Three academics say surveys show people in the SAR are sceptical how much autonomy Beijing will give Hong Kong China's historic recovery of Hong Kong has created much commotion. But it seems that the narrow focus of attention on brief events during the transition of power is overshadowing concerns about the slow, gradual and perhaps even painful process of 'integration'.
The merging of minds between Hong Kong and the rest of China is bound to be subtle and not always clearly visible.
But if harmony is built on understanding then undoubtedly there is a need to understand how attitudes and knowledge about the handover and related matters differ among Hong Kong residents and mainlanders.
What is the mutual estimate of the other side's mentality? What do people from the two sides think about issues ranging from mundane matters of daily life to the more deeply ingrained beliefs about identity? The desire to seek answers to these and other questions motivated us to conduct two identical surveys in Hong Kong and Guangzhou earlier this year.
Together with findings reported in a survey conducted by other researchers in Beijing, they revealed interesting patterns regarding people's ideas about Hong Kong citizens' identity and autonomy as well as their desires for mutual exchange.
Hong Kong people's identity as perceived both by local residents and mainlanders has always been an important and sensitive social and psychological measure of how well the two sides could live under the same rule.