protector filter, and UV filter computer glasses. AND . . . when we left the shopping center, we decided to take the ferry across to Central. I was surprised to see that the ferry was the Star Ferry, which not very long ago was the primary means of crossing between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula at Tsim Sha Tsui http://www.starferry.com.hk/sites/default/files/topbanner.jpg StarFerry.hk The Star Ferry was one of the first scenes in a Hollywood film filmed in Hong Kong in 1960, starring William Holden and Nancy Kwan, and played a key role in their meeting. CFL topic - the World of Suzie Wong See Gwulo: Old Hong Kong for some interesting comparisons between the filming locations and present day Hong Kong. All in all, I think I would just as soon do my shopping in China. Buying the cell phone in Hong Kong was a necessity for this Westerner, however, because of the local (Chinese) regulations in effect. Many English language websites are affected by the restrictions of the Great Firewall. This includes some of the Communist Party's own English-language websites, include the People's Daily, Xinhua, and many others which use Google, Facebook, and/or YouTube functionalities. Cameras do not seem to be affected by Chinese regulation. You can simply choose English or Chinese within the camera's setup.

Bamboo is the national wood of China, much like pine and oak in the U.S. Much of China's hardwood was burned for Mao's "Great Leap Forward". Re-forestration has been very extensive ever since, but, basically - bamboo grows MUCH faster than most of the hardwoods. The scaffolding in China is mostly metal painted yellow. from the SCMP Bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong

Our stay in Lan Kwai Fong, Party Central of Hong Kong, just happened to include the Halloween night. We didn't participate in any of the activities, but I did manage to catch some shots. I've included a video from the South China Morning Post as well. There were plenty of little shops around to sell Halloween supplies. The area was pretty well cordoned off, with plenty of barriers to prevent a vehicular attack (and plenty of paddywagons).

It doesn't seem like this is really very much of an issue, but it goes to show how some Hong Kongers feel about allowing ANY Chinese law enforcement within their territory. When crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen by subway, I get off the subway at the terminal station (Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau) on one side, and go through the exiting immigrations check. You then walk a long causeway across the river, where you are processed for entry to the other side. Success of rail link from Hong Kong to China mainland hinges on joint immigration checkpointA legal puzzle about how local and mainland officers will operate at the high-speed railway terminus has worrying implications for some

Original 19th century visitors who wished to visit or live on Victoria Peak traveled by sedan chairs - until the Peak Tram was built in 1888. Still in operation today, although it's been through a few changes, we were able to take the tram to the Sky Terrace viewing platform. The viewing platform offers spectacular views of Hong Kong the Harbor, Kowloon, and the surrounding islands. See Wikipedia article Victoria Peak Boarding the tram is via a Disney-esque line which wraps around the entranceway. The line is not too long, but moves fairly slowly, with departures only every 10 to 15 minutes. Only 150 passengers can be carried at a time. One tram leaves the Peak, while the other leaves the Central Tramway station simultaneously. That is, only ONE tram goes up, while the other goes down. The track gradient is between 4 to 27 degrees.

On our way to dinner in Soho at the Ho Lee Fuk Restaurant in Soho, we paid a visit to the Man Mo Temple 文武R on Hollywood Rd. This was a short walk from our hotel, just a couple of blocks headed up Victoria Peak. It was a VERY short walk up Aberdeen St. to Hollywood Rd., and then West to the temple, or East to the restaurant. It is one of Hong Kong's oldest temples, built in 1847.From Wikipedia Man Mo Temple

split from the Developing Democracy in Hong Kong thread on Sept 2 Extradition Bill coverage in that topic began here - http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/46920-developing-democracy-in-hong-kong/page-8?do=findComment&comment=641722 China political posts were left in that topic This is an ongoing topic - click here for Most Recent Post from the SCMP on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/2380109355388106/ South China Morning Post 5 hrs ·

from the SCMP Mao Zedong thought Japan did the Communist Party a great favour by invading China. Can Hong Kong agree with that? The Chinese leader believed his party could not have come to power if the Japanese had not invaded. Hong Kong’s education secretary, in framing the issue about the DSE exam question as one of political correctness, is missing the point

Time for another trip to see the wife's family and this time we play tourist in Beijing checking out great wall, emperors palace and the like. Asking the few of us that live there (Randy mainly I think.) Any anti-USA sentiment going on now? Should I use my Canadian passport instead? I don't imagine it will be a problem not once have I run in to anyone giving us a hassle on previous trips. Was planning on swinging threw Hong Kong for a few days, it would be just my daughter and I in Hong Kong for the most part my wife has a few days she needs to take care of some things in her home town so she will join us to go to Shenzhen when she is done. Think it's ok to do this with out her being with us or should we wait and just skip Hong Kong altogether spending all our time in Shenzhen?

