The revealing journey between Hong Kong and China
Hong Kong was a British colony between 1847 and 1997
By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Hong Kong
The world has many great journeys, trips which are more than just travel between two points - they reveal something about the land.
There are epic car drives, train rides across continents and walks that retrace the steps of pilgrims.
But rarely do these journeys extend for just a few hundred metres.
The Lo Wu border crossing that separates Shenzhen, in mainland China, from Hong Kong is an exception.
If it were not for the passport and security checks, the whole trip would take just a few minutes to complete on foot.
Hong Kong is different and that is the result of its unique history
It is not even a scenic journey.
The checkpoints on either side of the divide are housed in ugly, squat concrete buildings.
The walk between them is across a covered bridge which spans a murky river.
But this is still a great journey because of what it reveals about the two sides.
Flourishing trade
As many as 300,000 people pass through this border every day.
Betty Hong works on the Hong Kong side. She oversees this human tide.
In Shenzhen, the newspapers on sale mostly repeat the propaganda dictated by officials in Beijing
For some, the job would be dull and monotonous but not for her.
She told me that she prides herself on making sure nearly everyone gets through in less than 30 minutes.
In some respects, Lo Wu looks like many other checkpoints across the world. There is the trade in goods, for one.
On the mainland side, young men dart to and fro on bicycles fitted with a square piece of plywood on the back.
Goods are piled high on these small platforms - products that have just been brought over the boundary line or are destined for Hong Kong.
And on both sides of this crossing point there are shops selling last-minute gifts and souvenirs.
But it does not take a keen eye to notice that there is also something very different about the two sides of this border, something that shows they are governed not just by different rules, but also by different ideas.
＇Out-of-step＇
In Shenzhen, the newspapers on sale mostly repeat the propaganda dictated by officials in Beijing.
But just a short distance to the south, in Hong Kong, a reader can get access to a far greater wealth of news, information that is free from government censorship.
|
|
