Happy Birthday Hong Kong, SAR

On Sunday 1 July, we will celebrate 10 years of 'liberation'. 1 July 1997 was the day China took Hong Kong back into the fold after 156 years of British rule and we went from being plain old Hong Kong, to Hong Kong, SAR (Special Administrative Region), People's Republic of China. It was a complex thing, given that Hong Kong island and a small part of the peninsula across the harbour had been ceded to Britain in perpetuity, while the rest of the Kowloon peninsula and beyond, up to the border with China and including all our outlying islands, ran on a 99 year lease which ended in 1997. Britain gave the island and tip of the peninsula back too, at the time the lease ran out, perhaps fearing another Falklands fiasco.


At the time of the change, it was referred to as both the 'handover' and the 'takeover', depending on which camp you were aligned with. No matter the semantics, we went from being British to Chinese, overnight.

The Union Jack and colonial Hong Kong flags were taken down, forever, at midnight on 30 June 1997, amidst much pomp and ceremony.

And in their place were raised the Chinese national flag and our new flag, with even more pomp and ceremony. It seemed to be a case of showing who was more powerful than the other and I think the Chinese had it in the bag:

The original new flag, as chosen by a panel of local representatives, was refused and we were given another flag which was designed by an architect, in China. It connects very closely to the flag of the motherland by matching colour and incorporating the five stars from the national flag, allowing us only the use of the bauhinia, Hong Kong's indigenous flower. It is considered to be a regional Chinese flag.

The international press revelled in predictions of doom and gloom ahead, fuelled by reports of the PLA (People's Liberation Army) rolling into Hong Kong in tanks (reminiscent of the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989). While we sat here knowing exactly what it was, an opportunity by our new masters to give a show of strength while the world watched. Truth is, the only PLA forces in Hong Kong have been well sequestered in their barracks here and are never seen on our streets.

The past 10 years of 'one country, two systems' has worked well for us. While the border remains closed, travel across it has been made easier and the mainland has provided us with a whole new tourism market, to which we have learned to cater. We haven't been without our difficulties, first the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and then the outbreak of SARS in 2003, which almost destroyed us. But Hong Kong is an incredibly resilient place and we bounced back.

So, on Sunday, 1 July, our National Day, we will celebrate with many things, including a parade and a fireworks display over the harbour combined with our daily Symphony of Lights Extravaganza.

Here are some pics from last year and they are promising something even more spectacular this year in honour of the 10-year anniversary. With a US$2million spend on the fireworks alone, it should be interesting. I'm going to come to the office where there is a harbour view, to take in the show.

Those are from last year's show. The complete gallery is here.