With Hong Kong's bars and restaurants heaving, its headhunters unable to pull themselves away from Blackberries long enough to order a Pinot Noir, and with office rents in Central reaching laughable levels, it is hard these days to get many people thinking about the Pearl River Delta, let alone the greater delta region.
This is the centre of the universe. Backyards? Who needs them?
Some fundamental changes, however, are under way in Guangdong and the eight other provinces that comprise the 'nine plus two' grouping (with Hong Kong and Macau) - China's biggest economic bloc. These shifts are going to have a major impact on Hong Kong in the next few years, let alone the next decade.
They are worth taking note of now, before the next property-bubble-induced, bird-flu-accelerated domestic downturn is upon us.
The most important is what is happening in infrastructure. As people were quick to point out at this newspaper's Pearl River Delta Conference, held in Guangdong last year, the greater-delta concept is a pipe dream until roads and railway networks have been built to bring it together. That was barely 14 months ago. Now, the talk is of how soon the highway will be finished from Chongqing to Shenzhen, which will mean a 12-hour journey for container trucks - a fair bit faster than the current two days by boat to Shanghai.
Closer to home, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation, owner of the umbilical chord between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, is working on a shorter, faster version that will cut the travelling time from one hour and 50 minutes to an hour. That will add time for one more meeting (or one more traffic jam) to a busy executive's day in the provincial capital.
The added convenience this will provide for trips into the Pearl River Delta pales in comparison to the biggest infrastructure project currently under way in Hong Kong, and scheduled to finish early next year. That is the Western Crossing, a bridge from the New Territories to Shenzhen's Shekou port. It will triple the existing cross-border travelling capacity, greatly easing congestion at the Lowu and Lok Ma Chau crossings. Vehicles will be able to bypass Shenzhen and go directly into Dongguan , which will bring its golf courses into closer driving range. That means more Hong Kong money flowing into Dongguan property.