Why China should recognize that dissent can be patriotic History suggests that narrowly defining Chinese identity will backfire https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/10/23/why-china-should-recognize-that-dissent-can-be-patriotic/ When a group of Hong Kong protesters pulled down a Chinese national flag in Shatin recently, the Beijing mouthpiece China Daily called the protests “anti-China in nature.” Not only was the flag desecration the result of “foreign provocation,” the paper claimed, but even worse, it showed a “lack of patriotism among youngsters in the city.” The Chinese Communist Party rejects the Hong Kong identity of the protesters, which clashes with the strident, uniform nationalism that the party has stoked in recent years. Hong Kong is central to this narrative. While the CCP once relied on violent class struggle to legitimize its authority, in the past three decades the party has increasingly emphasized its role in ending China’s “hundred years of humiliation,” which began when the British defeated China in the First Opium War and took Hong Kong as a colony. Beijing also claims the sole right to determine who is a good and loyal Chinese citizen, casting those with alternative views and complicated identities ― like the current protesters ― as disloyal and dupes of foreign enemies bent on undermining China itself. ..... In fact, the Chinese Nationalist regime, which the Communists defeated in 1949, used the same basic accusations almost a century ago ― against Chinese Americans. But the experience of Chinese American emigres in China in the 20th century suggests that narrowly defining Chinese identity to exclude Western ideas and values will backfire, alienate loyal members of the society and galvanize resistance. Few people today think of the United States as an immigrant-sending nation. But between 1901 and 1940, thousands of Chinese Americans moved to China in search of the economic and social mobility that drew millions of Europeans to the United States in these same years. Most were the children of merchants, one of the few categories of Chinese allowed into the United States under the Chinese Exclusion Act. Birth on U.S. soil gave them American citizenship but little else. Deep and persistent racial discrimination meant that even the most educated Chinese American citizens could rarely find work outside restaurants, laundries and trinket stores. In contrast, China, a failing empire that in 1912 became a struggling republic, appeared to offer them not just a sense of belonging but opportunities unimaginable in the United States. Between 1901 and World War II, between one-third and one-half of all U.S.-born Chinese moved to Asia. But American-born people soon lost the competitive edge of their Western educations. ....... Once Sun signed an agreement with a Soviet representative in 1923, the Guangdong-based Nationalist Party adopted a vocal anti-imperialist agenda and scapegoated many of the province’s foreign-born Chinese, including Chinese Americans, for their alleged Western ties and assumed disloyalty. After Sun’s death, the Nationalist Party succeeded in uniting much of China, and the new government consolidated its power in a way reminiscent of Beijing’s approach today: by defining “Chinese” in narrow, exclusive terms. The Nationalist government claimed authority over Chinese Americans, whom it regarded as solely Chinese citizens, but it simultaneously disparaged their habits, ideas and politics as “foreign.” Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek’s New Life Movement exemplified this approach: Bent on creating disciplined, loyal and submissive citizens, the movement attacked Western individualism and cultural influences, such as dancing and permanent waves, as decadent, degenerate and unpatriotic. ......... Not coincidentally, between 1946 and 1949, most of the almost 2,000 Chinese Americans who had lived through the Japanese occupation fled China, never to return. Although many feared the Communists, they worried even more about the disappearance of the in-between spaces where they had once lived and thrived. Almost all of those who stayed in Asia after the war settled in Hong Kong, the last in-between space. That literal space ceased to exist in 1997, and over the past decade and a half, Beijing has worked to undermine its figurative counterpart. But whatever happens in the weeks and months to come, the CCP’s attempts to mandate a particular definition of acceptable Chineseness have backfired. ......... By Charlotte Brooks Charlotte Brooks is a professor of history at Baruch College, CUNY, and the author of three books on Asian American history, including "American Exodus: Second-Generation Chinese Americans in China, 1901-1949."

from the SCMP When Hong Kong expats were found ‘suitable’ wives by bosses and their spousesRight up to the 1950s, men arriving in Hong Kong to join companies were not expected - and in some cases were forbidden - to marry for the first 10 years, whereupon their employers would choose a mate for them, Jason Wordie writes http://cdn3.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/620x356/public/2015/11/12/b858290e578d153341b67c646711fe92.jpg?itok=tSG5qyGq "Newlyweds Ho Lai-sheung and Alan Pickford, the first British soldier granted permission to marry a local woman, in the 1950s." http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/11/12/fe305cb66459699ced8c113896f36157.jpg?itok=3X8OsovI "Pickford and his wife celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in Hong Kong, in 2002. Photo: Dickson Lee"

