Entries from May 2008 ↓

The flame trees are a beautiful sight in Hong Kong, in May and June. The city is a far cry from a green city, but there are beautiful trees around if you look out. 

At the moment, Lo Wu Control Point is the most used and crowded border crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. To lessen the crowd using Lo Wu Control Point, a new control point, the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point 落馬洲分綫管制站 at Hong Kong side (or, Fu Tian Port Control Point 福田口岸管制站 at Shenzhen side) has been in operation since August 2007.

　Fu Tian Port Control Point

Lok Ma Chau Spur Line /Fu Tian Port Control Point is the second control point that has connection with railway, after Lo Wu. Passengers coming from Hong Kong can connect to the HuangGang station, the last stop on the No.4 line of Shenzhen underground railway system. The Station is situated on the ground floor of the border control building. So it is convenient for passengers.

But since the opening of the new Control Point, not as many passengers as expected are using it. This is because the area around Fu Tian Port Control Point is not as much developed as Lo Wu and there is not much choice in terms of transportation. So most of the passengers still prefer Lo Wu border crossing.

But as a traveler, if you want to go to Shenzhen from Hong Kong, and avoid the crowd, do consider Lok Ma Chau Spur Line/Fu Tian Port Control Point. It will be less crowded, and the border control building is very spacious and bright.

 (Lok Ma Chau station)

The easiest way to reach the Control Point from Hong Kong is take the Hong Kong MTR East Rail line to the Shueng Shui station and transfer from there to Lok Ma Chau station, just one station away.

The Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point at Hong Kong side is connected to the Fu Tian Port Control Point by a footbridge.

The Control Point operates 16 hours a day from 6.30am to 10.30pm.

It is reported that when China president Hu Jintao paid his first visit to the earthquake region yesterday, the rescuers stopped their race against the time to save those buried underneath the collapsed buildings for two hours, just to welcome Hu.

Soldiers, armed police and firefighters queued up to welcome Hu during his visit to the Beichuan county, one of the hard hit areas by the powerful 7.9-magnitude Sichuan earthquake, according to South China Morning Post.

The moral of the story? Ordinary people’s lives matter little compared with the state top leader’s visit.

The following report from a South China Morning Post journalist describes how a bunch of people got together and made it to the cut-off town Yingxiu, at the epicenter of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake in the Sichuan province.

These people trekked to the town despite dangers and against warnings, for different reasons, showing human’s compassion and perseverance in the face of calamity and difficulties.

A story to share with all of you:

Journey into the quake’s heart of darkness
Choi Chi-yuk
May 17, 2008

Choi Chi-yuk was among the first journalists to reach Yingxiu at the epicentre of the Sichuan earthquake. In his second report, he describes the 49km trek to ground zero

As the group I am travelling with makes its way towards the heart of the disaster, fleeing refugees warn us of the conditions ahead and urge us to turn back.

“Please listen to me. Give up this idea of going there. It’s too dangerous,” a young man in his 20s yelled at us. “Rocks of all sizes are falling from the mountains. On the other side of the road is the cliff. You would have no place to hide if there is a landslide. Stop this madness now and turn back.”

Another man, his head still bandaged, chimed in. “The place has been running out of food and water since Monday. People are fighting for everything. It is a complete chaos. You’d have no place to sleep even if you do get there,” he warned.

My heart sank and my mouth ran dry. A young woman, whom we met on the road and was trying desperately to reach her family who lived at the epicentre at Wenchuan in Sichuan, turned pale and sat down on the ground in despair. She buried her face in her hands and wept quietly.

A long silence followed but when the woman looked up again, there was renewed resolution in her eyes.
“I will go! Even if this is a rush to death, I want to die together with my family,” she said.

Her brave words lifted our hearts, and nodding to each other, the five of us pushed on.

We were strangers coming from different parts of China and from all walks of life, but all eager to reach Wenchuan.

No news had come out from the epicentre since the quake struck on Monday. All roads leading to the county were destroyed or blocked by rocks.

To find out what was happening to the tens of thousands of people living there, I hiked 49km through the mountains to reach them.

My march began in Dujiangyan , midway between Wenchuan and Chengdu , at 3.30pm on Wednesday. Knowing that food and water would be scarce at the scene, I packed 2 litres of bottled water, two packs of biscuits, a notebook computer and a camera in my bag - more than 6kg in total.

Once on the road, I was joined by others also trying to head to Wenchuan - all of us driven by a different purpose to reach the disaster zone.

Yu Jianjan, a migrant worker in Qingdao , Shandong , rushed back to Sichuan after learning of the quake.
He said his parents, uncle, elder brother and sister-in-law were all living in Wenchuan.

“I have not heard a word from them since the quake. I’m sick of worrying. I must go and find out what happened to them,” Mr Yu said as tears welled in his eyes.

