Welcome to Hong Kong!

Hello hk_traveller. Nice to see you here. Hong Kong is one of the places on my list of must-sees. I would like to visit sometime. It is a shame about SARS and the strain it is putting on travel to your country and to the Asian region right now. I hear that Cathay Pacific has had to reduce the number of flights significantly. I also heard of another nine deaths from SARS, but I believe there has been some progress in mapping the virus so hopefully some sort of medical assistance is not far away.

Welcome to A2K!

I heard that Hong Kong was a lovely place, combining Chinese culture with Western openness and attractive prices in the shops. I would like to visit once both Hong Kong and the rest of the PRC. But SART danger must disappear first: unlike the case of the AIDS epidemics, I cannot feel safe even if I behave well: do not inject drugs and do not have sex with males.

Welcome hk !! I would love to hear from yr perspective abt how Hong Kong has changed since joining China. I mean, we keep reading stuff in the press, but I havent met a HK resident who would give views from a local perspective !!



I hope that was said as a joke, tongue in cheek !

Welcome HK Traveler!

the HK's situation after the reunification is rather complicated. the data shows that HK's economic performance has declined for the past several years after the handover. and undeniably, HK is now in difficult time never experienced before.

reasons accounting for the "bad luck" are multifold. for one thing, and most important, is the East Asia economic crisis, which nearly destroyed several countries' economy. HK was one of the victims, but fortunately the China government defended HK by offering sufficient reserves of US dollars. anyway, HK suffered from the ripple effect of that crisis and its economy has yet to completely recover. and really bad luck--the SARS at present which is believed to bring down the GDP by around 0.5%.

for another, HKers are used to feeling as being a subject to a country. and the Mainlanders now, HKers might think, are just replacement of the english. HKers are conditioned to being "ruled". Or rather,some feel more comfortable with the english being the ruler. therefore, cooperation with the Central government is made a little bit more difficult than expected.

anyway, HK is still a very very nice place to visit. it is really international.

I used to live there. It's a fantastic country.

i am there, at the moment.

I had to have a second look at that those acepoly responses! I thought they were unexpected responses from Top Poster

See how important the avatars are?

I know. :-)

you checked my IP address?

Nope. :-)

Margo, i guess you mean Sweet Bunny(the name i give to her today), don't you?

which part of the city did you use to live?

I don't remember, I lived there several times as a child.

wow, that was great! traveling to HK is cheaper now because of SARS. and here it is not dangerous as reported. the situation is getting much better.

When I was a kid I got lost in an airport there. I was terrified and vowed never to return. :-)

you must have lost in the old airport which has been transformed into some recreational facilities. so cheer up, the "spooky place" which made you cry is no more there.

Twasn't the place that made me cry. It was the cops. I was looking at my dad's shoes while I trudged behind him. I guess I got shoes mixed up and ended up lost.

As soon as I realized it I started running around at breakneck speed trying to find my parents.

The Airport police stopped me and held me at which point I started to wail.

My parents got there in about 10 minutes (pretty fast considering I refused to give my name to the police) but it seemed like hours.

I was only consoled by the fact that my parents allowed me to eat as much icecream as I wanted that day.

The scars still linger.

cops here are nice, i think. but i don't know whether they were before.
and they are right to keep you waiting at where you are. it is dangerous for a child to walk around in a crowded place.

so would you come back sometime later? probably you might pick up some of your memory in here.