When Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty, there were concerns worldwide about what Beijing might do.
Eighteen months later, the mainland's main response is clear - it has not done much. As promised, Hong Kong has largely been left to manage its own affairs for better or worse.
Though senior British officials have gone, Chinese bureaucrats have not moved in or begun issuing orders to their local counterparts.
That has brought a sense of relief but also a nagging anxiety, according to many citizens who ponder the SAR's future.
They welcome the extra autonomy, but with it has come more responsibility, along with an increasingly complex set of issues which need to be tackled.
To date there is only a limited consensus about how to meet these challenges.
The problems come in two broad categories.