The Hong Kong That You Did Not Know Copyright: Ed by 高宇慧 孙圆圆 张倩雅 李国庆 @ FLC.Shandong University,2012 Contents Mahjong Why Hong Kong People Hate Being Called Chinese? Different Languages Used Hong Kong was much Richer than Mainland How About Now? Chinese Mainland is Doing Good! Rubber duck History World's largest rubber duck Giant Rubber Duck Deflates In Hong Kong Harbor Hong Kong Cuisine Background Eating habits Special food Triad Society Origin Business A real case I. Mahjong Horse racing may get all the media attention, but mahjong (麻雀 ma jeuk) also forms an integral part of Hong Kong gambling culture. Mahjong also has had a strong influence on Hong Kong pop culture, with a history of songs and films based on a mahjong theme. The game played in Hong Kong is the Cantonese version, which differs in rules and scoring from the Japanese version or the versions played in other parts of China. Mahjong parlors are ubiquitous in Hong Kong, though they do not advertise their services openly and many require a fair amount of effort to find. II. Why Hong Kong people Hate Being Called Chinese? When you ask Hong Kong people where are they from, you will get a very typical answer of “I’m from Hong Kong”. You barely hear them say “I’m a Chinese”. Even though Hong Kong has been returned to the sovereignty of China for almost 14 years, Hong Kong people still consider themselves separately from Chinese regarding language, culture and living standard. Why don’t Hong Kong people think of themselves as Chinese? What’s wrong with being a Chinese for them? Different Languages Used Imagine, Cantonese is harder to learn than Mandarin (9 tones in Cantonese vs. 4 tones in Mandarin) and less people speak Cantonese than Mandarin, so Hong Kong people think Cantonese is a more exclusive and prestigious language and it creates some kind of language pride to Hong Kong people because they’re speaking their “own” language. (Although Guangdong people also speak Cantonese) Hong Kong was much Richer than mainland Hong Kong is a capitalist economy while China is a (partially) socialist one. The economic system had made Hong Kong economically more affluent than China in the old days. Hong Kong was doing well at making clothing, watches and jewellery in the 1960′s-1980′s, though the main economic sectors have been switched to retail, banking and real estate after because of the rising wages and rents in factories. Hong Kong people’s higher income and living standard created their mentality of being more high-status than “Chinese”. Hong Kong is still continuously using the old law and tax systems as it was when being a British colony, which are different from what China is using. Hong Kong people also think that their economic and political systems are one that is more “civilized” as there are less corruptions and black-market transactions. Hong Kong’s being less corrupted and more transparent has also made Hong Kong people to think that they’re more superior.Fear of Change: Self-identity Crisis before 1997 Before the important year 1997 – where Hong Kong’s sovereignty was returned to China – approached, many Hong Kong people started to migrate to other countries like Canada, Australia, the United States and New Zealand before of the fear of a chaos created by the big political change. During that time they always questioned about their identity, but the more they doubted about it, the more they reckoned themselves as a Hong Kongese because Hong Kong was still much more wealthy than Mainland China which was still developing at that time. The fear of change and the pride of their own economic development only reaffirm Hong Kong people’s identity as being a “Hong Kongnese” but not Chinese. How About Now? China is Doing Good! Nowadays, Hong Kong people still regard themselves separately from China. But, interestingly, a lot of surveys found that Hong Kong people would be more willing to say they’re Chinese when China performs well in its international image. For example, around the time of the Beijing Olympics Games in 2008, more Hong Kong people were willing to say they are Chinese. But when China was having troubles in issues like food hygiene and human-rights, Hong Kong people wouldn’t say they’re Chinese. In essence, Hong Kong people’s self-identity is based on the mutual benefits and influence between Hong Kong and China. When China is having good reputations, they don’t mind being a “Chinese”, otherwise they stick to their old “Hong Kongnese” pride. Now, more people are learning Mandarin and migrating to China for opportunities, Hong Kong will be likely to greatly benefit from this change. Would Hong Kong people become more willing to regard themselves as a Chinese? It’s still a question. III. Rubber duck A rubber duck is a toy shaped like a stylized yellow-billed