Hong Kong used to be the place where Chinese would escape to, not from. What happened?
With Hong Kong’s sky-high cost of living, residents like Andy Tsui have been looking for alternative ways to have more fun and spend less. And he’s found one. Recent weekends have seen him shopping at glitzy malls, singing at swanky karaoke joints and dining on the freshest Australian crayfish. Add a cup of the trendiest bubble tea, and his bill for the day normally amounts to no more than $60. That’s the sort of money many of his friends have been paying for just one meal — and no boba.
As that number has fallen, critics say, so too have any lingering concerns Beijing might have had about upsetting Hong Kong by changing the “One Country, Two Systems” formula. In 2019, pro-democracy protests swept Hong Kong, fueled by perceptions that Beijing was tightening its reins and reneging on its promise of a high degree of autonomy for the city.