Mainlanders

When I tell my colleagues that we are planning to visit Disneyland or Ocean Park they often warn me off saying that the Parks will be swarming with Mainlanders.  

Many of the locals here in Hong Kong have developed a strong prejudice against Mainlanders.    They  are seen as uncouth, pushy nouveau riche types with virtually no manners or consideration for others, who are over-runnning the city flaunting their money and tasteless designer bling.

As a 'Mainlander' myself - from the South Island of NZ - I find this amusing because it neatly matches my own view of Aucklanders when I was a student in Dunedin.

I have to say that we have always found the crowds at Disneyland and Ocean Park to be calm, good natured and well-behaved.

The one rude family at Disneyland

We have only had a couple of (exceptional) experiences which fit the Mainland Stereotype.  At Diensyland in the 30min que for the merry-go-round, a couple with a child quietly pushed their way past us and about 120 people to get to the front of the line (and they were clearly not catching-up with the friends already in the line!).   I was simply amazed at their 'front' and also by the fact that nobody other than us made any objection.

Video:  how to get ahead in China

Of course we don't know they were Mainlanders,  They might equally well have been Australian.

The other incident was when two chinese grannies took a shine to Hannah and wanted to take a photo with her.   Without asking, they picked her up, and then since the room was a bit dark, proceeded to carry her out the door, oblivious to Hannah's growing alarm as she remembered my warnings about child-snatchers!

The media here reports a steady stream of draw-dropping acts of Mainland behavior.  One staple is rude Mainland tourists (scamp link) eating on trains, or letting their children urinate or defecate in the subway or shopping malls.  E.g. 'Spot the mainlander' (link).

Peeing on the MTR (source)

I've never seen this, and in general I find the Hong Kong MTR at least as civilized as the London Underground.   But a few times I've seen mainlanders with huge bags push their way onto trains and then stop right inside the doorway, and stand oblivious as the people behind them curse and try to get past the bags and into the carriage.    Rika says she regularly sees parents letting their children pee in the street outside department stores at Causeway Bay

Many Hong Kong restaurants and malls feel obliged to display signs on how to use western toilets ('do not stand on the seat' etc.) which seem to be widely ignored.  Some MTR stations have recorded announcements reminding visitors that "animals birds and poultry are not allowed on stations or trains".

When we arrived in 2012 the focus of complaint was birth-tourism or gate-crash births, where mainland women traveled to HK to give birth to secure residency and free education for their offspring.  Often with the help of agents and by turning up at A&E departments in advanced labour knowing they could not be turned away.   With mainlanders accounting for more than 40% of HK births this strain on the health service caused some resentment.  (NY times link, bbc link).

More recent stories include "Young mainland women 'marrying elderly Hong Kong men to get residency".  The  SCMP reported yesterday "Welfare group sees rise in abuse cases in which old men who married young mainlanders are forced into divorce and evicted from their flats"  (scmp link and link)

Swarm of tourists queuing up near my TaiChi class

Another focus is the sheer number of tourists and their impact on the city.   Since at least 2012 there have been (small) public demonstrations against 'locusts'.    This weekend a group of  locals waving Chinese flags and “little red books” staged a parody protest in Mong Kok on Sunday afternoon urging mainland Chinese to “reignite their patriotic feeling and buy products made in China”.   “If they really love their country they should stay on the mainland and shop there".  (scmp link)

These demonstrations and online comments by Hong Kong locals sometimes take on an ugly and hurtful complexion.   Recently when a young main-land student at HK University tragically died in an accident, her memorial webpage was defaced with messages like 'good job - one less mainlander'.  This caused considerable distress to her friends, who included one of my colleagues - a very nice person from Beijing who is feeling increasingly unwelcome here.  It hardly needs to be said that rude and boorish comments like this from a vocal minority hardly supports their argument that Hong Kong manners are superior!

But what does the less vocal majority of local Hong Kong chinese think?  Well there is a fair amount of opinion poll evidence that Hong Kong chinese increasingly see themselves as having a distinct culture from the mainland chinese, and feel this culture is under threat.   The history and reasons of this is is explored in this thoughtful article (PRI link).  

Apparently a majority of locals now identify themselves as Hong Kongers rather than Chinese.   Many more locals have an unfavorable view of mainland chinese than have an unfavorable view of (say) the Japanese (link hku poll).   And when the government responded with proposal to extend laws against racial abuse to cover mainlanders, a poll found mort than 80% of  locals against that idea.

I find this all very interesting, especially given that most of Hong Kong's population are themselves descended from refugees from mainland China who arrived in the 1950s or even more recently.  And of course, much of Hong Kong's prosperity is related to its role as the New York of China.

But the most amazing poll result was from the SCMPs most popular poll of 2013 : "would Hongkongers vote to return to a British overseas territory, given the option?"

"A staggering 21,185 votes were cast in our poll, resulting in 90 per cent of readers suggesting that Hongkongers would return to a British overseas territory."  (scmp poll).  

Don't tell the Scots!