Wednesday, November 29, 2006 – Hong Kong, China

Woah! Even as late as 6:00 this evening I thought this would be a day when there would be nothing to tell … However, I think I now have enough stories to fill another diary! We went out to another vegetarian restaurant and ordered two small dishes, because after eating we wanted to stop by the restaurant of a man named Mr. Wong, who a few nights ago had befriended Stephan (or vice versa).

So [after the dinner] we went to see Mr. Wong. His is very friendly and animated, looking much younger than his 41 years. He was sitting at one of the two small tables outside his restaurant with another man named Lawrence, and he welcomed us to sit with him and drink some beer or wine. We ordered a bird's nest with vegetables and tofu, and sat to talk.

And wow, the stories that came out! At first it was small talk -- who traveled where, and why did you travel there (Lawrence does import / export and travels ALL over, very often). Mr. Wong shared a beautiful book written by his wife, who teaches art to young children -- it had page after page of vibrant paintings and drawings by her young students, I took some which I'll send when we figure out how (I took lots of pictures of the group but the battery ran out just after we took a group photo in front of the restaurant -- bummer because on our way home long after midnight, when we bought some mangos from two women who looked like an elderly mother and her daughter, I wasn't able to take photos of their beautiful smiles).

Anyway, for some reason the conversation turned to a story about how Mr. Wong came to Hong Kong, and wow! Very dramatic. By this time we were joined by several others, and we then plied everyone for stories, and also talked about how Hong Kong is, now that it's part of China.

Awww, I'm so sorry to do this to you, guys, but it's almost 3:00 and I have to get up early again for the last day of the conference. It will be a long day, as we have another banquet, but I promise I'll write down their stories tomorrow.

Thursday, November 30, 2006 – Hong Kong, China

Well FINALLY a day with nothing much to report! And I'm here before 2:00 AM and don't have to get up early tomorrow. So I'll … launch into the stories I heard last night. We ended up talking with the restaurant owner Mr. Wong and his friend Lawrence for hours, and during the night we were joined by two other friends, Chanmok and his 14-year-old nephew Ryan. Chanmok is an acupuncturist (practicing for almost 20 years but licensed for only the last 4 years) and Ryan is a student. One young man dropped by on his way to pick up his girlfiend (they plan to marry in two years), and they came back to our table but didn't stay to talk. Mr. Wong has 2 children, a boy now aged 9 and a girl, Lawrence also married but I forget if he has children.

So here are their stories:

Mr. Wong grew up in Guangzhau, China and when he was 15 years old, which I figure is about 1980 (during the cultural revolution that affected and devastated so many people I met in China last year), he left home to try to reach Hong Kong. The trip takes 7 days, with sleeping during the day and walking during the night if there is no moon out -- two of those days are climbing over the mountains. Many people who made the same trip were shot and killed by the soldiers who patroled the area. The only other way to reach Hong Kong was to swim, and they said some of them were killed by sharks. People set off for Hong Kong individually, and their family members wouldn't get any word about whether they were killed or made it safely for about a month.

Lawrence's parents came to China over 60 years ago, right after World War II, as did Chanmok's parents (Ryan's grandparents). They were very poor, and hoped for better opportunities -- Hong Kong was a British protectorate and was prosperous. At that time, no one cared if they left the country, so no one tried to stop them.

When they arrived, they had nothing. A Chinese Christian church gave food and milk to any people who believed in Christianity, so his parents believed … until later -- now the family is Buddhist again. Our friends last night took great pride in the fact that people who arrived with so little worked very hard, which is why Hong Kong is so prosperous. Chanmok's aunts and uncles went to Thailand instead, and the family is now selling rice there.

They said that when Hong Kong was turned over to China in 1997, the Party leaders agreed that for 50 years, China will have two separate governmental systems – Hong Kong / Macau will have one system and mainland China another. A governor was assigned by the central Chinese communist party with an election promised for 2012 but the citizens are protesting and want an election in 2008 (Mr. Wong says he wants to run for governor or city council member, and I think he's only half kidding!).

There is a secret ace in the hole that many Hong Kong citizens have. Just before 1997, England issued British passports / citizenship to 25,000 Hong Kong families. These are being held in secret, and the Chinese are trying to find out who has them. If any of those families decide that they want to leave, they can pull out the passport, claim to be British citizens, and they will have to be granted permission to leave. There is still a lot of distrust between the mainland and the Hong Kong citizens -- they think that China is sending people over to infiltrate so they can become elected as leaders in the first election.

Incidentally, ten years ago, when my husband Fred, Stephan and I were here in Hong Kong, there were people living in boats or floats in the harbor. Those boats are now gone, housing has opened up because they built highrises in the New Territories along the mainland coast. We drove over there for a tour of a university to see its accessibility features [photos], they just got a train out to there about 2-3 years ago (cut the commute from an hour and a half to 45 minutes).

Okay, that's it. I was going to send photos but Stephan, who was going to download them, has fallen fast asleep in the stall beside me, so I'll go ahead and send this and get the photos to you later, when I will also send the photos and this message to our new friends -- they agreed to correct any errors and add stories they want to share.

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