I'm not attributing this HK sweetness to it now being The Year of the Dog - at least not yet - since it may be caused by the fact the entire city is on holiday and next week it'll go back to being itself.
I'm not for a second suggesting HK is normally a cut-throating sort of place because it isn't ... it's normally a lovely place where everyone has beautiful manners ... but this mellowness is JUST NOT NORMAL. Do you think it possible these dynamic hardworking stressed Hong Kongers are all just secret hippies and this week they're all being the person they've secretly wanted to be all along?
Reporters have noticed this mellowness too and are racing around asking people why they seem so happy and they all say it's because the monk drew the #75 fortune stick and that's the best of all of them so HK has nothing to fear and everyone's dreams will come true, so there's no need to stress anymore. Isn't that nice! We could all do with a bit of #75 in our lives!
Something else totally new is so many locals wearing traditional Chinese clothes. Previous New Years it's just been the kiddies and the occasionally Canto-granny wearing "Little Emperor/ess" outfits ... but this year it's just about everyone. Isn't that odd! Men. Women. All ages. You've never seen so many exquisitely embroidered silks and satins. I just wander the streets drooling, I want everything I see so badly.
Also strange is that this winter, HK - land of the pirate copy - came up with its very first endemic fashion style. It rose among the young people too so it's real grassroots street fashion. They're calling "HK Bling-bling Cowgirl" - because of the stiletto-heeled cowboy boots which underpin the entire look - which, yes, evolved out of "Japan Kookie Girl"but taken in a totally new direction. I think it began because the Japan-style requires platform boots and HK girls prefer stilettoes but once they broke the mould they did their own thing with it totally. I'm just so proud of them since it shows a confidence they never had before.
And now, this week, "HK Bling-bling Cowgirl" has adopted an exquisite canto-mandarin jacket or coat in sublime fabric and with fabulous embroidered flowers worn over the top instead of the jewelled fringed Red Indian jacket. I know it doesn't sound amazing BUT IT ALL WORKS! This is so new and so exciting I'm so pleased I'm here to watch it all happen.
By the way, there are even a few girls who are doing a "HK Bling-bling Nanook-of-the-North" which has stiletto ugg boots and Mongolian coats but, although I personally think they look really good, I don't see it catching on.
What else is new? Ah, this year's Mongul Hordes down for Golden Week are nice. Astonishing!
There are zillions of them, naturally, but these ones aren't travelling in nervous droves cringing behind the red or yellow flag waved by some shrieking tour leader, or being slapped along by some ugly Han cadre in a brand-new black Armani leather jacket. This time they seem to have all travelled unsupervised and as extended families - nice normal mum and dad, their 5 year old, their teenager, four grandparents, at least two great-grandparents, and some outrageously old man or woman in perfect health having the time of his/her life - and they are all just so darned nice and polite and having a ball! Sure, you'll see an occasional shrieking parent walking ahead of the others waving a yellow or red plastic bag on a stick but everyone behind will be cackling with laughter. Obviously it's meant as a parody of previous holidays they'd taken abroad and meant in a spirit of great good fun.
There are zillions of them, naturally, but these ones aren't travelling in nervous droves cringing behind the red or yellow flag waved by some shrieking tour leader, or being slapped along by some ugly Han cadre in a brand-new black Armani leather jacket. This time they seem to have all travelled unsupervised and as extended families - nice normal mum and dad, their 5 year old, their teenager, four grandparents, at least two great-grandparents, and some outrageously old man or woman in perfect health having the time of his/her life - and they are all just so darned nice and polite and having a ball! Sure, you'll see an occasional shrieking parent walking ahead of the others waving a yellow or red plastic bag on a stick but everyone behind will be cackling with laughter. Obviously it's meant as a parody of previous holidays they'd taken abroad and meant in a spirit of great good fun.
From this I'd actually think China was changing to become a normal country ... except that Beijing has ordered our leader Donald Tsang to shut down talk-back radio and all other public access media. He hasn't told them to get stuffed so I'm guessing 2006 is going to turn into Year of the Lapdog!
Either that or we're going to forego all this mellow sweetness and get into a massive fight on our hands to retain Freedom of Speech! Thank god we've got Longhair Leung to spearhead it all for us!
2006? Year of the Underdog???
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