An interesting article, if you care to read it, in the NY Times. Some new revelations about his time in Hong Kong After Edward Snowden Fled U.S., Asylum Seekers in Hong Kong Took Him In

from Inkstone - an interesting story about/from the daughter of a British/Filipino marriage Just say you’re British’: Hong Kong’s dirty little secret

These postal codes are for use ONLY when mailing letters from Mainland China to Hong Kong or Macau. Hong Kong is 999077, and Macau is 999078. Hooda thunk! You’ve got mail ... but no postcode: why Hong Kong does not use such numbers There is 999077 for mainland mail bound for city, but it is unheard of in local postage and rarely used

On another night, we took a short walk on Queens Road Central to the Hong Kong Central - Mid-Level Escalator, which we took up to Mosque Rd. and the XOCO Mexican Cantina and Bar. On Facebook, they're at https://www.facebook.com/xocosoho/ A guy selling (and making) wooden watches. A nice arts & crafts idea, but I don't think so. The view at the entrance to the Escalator looking up along Shelly Rd. The elevated portion there is the Escalator. The escalator is a one-way escalator going UP, except in the morning when it goes DOWN (I guess for people heading to work). It was built in 1994 and is the longest outdoor escalator in the world, at 2,600 feet. It was built in sections, and is very easy to get on or off at different levels. After my wife was told several times that we had come too far - to go back down to where we wanted to go, I asked someone myself and was told that yes, it was just one more level up and on the right. Found it, no problem. Hong Kong seems to be a VERY helpful place as far as strangers offering directions. Looking down from the top

Yes, the sign really does say what you think it does. In Mandarin, that's 口利幅 Kou Li Fu, or "Good Fortune for the Mouth". But in Hong Kong, they speak Cantonese - for them (and us English-speakers), it really DOES say Ho Lee Fook. It is branded as Chinese, Japanese, Asian fusion - the main chef is Taiwanese. But "fusion" seems to refer to VERY loud, American music from the 70's and 80's, English-only menus, and a Taiwanese-Canadian chef with dishes which are different from what our friends from the Mainland (in particular, my wife) seem to expect. She wasn't impressed. I was somewhat over-whelmed at having to select Asian/Chinese food from a menu with no pictures, and no Chinese to help HER, but I was very satisfied with my choices. An excellent restaurant, just make sure your Chinese significant-other is "open to the experience" This is the entire first floor of the restaurant - the stairs lead down to the eating area, We were one of the first tables seated - there was a pretty good crowd not long afterward.

My wife and I are flying to China for a few weeks in October on Air Canada, she has a 10 year green card. My question is in regards to flying back from Hong Kong, will she need anything as far as a visa to leave mainland China or will her green card and flight ticket be enough? Looking online I did not find anything that was required except the green card and ticket but want to be sure we are correct. Thanks.

in the SCMP Inside the Liaoning, the warship with 10 cafeterias, a TV station and even a band More than 2,000 people live, exercise and train inside China’s first aircraft carrier. What do they eat and do in their spare time? We have the answers Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning arrives in Hong Kong waters for maiden visit Battle group welcomed by city’s top officials ahead of public tours

in the SCMP Should you avoid bathing or leaving the house after childbirth, as Chinese tradition dictates? Much of traditional Chinese postnatal confinement practice runs contrary to Western medicine. We ask health professionals from Chinese, Western and holistic backgrounds for their views on postnatal care

Hi everyone, newbie here! My fiance and I just got engaged and filed for the K1 visa - so exciting! I am a citizen of Hong Kong working in Shanghai, so we just put Shanghai as the embassy of choice. But now I am reading that Guangzhou is the only embassy that issues K1 visa? I am panicking now (esp when i read about to the possible delay in receiving the packages because of Chinese custom here) and wonder if we have chosen the wrong place to apply for the visa. I travel to Hong Kong for work often and have addresses in both cities - is it possible/do you guys advise us to call and try to switch it to Hong Kong? Thank you so much - this is an incredibly stressful process, I am grateful forums like this to get us all moving and staying positive!

How surfing suddenly became cool in Hong Kong, and its ’70s expat roots Long a marginal sport in Hong Kong, surfing has gone mainstream, with girls and young women in particular taking to the boards and bringing civility to a sometimes rowdy scene