My Take | Reassert the qualities that made Hong Kong a special part of China
As the city looks to the future it would do well to remember the values of tolerance and friendly engagement that saw it through difficult times
Thirty years ago today (Sun) I flew from London to Hong Kong to start a new life. It was a journey into the unknown. I have never regretted the move.
That was my first visit to the city. I arrived with just a suitcase, leaving my old life behind. The trip was to last 28 years, before my return to the UK in 2022.
The Hong Kong I left behind was still in the grip of pandemic restrictions and a painful political transformation. It changed dramatically in just a few years. Now, the city is seeking to emerge from those turbulent times.
Even as a Londoner, I was overwhelmed by the Hong Kong that greeted me in 1994. It was bursting with energy, a chaotic whirl of trams and taxis, crowded streets, soaring skyscrapers and bobbing boats. The joke, with all the building work, was that the city would be nice when finished.
This was a British colony writing the final chapter of a story that had lasted more than 150 years.
With a heady blend of optimism, pride, doubt and concern, staunchly capitalist Hong Kong was preparing for its return to communist China in 1997. No one knew what the future held.
