After exploring both Kowloon and Hong Kong Island on Saturday, I woke up on Sunday morning to perfect sunshine and improved health.  Ecstatic that I had at last won my battle with food poisoning, I headed across the harbor in search of an authentic Western breakfast.  Rambling along Hong Kong Island’s alleyways and peeking in bakery windows, I finally entered a small cafe and ordered a bagel with cream cheese.  Enjoying the morning scenery, I sipped a tall glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice and soaked in the view of passersby strolling down Hong Kong’s narrow lanes.

Now stuffed, I sat for a few minutes browsing the Internet.  It struck me then that although Hong Kong is technically part of China, it is not subject to any of the cyberspace restrictions currently gripping the mainland.  Amazed by how quickly and easily I could search the web, I logged onto Facebook and YouTube simply because I could.  For a minute, I felt the sensation of uninhibited access to information – I had forgotten what that kind of freedom felt like, and had tacitly accepted Chinese Internet censorship as a daily norm.

Soho: Colonial Charm with a Modern Feel

Nonetheless, I knew that I hadn’t come all the way to Hong Kong to spend my time on the computer.  So, I slowly made my way back outside and meandered the streets of Hong Kong’s well-preserved Soho district.  Home to mid- to high-end shops and boutiques, most of the items for sale in Soho are out of my price range.  Nonetheless, Soho tops the list as one of the island’s most charming shopping and dining zones; even for those on a tight budget, Soho has much to offer.  Its less-traveled side streets are home to  a variety of little-known bargains, and its bars and nightclubs are some of the most vivacious and eclectic in Hong Kong.

Crossing back over to Kowloon, my boyfriend and I walked along Hong Kong’s Avenue of Stars and admired the hand prints of a few of China’s most famous actors, including Jet Li and Jackie Chan.  Afterwards, we had the opportunity to witness an event that neither of us have ever witnessed on the Chinese mainland – a political demonstration.

In 1999, the Chinese government banned the practice of Falun Gong and began a nationwide campaign to weed out its followers.  Founded in 1992, Falun Gong is a series of meditative practices and spiritual exercises that has incorporated and synthesized elements from both the Buddhist and Taoist belief systems.  Falun Gong has adopted the focus on energy movement that characterizes Chinese qi gong, and places a high emphasis on the tenets of morality and compassion.  Throughout the 1990s, the practice of Falun Gong grew in popularity both on the Chinese mainland and throughout the rest of Asia; by the turn of the century, however, Beijing had labeled the movement as a cult and denounced it as a force for social instability.  International reports of mistreatment, harassment, arbitrary arrest, and torture of Falun Gong believers have been surfacing ever since.

In Hong Kong, my boyfriend and I encountered Falun Gong followers protesting the harsh actions of the Chinese government through silent meditation and media campaigning.  In addition, we viewed full-size information panels condemning the CCP for its role in the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 and in perpetrating violent political crimes during the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution:

Tiananmen Square Massacre, 1989

The Legacy of China's Cultural Revolution

As a mainland resident, I can’t even imagine seeing anything of this nature posted in public in China proper.  Not only would this kind of information be promptly disposed of by a local security official, but any citizen who chose to display such beliefs would swiftly be castigated.  In a country that does not place much value on the freedom of expression or right to information access of its citizens, the ability to challenge the government’s official history is not open to the public.  To say the least, I was surprised and even proud to see such an open display of criticism leveled directly against the Chinese government – not firstly because of my personal views of the CCP, but because of a deep-rooted conviction in favor of unrestricted freedom of speech.

Around 5pm, I headed back to Shenzhen to catch an 8pm flight to Guilin.  On the subway ride to the Chinese border, I began to feel lightheaded and nauseous – believing that I was simply suffering from motion sickness, I thought that my health would be just fine once I stepped off the subway car.  It was not until two days later that I would realize I had begun to experience the primary stages of phototoxicity.

The story may be almost over, but it’s not done yet!  Just when I thought I was on my way back to Guilin in the best of health, I was about to enter my longest and most serious health battle in China yet.  You thought food poisoning was bad?  Think again!  Stay tuned for the next addition to my “Backpacking to Hong Kong” saga.