https://www.scmp.com/rss/514393/feed Kitty Wang joined the Post in 2022 after a four-year journalism learning experience in International Journalism of Hong Kong Baptist University and a one-year study in The University of Hong Kong’s Journalism School. She specialises in Hong Kong and mainland China’s socio-political affairs, breaking news reporting, feature story writing and video production. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Thousands of children who live in mainland China and attend Hong Kong schools will return to their campuses for the first time in three years, and this is making parents and teachers worry. After disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Hong Kong government has said these students could resume face-to-face lessons next month, with secondary pupils starting on February 1 and primary and kindergarten children on February 15. Parents and teachers have called for a range of support services... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3207831/back-school-culture-shock-mainland-chinese-students-resuming-face-face-classes-hong-kong-after-three?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3207831/back-school-culture-shock-mainland-chinese-students-resuming-face-face-classes-hong-kong-after-three?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Jan 2023 00:00:11 +0000 Hong Kong customs officers have seized 380 boxes of suspected Covid-19 antiviral drugs worth HK$500,000 (US$64,017) and arrested a couple over allegations of illegally importing and possessing unregistered medicines. The announcement by customs on Sunday came as some local dispensaries began to restock Panadol, a popular painkiller and fever-relief drug that flew off shelves during a recent wave of panic buying amid a coronavirus outbreak in mainland China. The department said it had intercepted... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3206895/hong-kong-customs-seizes-hk500000-worth-suspected-covid-drugs-arrests-couple-over-illegal-import?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3206895/hong-kong-customs-seizes-hk500000-worth-suspected-covid-drugs-arrests-couple-over-illegal-import?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Jan 2023 11:15:57 +0000 Hong Kong’s high-speed rail link to Guangzhou on Sunday resumed short-haul services for the first time in three years after Beijing a week earlier scrapped quarantine for arrivals, with some travellers noting the significance of the ride in the run-up to Lunar New Year and others eager for long-awaited family reunions. Some 6,500 travellers arrived or departed from the West Kowloon terminus as of 6pm. The control point is the latest to reopen in Hong Kong, following the earlier resumption of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3206864/first-train-our-country-hong-kongs-high-speed-rail-link-welcomes-back-early-bird-travellers-after-3?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3206864/first-train-our-country-hong-kongs-high-speed-rail-link-welcomes-back-early-bird-travellers-after-3?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Jan 2023 00:49:28 +0000 Hong Kong’s major shopping malls are wheeling out more than HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) in spending rewards to entice mainland Chinese travellers, but many of the city’s typical hotspots appeared to mark Sunday’s border reopening with muted trading. Local residents also took part in last-minute gift shopping before heading north as quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and the mainland was reinstalled after a three-year hiatus. At Sha Tin’s New Town Plaza, a mall that used to be a popular... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3206032/hong-kong-malls-chase-after-mainland-chinese-visitors-hk18-million-perks-few-shoppers-found-first?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3206032/hong-kong-malls-chase-after-mainland-chinese-visitors-hk18-million-perks-few-shoppers-found-first?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Jan 2023 23:00:15 +0000 Much-longed for reunions with family and friends awaited tens of thousands of people who crossed the border dividing Hong Kong and mainland China on Sunday, the first day of quarantine-free travel since the Covid-19 pandemic began almost three years ago. Around 25,000 city residents registered online to be the first to travel north on the scheme’s launch day, with most crossing via the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line checkpoint. Provisional immigration figures showed a total of 45,558 people as of 8pm had... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3206035/first-good-news-2023-families-friends-reunite-after-hong-kong-chinese-border-reopens-following-3?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3206035/first-good-news-2023-families-friends-reunite-after-hong-kong-chinese-border-reopens-following-3?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Jan 2023 14:01:59 +0000 Entrepreneurs from mainland China came to Hong Kong for business opportunities and residents from the city headed north to reunite with their loved ones for the first time in three years after the resumption of quarantine-free, cross-border travel on Sunday. At the Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui, Guo Zhiqing, 43, who works at a shipping company in the city, said he was overjoyed to be returning home to Guangdong for the Lunar New Year holiday. He took the first ferry at 8.20am... