Hong Kong: of love, red, and bauhinias

July 1, 1997: On the first day after it rejoined China, Aravind Vidyadharan caught the mood and feelings of the people, now citizens of a new country.

An unnamed woman caught the mood of the first 24 hours of Hong Kong’s return to China from British rule, when she told a visiting journalist: "Returning to the motherland feels like discovering and returning to your biological parents, while still retaining fondness and love for your foster parents."

The pro-democracy camp refused to take their exclusion from Hong Kong’s political life in the post-colonial era lying down. And not even a severe thunderstorm could dampen their spirits. For, before tough new regulations came into effect requiring demonstrators to seek police permission ahead of staging any demonstrations, thousands of democrats seized the initiative by loudly protesting the disbanding of the Legislative Council and its replacement with an appointed body, the Provisional Legislature. They went in a noisy demonstration from Victoria Park to the central government offices.

On June 30, the outgoing administration celebrated over 156 years of British rule in Hong Kong by holding an impressive fireworks display after staging a nostalgic open-air farewell ceremony at the headquarters of the British Forces in Hong Kong. The price tag for the fireworks-on-water display, which easily outshone all previous annual fireworks during the Lunar New Year celebrations: about HK$ 35 million. On July 1, the first day of resumption of Chinese rule, the Better Hong Kong Foundation celebrated the return of Hong Kong to the motherland by holding an even better and bigger fireworks-on-water display. The bill too was far more impressive: a cool HK$100 million.

Hong Kongers continued their craze for collecting colonial memorablia, with an eye on the fast buck rather than nostalgia, by snapping up the first editions of almost all newspapers in post-colonial Hong Kong. Result: All newspapers were sold out in no time. There was also a similar rush to collect stamps and first-day covers issued by the new Hong Kong Post Office, the successor to the Royal Mail service.

Many residents literally woke up to a bright red hue on July 1. All over Hong Kong were two red flags fluttering side by side: one, the red flag with five stars of the People’s Republic of China, and the other, the red flag with a white bauhinia of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. They were everywhere: on government and private buildings, flying from pennants on vehicles, on flagpoles of boats and virtually every vantage point.

The uniformed services of the Hong Kong government acknowledged the change of sovereignty by first discreetly replacing the crown-topped official crests on their caps and lapels with a new one topped with a bauhinia flower -- Hong Kong’s new official symbol.

Fung shui masters have had a field day so far as the bauhinia flower chosen as Hong Kong’s official symbol – a rare orchid first discovered in Hong Kong – is sterile. Meanwhile, the other symbol of the territory, the pink Chinese dolphin, is on the "endangered" list!

Eever pragmatic, Hong Kongers turned out in large numbers on the streets to welcome the troops of the People’s Liberation Army as they swept into Hong Kong aboard ships, helicopters, and on trucks, lorries and armoured personnel carriers. The APCs, some mounted with machine guns, have been rechristened Internal Security Vehicles to soothe Hong Kong people’s sensitivities as the sight of the PLA using APCs to crush the Tiananmen Square demonstrations of June 4, 1989, is still fresh in people’s minds.

A young couple caught the sentiment of apprehensive Hong Kongers by telling the ever-present press corps that many people had turned out to welcome the PLA to make them feel at home in Hong Kong so that they will know that "we all love them, and that there is no need to turn your guns on your own brothers and sisters."