After the 1984 joint declaration that laid in the plans to return Hong Kong to China, my grandmother decided she had to visit the British crown colony before the scheduled July 1997 handoff. Despite Chinese guarantees to keep the liberal capitalist system of government in place and to honor the Basic Law of Hong Kong, my grandmother, like most people questioned what would happen.
Being a lover of Chinese art and culture, she very badly wanted a shopping trip to Hong Kong and began talking to my mom - who shared her passion - about clearing their credit cards and finding a time to go.
My grandmother was traveling and enjoying life, looking forward to Hong Kong when in August 1989 the first symptoms of her pancreatic cancer began to surface. She died in December, at age 67 - and missing Hong Kong was one of her great regrets.
I always think of her when I'm here. I love it here and know she would have been as happy in Hong Kong as she had imagined.
I also think back on what drove her to plan her trip. Most of the world shared my grandmother's concern. Many Hong Kongers left - going to the UK, US, Canada, Australia and Singapore among others.
Hong Kong's future became highly uncertain and in the years leading up to the handoff, the colony had trouble securing loans for projects like the MTR (subway).
Luckily, in most respects, China has upheld its end of the deal. Hong Kong remains much as it was. The coins no longer bear the image of Queen Elizabeth and the red postal boxes were changed to green, but the colony turned Special Administrative Region wasn't gutted as people feared.
Eventually, many Hong Kongers returned to roost. Singapore which had offered an extensive number of visas and residencies to Hong Kongers found that within 10 years, most had returned to Hong Kong.
As far as I can see, there's really no reason why not. Hong Kong remains a vibrant world city where business and industry - including its sizable and important banking sector - still thrive. Hong Kongers have a fantastic standard of living and a beautiful pseudo-city-state.
Only, there's the rub. Pseudo city-state? Because it's never existed before, no one really knows what an SAR is, let alone what that means for its residents. Hong Kong is under Chinese sovereignty, but the people mostly don't consider themselves Chinese nationals. But they are ethnically Chinese. Although they speak Cantonese. And English. They have different passports and identity cards than Chinese nationals and actually have to stamp in and out of Mainland China - or Macau, another SAR.
So that's confusing.
Hong Kong has its own currency, legislative body and post office. Its citizens vote for some of their legislators in genuine elections and they have a bill of rights including free speech and the right to assemble (biggies).
But there are Chinese naval ships in the harbor.
It has to be a bit confusing to be a Hong Konger. One thing you can't really have is nationalism - because in a strange way Hong Kongers are people without a nation. They know what they aren't - not fully Chinese (not in the PRC sense of it, anyway), not British, not fully democratic, not communist and not in charge of their collective destiny.
However, walking around town, you see a confident society. Buildings going up, business booming, streets bustling, cultural events in the harbor. It's Dragon Boat Festival time and Emily and I watched the races at Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. People were lined up to enjoy an ancient Chinese tradition which Hong Kong turns into a multi-day celebration and carnival on the water. In this way, Hong Kong is very Chinese.
Of course, feet away are department stores, hotels, museums, malls, office towers and streets teeming with business and shopping. The red hot center of Asian capitalism is alive and well.
However, despite all this, Emily and I have been struck by how many people don't speak English. Hong Kong has had some immigration from Mainland China, and I know these people don't usually speak English, but we've seen young Cantonese speakers who lack English skills.
"You know, everything after Generation X, they are so lazy," a very nice Hong Kong woman about our age told us. "After 1997, the education system has gone downhill. They stopped teaching as many classes in English and switched the emphasis to Chinese (Cantonese)."
"But hasn't English been one of Hong Kong's advantages? Don't young people need it for computers, media, watching movies, future careers?" I asked.
"Education is very important. For my daughter (an adorable 20 month-old in her arms), education will determine her chances and opportunities - her entire future. That's why we have to pay to send her to private schools and make sure she gets a good education with English. Our public schools are not so good anymore and kids are lazy too."
She already alternates English and Cantonese so her daughter will be bilingual.
What seems most alarming to me is that Cantonese doesn't help anyone. China uses Mandarin and the international business language is English. It seems to me like the change in Hong Kong education is a giant step backward.
However, Cantonese with traditional characters remains one of the few distinguishing characteristics of this SAR/former colony/city-state/whatever it is now. Cantonese doesn't belong to the PRC or the western world. Maybe it's a quiet form of nationalism - something to help Hong Kongers "keep it real"?
Given I'm writing from Duke's Deli - an American style deli with free WiFi in a mall in Kowloon downstairs from the United Artists theaters, upstairs from the Starbucks that was too crowded to work in, and down the street from the TGI Friday's, McDonald's, 7-Eleven and Outback Steakhouse - it makes sense that Hong Kongers might want something to block the tides that make it so hard to grasp onto a cohesive identity.
It seems - from my limited perspective - that people just go on about their business and live their lives. Some fight for the right to elect their own legislative council. That hasn't been highly successful. But then, the people of Hong Kong have never been in charge. In 1841 their emperor signed them over to the British who ruled for 156 years and then handed them back to the government of the PRC which affords its citizens no democracy, choice or rights whatsoever.
Being a Hong Konger might not be as glamorous as it looks.
But if I could tell my grandmother about it today, I would tell her that people here still are thriving and business is booming. I would tell her that walking along Tsim Sha Tsui, looking across at the enormous and powerful skyline of Hong Kong Island, or looking down on it from the Peak, the city has a wonderful peacefulness amid the blue water, steep and richly green hills and the gentle winds. Despite the constant buzz on the streets and the electrifying nature of the city's life - Hong Kong has a certain magic that blesses its inhabitants. They may not be in charge - and I hope one day they will be - but they're doing okay.