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3206008/mainland-entrepreneurs-visit-hong-kong-city-residents-reunite-loved-ones-across-border-quarantine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3206008/mainland-entrepreneurs-visit-hong-kong-city-residents-reunite-loved-ones-across-border-quarantine?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Jan 2023 09:12:12 +0000 Thousands of eager travellers descended on newly reopened border checkpoints early on Sunday to cross between Hong Kong and mainland China for family reunions or business purposes without the need to quarantine for the first time in three years. At the Lok Ma Chau spur line checkpoint, which will handle 70 per cent of the 50,000 daily quota for travellers heading to the mainland, many people had taken the first train at 5.28am from Mong Kok East station before the crossing opened at... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3205977/coronavirus-tens-thousands-cross-hong-kong-mainland-china-border-quarantine-free-travel-finally?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3205977/coronavirus-tens-thousands-cross-hong-kong-mainland-china-border-quarantine-free-travel-finally?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Jan 2023 00:21:13 +0000 About 20,000 Hongkongers are receiving a Covid-19 vaccine jab each day, a three-month high which health experts have attributed to public concerns over a possible increase in cases after the city resumes quarantine-free travel with mainland China. The number has risen sharply over the 2,000 jabs a day recorded early last month, and reached the 20,000 level on December 28, when Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced a widespread rollback of social-distancing curbs and the much-dreaded vaccine... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3205608/20000-hongkongers-receive-covid-jabs-each-day-experts-citing-public-concerns-over-possible-case-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3205608/20000-hongkongers-receive-covid-jabs-each-day-experts-citing-public-concerns-over-possible-case-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Jan 2023 01:30:07 +0000 Retired Hong Kong hotel worker Ng Chai-kuen, 69, is looking forward to a big family reunion in Kaiping, his hometown in Guangdong province, in the new year. Anticipating the reopening of the border with mainland China, he said he was planning a trip with 15 family members. “The whole family wants to go back desperately,” he said. “We can catch fresh fish, pick vegetables and cook. The whole family can have one delicious dinner at a super low cost of less than 400 yuan (HK$453).” He said he also... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3205216/reunions-horizon-hong-kong-residents-get-travel-papers-ready-be-among-early-birds-visiting-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3205216/reunions-horizon-hong-kong-residents-get-travel-papers-ready-be-among-early-birds-visiting-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Jan 2023 04:30:09 +0000 Hong Kong customs officers have seized 751 million black market cigarettes worth HK$2.07 billion (US$265 million) so far this year – the biggest annual haul since records began two decades ago. Customs Department figures showed the number of illicit cigarettes impounded by December 29 was 76 per cent more than 2021, itself a record year. Senior Inspector John Yip Lap-man of the customs’ revenue crimes investigation bureau on said on Friday stringent enforcement had led to several major seizures... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3205120/hong-kong-customs-stubs-out-20-year-record-hk2-billion-trade-contraband-cigarettes-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3205120/hong-kong-customs-stubs-out-20-year-record-hk2-billion-trade-contraband-cigarettes-year?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Dec 2022 12:29:02 +0000 Restaurant operators said they had recorded at least 10 per cent growth in business on Thursday after Hong Kong lifted most pandemic restrictions, with unvaccinated diners back among their clientele. Some restaurants chose to retain infection-control measures such as using partitions to reassure customers amid the continued coronavirus outbreak even though the government no longer requires a 1.5-metre space between tables. The Post visited restaurants in Wan Chai, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3204970/restaurants-enjoy-business-uptick-after-hong-kong-lifts-most-covid-curbs-unvaccinated-diners-also?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3204970/restaurants-enjoy-business-uptick-after-hong-kong-lifts-most-covid-curbs-unvaccinated-diners-also?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Dec 2022 11:21:14 +0000 Hong Kong’s catering and tourism sectors have applauded the government’s decision to drop almost all Covid-19 measures, with operators expecting business to hit double-digit growth or rebound to 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels later next year. One tourism industry leader said they now faced the “happy problem” of finding enough manpower to meet the expected boost in trade. Some caterers, meanwhile, said they were wary of immediately removing all Covid-measures, such as partitions, in case... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3204862/hong-kongs-catering-tourism-operators-hope-double-digit-growth-menu-after-3-starved-years-covid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3204862/hong-kongs-catering-tourism-operators-hope-double-digit-growth-menu-after-3-starved-years-covid?