Zhong, a broad-shouldered man with a big bag on his back, told us that he was from Huangshi in the central province of Hubei . He packed up and came to Sichuan once he heard the news.

“I have no friends or relatives here. But I want to do my part to help people in the disaster area. I want to do my bit to help out,” he said. “This bag is full of food and water. I guess this is what is most needed in the area.”

Two girls, both in their 20s, were also members of our team. Liu Jianqin, the less shy of the two, said they were rushing back to see their classmates in Wenchuan.

The girls went to Chengdu with their teacher on Monday, narrowly escaping the disaster. But their fellow schoolmates were all trapped in Yingxiu.

We soon became friends as we helped each other to hike through the rough mountains. We followed the destroyed road linking Dujiangyan to Yingxiu.

Along the way, rocks tumbled down from the mountain on my right-hand side and crashed into the turgid Min River, sending loud booming echoes across the valley like ominous warnings.

At some sections we saw huge rocks the size of a house blocking our way. Fearing the worst, we quickened our pace despite the fatigue setting in after hours of hard walking.

The road was filled with cracks big enough to swallow up an adult. After sunset, the path would become practically impassable. We were also racing against time to reach Wenchuan before nightfall.

The fatigue, worry and anxiety soon clouded my senses. My mind went blank and I could only focus on the next step.

To keep myself up, I had to tell myself silently that I must make it to Yingxiu as soon as possible.

But I was jolted awake by the first scenes of disaster: bridges broken and scattered across fields; vehicles lying smashed and twisted at the foot of a nearby hill, the dead trapped  inside.

The odour of the bodies mixed with the smell of the rotten food spilling from the car. We were so overwhelmed with terror none of us could speak.

Night fell. But to my relief, a bright moon lit our road. Looking up, I offered a silent prayer to the sky.

We came upon a steep slope, with Yingxiu lying just behind. The path was slippery with mud after days of rainfall. Soon we were covered in dirt and sweat, forced to crawl uphill with bare hands.

At 12.30am on Thursday, after nine hours and 45km, I finally reached the outskirt of Yingxiu.

Exhausted but exited, we collapsed on the ground and could not move anymore. With the temperature only a few degrees above zero, we fell into sleep soon.

The rest was tense and brief. At about 1.30am, the ground suddenly shook and everyone jumped up in fear and wonder. At least five more aftershocks followed that night. When dawn arrived, we again set off towards the town centre - which was still 5km ahead.

Carefully navigating the broken rocks, we had to measure each of our steps, while remembering to look up for falling rocks from the hills above.

It was not until 8.30am that I reached downtown Yingxiu. My clothes were soaked with sweat, my legs felt burned by blisters, but I had made it. I was moved by what I saw on the road, and by the care and love my travel companions showed to their family and to each other.

Each month you can enjoy some cultural programmes (dance, singing, musical instuctment performance, etc) in the foyer of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui, for free.

The programmes are organized on Thursday evenings (6-7pm), called Thursday Happy Hour; and Saturday afternoons (3-4:30pm), called Saturday Arts Delights. No tickets are required. But do not expect that there are such free programmes every Thursday and Friday.

Check out Saturday Arts Delights programmes here, and Thursday Happy Hour programmes here.

Saturday Arts Delights (3-4:30pm) for May, 2008:

10 May:
Choral Music
Bel Canto Singers

Magic and Clown
PC Carnival Services Co.

24 May
A Cappella Singing
The Sregnis Singers

Western Folk Dance
Crystal Western Folk Dance Troupe

Thursday Happy Hour (6-7pm) for May 2008

15 May
Chinese Ensemble Music
Free Sing Zheng Ensemble

A sign of relief. The Olympics torch relay in Hong Kong is finally over! Despite the excitement of crowds for the relay, shown on TV, I, as many others whose voice can be hardly heard, was just indifferent, and even numb.

Who are on the list of torch bearers? Besides some athletes, there are 21 business tycoons, 13 politicians and eight artists (singers/movie stars), all pro-China. Not even one grassroots representative or a member of the democratic camp was invited to relay the torch. 

Whenever I hear that Beijing Olympics should not be boycotted because sport has nothing to do with politics, I just want to laugh. Better give some other reason than this! Sport has been, and is always intertwined with politics. Hong Kong’s torch relay list of bearers speaks volume. Not to mention the vehement patriotism shown across China.

And there are just so many things that give me the sense that the Hong Kong torch relay is not a cause for jubilation. There are: the visa curb because of the Olympics, which causes so much inconvenience to so many travellers/business people; the turning away of Danish artist Jens Galschiot; and quiz of potential protesters by police ahead of the torch relay. I cannot but feel puzzled as to why those appearing on the TV seemed so excited.