Letters | Preserve what sets Hong Kong apart – starting with how you shop

Readers discuss whether the city’s way of life is in peril, housing standards, and why classic Cantopop is irreplaceable

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Crowds gather outside a bakery in Sham Shui Po to buy mooncakes and other baked goods on September 11. Photo: Connor Mycroft

Published: 11:30am, 31 Jul 2025

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Whether it’s weekend excursions to Shenzhen, free delivery on online orders or more talent arriving, we are enjoying the huge convenience of Hong Kong being integrated into the mainland Chinese economy. However, I have been asking myself if the city is paying too high a price in the process.

The recent chain store closures should come as a warning to us. One reason restaurants and shops are closing may be that they are failing to adapt to the latest market conditions. For example, Hongkongers have gravitated to the mainland for goods and services that are cheaper and of greater variety.

However, while Hong Kong retailers should diversify, some small businesses that represent the city’s cultural heritage ought to be preserved. Once, I often saw people selling woven grasshoppers in the streets; now, I sometimes see a very old man near my home selling a few to make a living, and it makes my heart ache.

As people go north for lower prices, our city’s precious collective memory is fading into history. Ironically, this is the kind of cultural heritage that appeals to tourists from the mainland and overseas.

If Hong Kong were to be culturally integrated into the mainland, with none of its extraordinary elements conserved, what would be left for travellers to come and experience?

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Preserve what sets Hong Kong apart – starting with how you shop

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Readers discuss whether the city’s way of life is in peril, housing standards, and why classic Cantopop is irreplaceable

Letters | Preserve what sets Hong Kong apart – starting with how you shop

Readers discuss whether the city’s way of life is in peril, housing standards, and why classic Cantopop is irreplaceable