Will hi-tech zone prove a happy hunting ground for Hong Kong?

Half a century ago, a winding river meandered past Kwok Hoi-yin’s boyhood home.

On the northern side of the waterway, small fishing villages were nestled in what today is the Chinese city of Shenzhen, previously known as Baoan county, from which hundreds, if not thousands, of people fled Mao Zedong’s brutal Cultural Revolution by attempting to swim across. On the southern side lay Hong Kong – a booming British colony and symbol of safety and prosperity.

In 1997, the year the United Kingdom returned Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty, the curving river in front of Kwok’s home in Ha Wan village was straightened by the Shenzhen government to prevent flooding. Loads of toxic mud dredged from the riverbed were dumped on a marsh within the curve, forming an 87-hectare piece of land that today is called the Lok Ma Chau Loop.

Day by day, Kwok watched the new land being taken over by tall grass, low trees and billowing reed beds. On the northern side: a quickly developing Shenzhen with gleaming high-rises lining its border; on the southern side: large areas of wetlands, fish ponds and sleepy villages – the back garden of Hong Kong and haven for over 400 species of birds.

To some critics, the project is also a step closer to integration with mainland China, although one describes it as an unequal treaty.

“It is really tranquil here in the village at night,” Kwok, 60, said. “In the daytime you can see so many birds. They will wake you up every morning. Development of a society is bound to squeeze people and animals out of their living space. But we hope the government can keep our village intact because we have been used to this laid-back life.”