Kung Hei Fat Choi!

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A happy Lunar New Year to one and all.

May the Ox be survivable!

Best wishes, Mister Bijou

[Your horoscope for Year of the Ox? Here]

Hong Kong: Ten Years' After

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Trawlers at anchor, flying the PRC and HKSAR flags

Sunday marks the tenth anniversary of the handover. Since 1 July (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day) this year falls on a Sunday, Monday is a public holiday.

It rained, oh how it rained, on the evening of 30 June 1997. It looks like it'll rain again ten years' later.

One day follows another. And before you know where you are ten years have elapsed. Where did those days and nights go? How did the time fly by so quick?

So here we are, in the moment:

And for all its problems, Hong Kong remains a great place to live, at least for me and for many others I know. You can still find almost anything you want here at almost any time of day or night. And it’s still safe to walk down a dark street at four in the morning. And it will always be just a few hours away from some of the other most interesting places in the world. And I still have the freedom to express myself publicly in this fashion. Hong Kong. It ain’t perfect. But it’s my home.

That's by Spike (aka Hong Kong Redux), and is from his latest column in bc magazine

UPDATE. Another view, and just as valid. The humbling of the white man in Hong Kong, by Kent Ewing: Asia Times Online

Ten years' after, how's it been for you?