Being a lover of Chinese art and culture, she very badly wanted a shopping trip to Hong Kong and began talking to my mom - who shared her passion - about clearing their credit cards and finding a time to go.
My grandmother was traveling and enjoying life, looking forward to Hong Kong when in August 1989 the first symptoms of her pancreatic cancer began to surface. She died in December, at age 67 - and missing Hong Kong was one of her great regrets.
I always think of her when I'm here. I love it here and know she would have been as happy in Hong Kong as she had imagined.
I also think back on what drove her to plan her trip. Most of the world shared my grandmother's concern. Many Hong Kongers left - going to the UK, US, Canada, Australia and Singapore among others.
Hong Kong's future became highly uncertain and in the years leading up to the handoff, the colony had trouble securing loans for projects like the MTR (subway).
Luckily, in most respects, China has upheld its end of the deal. Hong Kong remains much as it was. The coins no longer bear the image of Queen Elizabeth and the red postal boxes were changed to green, but the colony turned Special Administrative Region wasn't gutted as people feared.
Eventually, many Hong Kongers returned to roost. Singapore which had offered an extensive number of visas and residencies to Hong Kongers found that within 10 years, most had returned to Hong Kong.
As far as I can see, there's really no reason why not. Hong Kong remains a vibrant world city where business and industry - including its sizable and important banking sector - still thrive. Hong Kongers have a fantastic standard of living and a beautiful pseudo-city-state.
Only, there's the rub. Pseudo city-state? Because it's never existed before, no one really knows what an SAR is, let alone what that means for its residents. Hong Kong is under Chinese sovereignty, but the people mostly don't consider themselves Chinese nationals. But they are ethnically Chinese. Although they speak Cantonese. And English. They have different passports and identity cards than Chinese nationals and actually have to stamp in and out of Mainland China - or Macau, another SAR.
So that's confusing.
Hong Kong has its own currency, legislative body and post office. Its citizens vote for some of their legislators in genuine elections and they have a bill of rights including free speech and the right to assemble (biggies).
But there are Chinese naval ships in the harbor.
It has to be a bit confusing to be a Hong Konger. One thing you can't really have is nationalism - because in a strange way Hong Kongers are people without a nation. They know what they aren't - not fully Chinese (not in the PRC sense of it, anyway), not British, not fully democratic, not communist and not in charge of their collective destiny.
However, walking around town, you see a confident society. Buildings going up, business booming, streets bustling, cultural events in the harbor. It's Dragon Boat Festival time and Emily and I watched the races at Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. People were lined up to enjoy an ancient Chinese tradition which Hong Kong turns into a multi-day celebration and carnival on the water. In this way, Hong Kong is very Chinese.
Of course, feet away are department stores, hotels, museums, malls, office towers and streets teeming with business and shopping. The red hot center of Asian capitalism is alive and well.
However, despite all this, Emily and I have been struck by how many people don't speak English. Hong Kong has had some immigration from Mainland China, and I know these people don't usually speak English, but we've seen young Cantonese speakers who lack English skills.
"You know, everything after Generation X, they are so lazy," a very nice Hong Kong woman about our age told us. "After 1997, the education system has gone downhill. They stopped teaching as many classes in English and switched the emphasis to Chinese (Cantonese)."
"But hasn't English been one of Hong Kong's advantages? Don't young people need it for computers, media, watching movies, future careers?" I asked.
"Education is very important. For my daughter (an adorable 20 month-old in her arms), education will determine her chances and opportunities - her entire future. That's why we have to pay to send her to private schools and make sure she gets a good education with English. Our public schools are not so good anymore and kids are lazy too."
She already alternates English and Cantonese so her daughter will be bilingual.
What seems most alarming to me is that Cantonese doesn't help anyone. China uses Mandarin and the international business language is English. It seems to me like the change in Hong Kong education is a giant step backward.
However, Cantonese with traditional characters remains one of the few distinguishing characteristics of this SAR/former colony/city-state/whatever it is now. Cantonese doesn't belong to the PRC or the western world. Maybe it's a quiet form of nationalism - something to help Hong Kongers "keep it real"?
Given I'm writing from Duke's Deli - an American style deli with free WiFi in a mall in Kowloon downstairs from the United Artists theaters, upstairs from the Starbucks that was too crowded to work in, and down the street from the TGI Friday's, McDonald's, 7-Eleven and Outback Steakhouse - it makes sense that Hong Kongers might want something to block the tides that make it so hard to grasp onto a cohesive identity.
It seems - from my limited perspective - that people just go on about their business and live their lives. Some fight for the right to elect their own legislative council. That hasn't been highly successful. But then, the people of Hong Kong have never been in charge. In 1841 their emperor signed them over to the British who ruled for 156 years and then handed them back to the government of the PRC which affords its citizens no democracy, choice or rights whatsoever.
Being a Hong Konger might not be as glamorous as it looks.
But if I could tell my grandmother about it today, I would tell her that people here still are thriving and business is booming. I would tell her that walking along Tsim Sha Tsui, looking across at the enormous and powerful skyline of Hong Kong Island, or looking down on it from the Peak, the city has a wonderful peacefulness amid the blue water, steep and richly green hills and the gentle winds. Despite the constant buzz on the streets and the electrifying nature of the city's life - Hong Kong has a certain magic that blesses its inhabitants. They may not be in charge - and I hope one day they will be - but they're doing okay.
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