IT'S OFTEN SAID that Hong Kong people are pragmatists. Certainly, their politicians are among the most pragmatic judging by the behaviour of some elected representatives.
Legislators have been the most prominent faces turning up outside the offices of the Japanese Consulate-General over the past few years to loudly air their qualms and raise fists in front of cameras over a perceived rise in nationalism in the land of the rising sun.
Diplomats at the mission have come to know them quite well as they traipse outside to politely accept letters and petitions criticising politicians in their homeland.
Imagine their surprise when one familiar legislator recently called on a quiet day, when the media was nowhere in sight, seeking help in quickly processing a visa application for a visit to Japan.
Once again the local media has crossed the border only to find itself making the headlines. This time the occasion was an innocent trip to the town of Zhencheng, led by Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong legislator Ip Kwok-him.
When the Legco press pack arrived at its destination, reporters found the town bedecked with banners and a deputation including the mayor and vice-mayor primed to welcome the 'study group'. In his speech of thanks, Mr Ip broke the news to the reception committee that they had actually only come to study lychees. However, the civic authorities took it in good part and remain convinced that the power of the SAR press will bring the world flocking to their door when the lychees ripen next year.
It could be worth the trip. The city prides itself on its four treasures - lychees, locally grown rice, jelly grass (a main ingredient in black-jelly dessert) and a form of olive. Each year at harvest time, there's a lychee auction for the pick of the crop, and this year a single fruit went for $8,000.