duck,[citation needed] generally yellow with a flat base. It may be made of rubber or rubber-like material such as vinyl plastic. The yellow rubber duck has achieved an iconic status in Western pop culture and is often symbolically linked to bathing. Various novelty variations of the toy are produced. History Its history is linked to the emergence of rubber manufacturing in the late 19th century. The earliest rubber ducks were made from harder rubber. Jim Henson popularized rubber ducks in 1970, performing the songs "Rubber Duckie" and "DUCKIE" as Ernie, a popular Muppetfrom Sesame Street. Ernie frequently spoke to his duck and carried it with him in other segments of the show. On a special occasion, Little Richard performed the song. Besides the ubiquitous yellow rubber duck with which most people are familiar, there have been numerous novelty variations on the basic theme, including character ducks representing professions, politicians, or licensed individual celebrities. There are also ducks that glow in the dark, change colour, have interior LED illumination, or include a wind-up engine that enables them to "swim". In 2001, The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper reported that Queen Elizabeth II has a rubber duck in her bathroom that wears an inflatable crown. The duck was spotted by a workman who was repainting her bathroom.The story prompted sales of rubber ducks in the United Kingdom to increase by 80% for a short period. Rubber ducks are collected by a small number of enthusiasts. The 2007 Guinness World Record for World's Largest Rubber Duck Collection stood at 1,439 different rubber ducks, and was awarded to Charlotte Lee. World's largest rubber duck The Rubber Duck stations inVictoria Harbour, Hong Kong The World's largest rubber duck was created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman in 2007, measuring 16.5 x 20 x 32 meters and weighing over 600 kg. Since 2007, several ducks of various sizes created by Hofman have been on display in countries and territories such as Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Lommel (Belgium), Osaka (Japan), Sydney (Australia), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Hong Kong (China) until 9 June 2013 . Then it will go on display in the United States. Giant Rubber Duck Deflates In Hong Kong Harbor Visitors attempting to catch site of Hong Kong's massive floating sculpture, "Rubber Duck," were greeted by a less than pleasant site this week. The inflatable artwork imagined by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman deflated in the city's harbor, leaving a lifeless, yellow carcass where a 54-foot duck once was. According to The South China Morning Post, the duck's deflation is only temporary, and organizers of the Victoria Harbor art display assured fans on its Facebook and Twitter pages that the duck is simply undergoing maintenance. "The Rubber Duck needs to freshen up. Stay tuned for its return," read the notifications. Nonetheless, tourists and Hong Kong residents were not so pleased with the duck's abrupt departure. "The sky looks like it is crying for me -- I took time off from work just to see the duck, now it is just a blob," Mrinna Chan, a 45-year-old clerk, told Agency France-Press. "It's really our childhood dream, because when we bathed as children, we would have one or two of the rubber ducks next to us." The duck has garnered a lot of attention since its May 2 debut, so it's no surprise that its deflation sparked some hilarious responses. CNN likened the sculpture's new appearance to "an unappetizing fried egg," while a blogger by the name of Hong Wrong wrote that the giant artwork "finally succumbed to HK’s pollution and met its grizzly demise." While we wait for the bird's triumphant return, scroll through the photos below for a look at the giant Rubber Duck in its prime. Let us know what you think of the deflation debacle in the comments. How does it stack up to Paul McCarthy's inflatable mess that happened there only weeks earlier? I V. Hong Kong Cuisine Hong Kong is the center of Asia's economic, tourism and shopping.It is also the home of combining Chinese and western culture, here we can not only experience the western advanced culture,but also can appreciate classical Chinese culture. And this characteristic also penetrated the dietetic culture of Hong Kong cuisine. Hong Kong cuisine is mainly influenced by Cantonese cuisine, non-Cantonese Chinese cuisine (especially Teochew, Hakka,Hokkien and the Jiangsu & Zhejiang), the Western world, Japan, and Southeast Asia, due to Hong Kong's past as a British colony and long history of being an international city of commerce. From the roadside stalls to the most upscale restaurants, Hong Kong provides an unlimited variety of food in every class.