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Dec 2022 00:00:22 +0000 Hong Kong’s daily coronavirus cases passed the 20,000 mark on Friday, a figure not seen since March, as residents continued to snap up pain-relief and fever medicine, leaving shelves empty at pharmacies and vulnerable residents in distress. Health officials reported 20,252 new coronavirus cases, 924 of which were imported, and 46 additional deaths, bringing the city’s tally to 2,442,195 cases and 11,373 fatalities. The city logged 21,650 infections on March 17, the month the city’s fifth wave of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3204423/coronavirus-cases-pass-20000-mark-reaching-9-month-high-hongkongers-continue-snap-pain-relief-drugs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3204423/coronavirus-cases-pass-20000-mark-reaching-9-month-high-hongkongers-continue-snap-pain-relief-drugs?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Dec 2022 10:20:58 +0000 Concert halls and other performance venues in Hong Kong started to run at full capacity on Thursday after more Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. But the relaxation of restrictions on numbers, which also included banquets, did not have immediate benefits for cinemas or newlyweds who had planned smaller-scale celebrations months before their big day. The catering industry recorded brisk business as large families gathered over the winter solstice and in the run-up to Christmas, but a health... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3204297/hong-kong-performance-venues-applaud-loosening-covid-19-restrictions-numbers-other-sectors-may-take?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3204297/hong-kong-performance-venues-applaud-loosening-covid-19-restrictions-numbers-other-sectors-may-take?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Dec 2022 12:33:17 +0000 Home retailer Ikea attracted a rush of customers in Hong Kong last Thursday after it slashed the price of fresh Christmas trees to just HK$50 (US$6.42), but some retailers have said the move was a sign of sluggish festive sales. The 1.5-metre Nordmann fir trees sold at HK$999 until the store dropped the price to HK$599 late last month, and then to its latest bargain basement level. “Probably everyone had a lot of stock left,” Justin Chung, founder of online florist Gift Flower HK, whose website... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3203724/hong-kongs-demand-christmas-trees-has-withered-year-whats-root-cause?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3203724/hong-kongs-demand-christmas-trees-has-withered-year-whats-root-cause?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Dec 2022 05:52:47 +0000 The Christmas season is looking up for Hong Kong hotels enjoying brisk bookings for buffets and staycation packages, mainly by residents at home for the holidays. Early birds have snapped up buffet offerings going for HK$700 to HK$1,688 (US$220) per person, with some top-end hotels already fully booked and keeping dozens of patrons on waiting lists. On the menu, depending on price, are everything from turkey with all the trimmings, to lobster, crab and abalone, as well as sushi, sashimi and the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3203711/merrier-hong-kong-christmas-brisk-bookings-hotel-buffets-staycations-residents-enjoy-relaxed-covid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3203711/merrier-hong-kong-christmas-brisk-bookings-hotel-buffets-staycations-residents-enjoy-relaxed-covid?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Dec 2022 04:00:18 +0000 Pharmacies are taking legal risks by offering to deliver medicine to people in mainland China, which has suffered a surge in Covid-19 infections, with customs officials saying unlicensed export of drugs is illegal. The news came after pandemic restrictions on the mainland last week were eased, which triggered a jump in demand for painkillers and other medicine used to treat Covid-19 symptoms, and many cities have reported serious shortages. Some Hong Kong residents have snapped up the drugs at... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3203683/medicines-across-border-hong-kong-pharmacies-deliver-drugs-mainland-china-may-be-sidestepping-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3203683/medicines-across-border-hong-kong-pharmacies-deliver-drugs-mainland-china-may-be-sidestepping-law?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Dec 2022 07:50:42 +0000 Traffic at a new tunnel-and-bridge link connecting Hong Kong’s Tseung Kwan O and Kwun Tong was mostly smooth on the first weekday since it opened, but observers on Monday warned of possible congestion at an exit along Cha Kwo Ling Road. Residents welcomed the shortened commute made possible by the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel and the Cross Bay Link. The new system is expected to shave off 20 minutes of travelling time between Tseung Kwan O and Kwun Tong. Before the launch of the landmark link on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3202936/mostly-smooth-traffic-first-working-day-hong-kongs-new-tseung-kwan-o-tunnel-and-bridge-link-warnings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3202936/mostly-smooth-traffic-first-working-day-hong-kongs-new-tseung-kwan-o-tunnel-and-bridge-link-warnings?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Dec 2022 03:27:41 +0000