Friday, May 2, 2008Hong Kong
If there’s one thing you can’t miss in Hong Kong right now, it’s the arrival of the Olympic torch. Today, it runs through the streets with much pomp and circumstance. We were all invited to join in the festivities, but the combination of a State Department warning to U.S. citizens and my determination to see Victoria’s Peak and Kowloon today trumped the option. The closest I came was this cheering section along the torch route at the Central MTR station.
Still, the locals are pretty excited about their day in the sun, as well as China’s role as host of the games (remember, technically, HK returned to China with the British handoff in ‘97). Tibet might as well be on Jupiter, as far as folks here are concerned; the city is fueled on 100% joy right now.
A major part of that joy stems from the fact Hong Kong still considers itself “Not Chinese” by most (read: all) standards...and the locals make sure you know it. There’s a lot of national pride here, but it definitely doesn’t come from the mother country.
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