Fourteen years this week, Britain handed Hong Kong over to China.
It’s summer and rather than go into an academic look at the Handover, I thought it’d be fun to show a couple ways Hong Kong changed after July 1, 1997.
For instance, this flag was lowered that night:
And this is what replaced it:
The flower is a bauhinia and the color red represents–what else–China!
All things royal went by the wayside back then, too. The post offices took down their portraits of a youngish Queen Elizabeth. And most of the Queen Elizabeth post boxes, which looked like this (although most were, ironically, red):
were replaced by boxes like these (which aren’t red!) even before the Handover:
As for Hong Kong’s political system, China has promised it’ll allow the territory to remain as is for the first 50 years post-Handover. China calls this one country, two systems. So we’re approaching year 14 this week. Only time will tell what Hong Kong (and China) will look like 36 years from now.
And for a little personal reflection, this is where I spent much of my time in Hong Kong back in 1997:
Back to 50 years of one country, two systems. Later this week I’ll be giving away a fabulous collection of fiction, essays, and poetry I was honored to contribute to several years ago. This book looks into Hong Kong’s chances 50 years post-Handover. So stay tuned.
Until then, I’d love to hear your memories of the Handover, whether you were in Hong Kong in 1997 or elsewhere.
In 1961, 36 years before the hangover, I just started high school ( Form 1, for those who still remember the old system ). Our family moved into a government housing estate, a big move-up for us. Sir Robert Black was the Governor.I remember him because he visited our school 2 years earlier, waving and smiling from his limo. China was on the verge of collapsing from the Great Leap Forward.I witnessed many refugees from across the Shenzhen River.Fastforward 36 years to 1997, I was on another continent, citizen of another country. I had my own family and a career. Hong Kong was granted 50 more years of borrowed time. I was watching the Hangover on TV.I had a mixed bag of emotions as I was watching the ceremony, but none too strong to mention. After all, being away for 28 years would probably dilute whatever emotional ties I’d had with Hong Kong despite the fact that my clan was there and still is. In another 36 years, will Shanghai take over Hong Kong as the only hub ( financial, cultural, etc ) that it does not matter any more about one country/two systems? Will Hongkongers be migrating inland and elsewhere for economic survival? Will China be the second largest democracy ( to India ) in the worls? It would seem as irrelevant to the average citizen of Hong Kong about situations 36 years from now as about the Hangover of 1997 in 1961. To people of Hong Kong, 36 years is a long time.I think what is more challenging to the SAR is between now and 36 years later with the problems of a widening wealth gap, housing, health care and pollution.
Thanks so much, Wai, for your great comment. I totally agree with you about the here and now in Hong Kong. How can we worry about the future when we haven’t solved the problems of the present? Sadly, these problems you mention (widening wealth gap, housing, health care, and pollution) are the very things that could break China. As they say, only time will tell. Thank you again so much for sharing your experience and views!
Thanks, Susan for the essay and the pictures. I haven’t been back since 1994 and only “experienced” the handover through the photo and comments on a post card sent from a friend. I know things have changed although my Dad says it still feels like home. I had no idea that Hong Kong had a new flag. I suppose I thought they simply raised the China flag when they lowered the old one. It’s not a particularly compelling flag, is it? It shows nothing of Hong Kong’s past, of her strength. Insipid.
I do wonder about what Hong Kong will be like in 36 years. I wonder how China will maintain the one country, two systems. Can the Hong Kong facilities (hospitals, for instance) actually be vaible when inundated by those from the other “system” who want to be a part of a good thing? I’d be interested to hear what you think!
Thanks so much, Sarah! I guess to maintain a feel of ‘one country, two systems’, the PRC allowed HK to fly their own flag. I know there was a lot of controversy around this new flag. Many people think it’s boring. Around the same time the flag was introduced, the stamps were changed and also used that bauhinia flower, if memory serves me right. I don’t remember seeing bauhinia in HK. I remember azaleas more than anything.
Gosh, I never thought about the hospitals. I mostly think about the freedom of speech, to assemble, have multiple political parties (I was a political science major, after all!). But your point is very important. I know that just before the Handover, the faculty in my department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong had many professors from Taiwan. There were some from the US and Hong Kong and one from Malaysia, but mostly from Taiwan. Then just before the Handover, most of the Taiwan professors retired or went back to Taiwan. Now it’s mainly filled with professors from mainland China. It seems like the universities in HK are much closer to China now. I’m sure your father has some thoughts about that, which should be even more telling what with the view China takes toward religion. A very interesting time indeed.