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Hongkongers flying high in love affair with city

It does not matter if the market goes down 1,000 points, or up 1,000 points, or once in a while does both within the same afternoon - you still have 1,000 reasons to love Hong Kong.

Everyone has three words for their favourite reason. You may say it is bo lo bau (pineapple bun). I say it is hung pak lam - the classic plastic bags in red, blue and white stripes. To others it must be 'Lui Yan Kai', or  Ladies' Market in Mong Kok.

Cathay Pacific Airways received 20,000 reasons for its online campaign '100 Reasons We love Hong Kong' and has awarded the top 100 entrants with an economy-class ticket. Lai See picked four interesting submissions (http://www.welovehongkong.hk) for your review.

First, from Dawn McGrain, who listed 26 reasons  for loving Hong Kong:

Airport (Chek Lap Kok)

Big Buddha

Cathay Pacific

Dragon Boat Festival

Escalator (Mid-Levels)

Fortune telling

Golden Bauhinia

Happy Valley Racecourse

IFC

Jumbo Floating Restaurant

Kowloon Walled City Park

Lamma Island

Mass Transit Railway

Noon Day Gun

Ocean Park

Pink Dolphins

Queen's Pier

Rugby Sevens

Star Ferry

Temple Street Market

Unrivalled skyline

Victoria Peak

Wan Chai bars

X-Factor

Yum Cha

Zoological & Botanical Gardens.

Second, from 'Roaringforties',  who had a grandparent who drove trams in pre-war Hong Kong.

'Trams tell the story of Hong Kong. Like horseracing and high tea, double-decker trams are relics from the city's colonial past. With their sturdy aluminium bodies and steady crawl along one fixed route, trams may appear antiquated in a skyward-growing, ever-changing, frenetically paced city. Riding, however, invites a new mode of seeing. Street scenes panoramically unfold in real time and the passenger, eye-to-eye with neon signs and second-storey windows, becomes privy to a view and knowledge both vernacular and ephemeral. Tram riding transforms any journey into a discovery of magical urbanism.'

Third, from 'Steveche', who witnessed the great July 1 demonstration four years ago.

'Hongkongers love to march. Anything to be part of a crowd. No one wants to miss out. People here are also very conscious of their rights. Any attempt by the government to take away a perceived right brings Hongkongers on to the streets in their tens of thousands. Hong Kong is a city where you can have a march of 500,000 people and not a single arrest. Non-violent protest is the way in Hong Kong. Marches and protests here are colourful, fun and theatrical.

Last, we liked the views of 'SLME', a shopping expert.

'I have been shopping in many cities and I find that Hong Kong is the best city for shopping  ... In my experience, after I go shopping in one city, the last day is a boring day, because usually after check-in, I have to wait for a few hours doing nothing.

'However in Hong Kong, it is completely different. I can continue shopping after check-in because there is a large shopping mart in the restricted departure level and it is duty free. I have never seen such a huge shopping mart in other airports. If you want to go shopping, go to Hong Kong. I am sure you will have the same feeling as I have and you will select Hong Kong as the best city for shopping as well.'

Lai See's own top 25

Now, back to Lai See.

Every wonder why a tiny city like Hong Kong sells millions of copies of newspapers every day?

Every weekday there are more than 2.5 million newspapers printed, half of them  distributed for free. It is more than Hong Kong's total working population.

Call it information overload. No newspaper owners would deny that this is a challenging environment, as they battle for attention amid online and multimedia news upstarts and rising paper costs. Yet the papers in general are getting thicker and thicker. The only reason, I suppose, is that Hong Kong people are generally nosey, a view this column's  incumbent can confirm after working for three  newspapers in the past 13 years.

And perhaps that is why this column has just celebrated its 25th anniversary. Thank you for your loyalty and  your ideas over the years.



Lai See