Hong Kong is losing
to Mainland China. Its poverty rates are high, it suffers from corruption and savage capitalism. It is now
the most expensive city on earth. People are frustrated, but paradoxically,
they are blaming socialist Beijing for their problems, instead of the legacy of
British colonialism. ‘Across the line’, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Xiang and
other cities are leaving Hong Kong behind in almost all fields.
When my dear friend and a great concert pianist from
Beijing, Yuan Sheng, used to live in New York, recording, giving concert and
teaching at prestigious Manhattan School of Music, he told me that he used to
cry at night: “In the United States, they smear China. I felt hurt,
defenseless”.
He returned to Beijing, gave back his Green Card and
began teaching at Beijing Conservatory. He never regretted his decision.
“Beijing is much more exciting than New York, these days”, he told me.
It is obvious that Beijing is booming: intellectually,
artistically; in fact, in all fields of life.
Yuan’s friend, who returned from London and became a
curator at the iconic
