Categories
China As It Is Hong Kong As It Is

Ching Cheong’s tears

The veteran Hong Kong journalist Ching Cheong was finally released by the China authority, on the eve of Chinese New Year, who had spent more than 1000 days in jail for allegedly spying for Taiwan. 

His family, the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association and many friends of his, had been trying different ways to secure his release since his detention, with the belief that he is innocent.

During those 1000 plus days, his father died. To lessen Ching’s misery, his family hid the sad news from him.

Upon his return to Hong Kong, Ching asked for his father, when he saw that all his family was there, except his father. Only then was he told of the passing of his father. His tears started to flow.

Categories
Transport Travel Tips

Upgraded trains between Hong Kong and Shanghai or Beijing

Starting early this month, the direct train service between Hong Kong and Shanghai/Beijing will use more modern trains. It is said the deluxe soft sleeper room has been upgraded to be like a mobile hotel, equipped with bathroom, TV with LCD high-definition monitor, sofa and wardrobe, not to mention its own air condition.

The Hong Kong MTR company (www.mtr.com.hk), which runs the service, is offering  discounts on this occasion of new train introduction.  If you buy the ticket in Hong Kong, you will have a 10% to 20% discount, depending on if it is a single-way or round-trip ticket. A one-way ticket for Deluxe Soft Sleeper, for instance, costs HK$1072 after discount. The offer is valid until the end of June this year.

The Beijing-Hong Kong Through Train and the Shanghai-Hong Kong Through Train operate on alternate days, taking about 24 & 20 hours respectively.

Check out here for details.

Categories
HK-Shenzhen Transport

“Hong Kong-Shenzhen Airport”: 3 ways

If you leave for Hong Kong from Shenzhen airport (or vice versa), you have three choices:

1) Take direct bus

There is an old and existing way of bus transport, as described here. But the new direct bus service departing from /to Hong Kong’s Airport Express station Kowloon Station is especially convenient and fast. See my post on the service here and here.

2) take the bus K568 from Shenzhen airport to Lowu, Shenzhen

The bus journey is 45 minutes,  about every 15 minutes, costing about RMB20. But some part of the road is bumpy and traffic jam is common. So be prepared that the journey takes longer than specified. The bus stops at the Lowu Commercial City Building. The border crossing/passport control building is just next door and there are signs around to indicate the direction. So you won’t have problem finding your way.

Once you are done with first, China side’s passport control, and then Hong Kong side’s passport control, you land right away at the Hong Kong railway station Lowu, from where the train will take you to almost all parts of the city, including hotspots such as Central, Mongkok and Tsim Sha Tsui.

Note that before, Hong Kong had two rail systems, one KCRC, over the railway system, another MTR, over the underground system. But since 2 December 2007, the two companies/systems have merged and now all the railway/MTR services come under control of one company – MTR Corporation Limited. Click here to view its website for Hong Kong’s whole range of train services.

3) take the ferry

Take the shuttle bus from Shenzhen airport to Shenzhen’s Fu Yong pier (only a couple of minutes drive), from where there is ferry to China Hong Kong City Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui, or to Macau Ferry in Sheung Wan (near Central), or to Sky Pier at Hong Kong International Airport. The sea journey takes about 1 hour.

See here for schedule and price. The ticket price covers both the shuttle bus and the ferry.

Categories
Hong Kong As It Is

A sad day for Hong Kong

The China Government dictated today that Hong Kong people can only choose their head of government in 2017 – 10 years from now – I hope I am still alive. As for the universal suffrage for legislative council (i.e. parliament), that will be implemented after the universal suffrage of the chief executive of Hong Kong. No timeline has been set on this.

In the public consultation carried out by the Hong Kong government earlier, over 50% of the Hong Kong people support universal suffrage of chief executive and legislative council in 2012. However, our current chief executive Donald Tsang recommended to the China central government that it is better for Hong Kong to have the universal suffrage in 2017, though he admitted that over 50% of the Hong Kong people want universal suffrage in 2012.

He is appointed by the China Government and knows what his boss wants. So to no one’s surprise, the China Government has adopted his suggestions.

And do not imagine that we can have real universal suffrage in 10 years time. Who can be the candidates and how are they produced? We, Hong Kong people, have no say on the rule of the election game. Will you trust the China government to allow Hong Kong real democracy when it dictates that this city’s people can only choose their government head, not to mention legislative council, in ten years time? The answer is abundantly clear.

Of course, it is understandable that why China does not want Hong Kong to have democracy. It is the fear of people in Mainland China to demand democracy, following the example set by Hong Kong.

Hong Kong won’t have real democracy, unless there is major change in China politically. And I don’t see that is coming. So I don’t see Hong Kong people can have real democracy anytime soon. Not in 10 years – that is for sure.

Categories
Hong Kong As It Was

The Wedding Card Street in Hong Kong

A characteristic street named Lee Tung Street, which traditionally was filled with wedding card shops, has faded out of Hong Kong’s landscape, due to the “vision” of the Hong Kong government. This government has the “vision” to demolish Star Ferry Pier and Street Market in Central already.

This is what Lee Tung Street, in Wan Chai, also called Wedding Card Street, is like, with all the shops closed down and sealed with labels from the Urban Renewal Authority, waiting to be redeveloped.

In their place will stand four high-rise buildings and one underground carpark, and new shops that together promote the image of the street as a “Wedding City”. That means the old shops here, which are mostly small businesses and family run, have to move to somewhere else to make business, facing high rent and losing old customers.

The Government said it was considering to give priority to these shops to move back to the “Wedding City” and also waive their rent for a short period of time, given that the rent in the “Wedding City” would not be cheap. But giving a short period of rent-exemption to the shops will not be a sustainable way to keep them afloat in the redeveloped area. I wonder how many old shops will choose to move back, and how many are dying already.

No wonder a shop owner in the area is staging a hunger strike to protest the redevelopment plan. Because for people like her, that basically means the loss of her and her family’s livelihood.

One reason the Government cited for demolition of the area is that the restoration fee will be too high. I wonder if the government ever calculated the social cost of demolishment and redevelopment.

Btw, what is this “Wedding City”? Do people prefer an artificially made Wedding City or a wedding card street that has been part of the city landscape for so many years? I would think few people will prefer the fake over the real. But the government seems to think otherwise.