Review: Hidden Letters

Hu (left) gives her mentor (He) a letter written in nushu

Nushu (女书) is a form of calligraphy that only women in Jiangyong county in Hunan province know about. It doesn't look like typical Chinese characters, but lots of curved strokes rather than straight ones and in general look thin and narrow. 

And unlike Chinese characters where each word represents a noun, verb or idea, nushu is phonetic, with each of the 600-700 characters representing a syllable.

It's not clear when nushu began, but it was a form of communication between women who wrote these letters to each other in a secret language. Most of these letters were depressing, recounting how they were physically or verbally mistreated by husbands, and replies were often words of comfort and reminding her she was not alone. The words were mostly learned through singing nushu songs.

Each of the characters represent syllables

Before 1949 when the horrific practice of foot binding was practiced, women were confined to the home. There are no records of old nushu texts or letters because when the woman died, her writings were buried or cremated with her. 

An Oscar-nominated documentary looks into nushu and the conundrum of keeping it relevant in today's world.

Called Hidden Letters, the film introduces three women who are nushu practitioners, two relatively young, and an older woman who is a mentor to one of them.

However, like most Chinese movies, nushu is obliquely explained and doesn't go into how the writing style was developed or the meanings of the words. Perhaps it is too difficult to explain or go into, but this is what I felt was the most frustrating part of the film!

One woman is Hu Xin in her thirties, who is lauded by the county and national governments for her contributions to nushu culture; her father is proud of her accomplishments but Hu doesn't care -- all she wants to do is continue learning as much as she can from her elderly mentor He Yanxin.

Hu wants to keep the nushu culture relevant today

Hu is a guide of the nushu museum in Jiangyong, and while she tries to educate visitors about nushu, they have no understanding of how the language works. Perhaps Hu just wants it to remain a secret language among women as per the tradition?

The government officials she encounters -- all men -- believe the best way to keep nushu alive is to commercialise it -- even having ribbons with "belt and road" written in nushu calligraphy and selling them. 

Most amusing is the opening ceremony of a nushu exchange centre and all the presiding government officials are men...

Wu Simu is a young woman in her twenties in Shanghai who is actively teaching young girls nushu songs and likes to write calligraphy. She is engaged to a man and in one scene he explains soon after they met she gave him a letter written in nushu and challenged him to translate it.

He did it in one day and recites the poem on camera, which sounds very romantic, about soulmates meeting and being together forever.

Wu loves practicing nushu calligraphy

But when she meets her future in-laws and he talks more seriously about how they need to focus on buying a home and paying the mortgage and not her nushu hobby, Wu wonders if this is the life she wants to live.

Hu reveals she was married before, but didn't fulfill her husband's expectations of what he thought a wife should do; but she hopes there is still someone out there who will satisfy her intellectually. 

In general Hidden Letters is a slow-moving movie, much like life in the rural areas, where people still live in old tiled homes and pump water to cook and clean. There are scenes in the city to show how fast-paced and cosmopolitan it is, but in the end women are still treated like second-class citizens, under pressure to not only have a career, but also look after their husband, children, parents and in-laws. It's an impossible task with high expectations.

There is a lot of calligraphy writing, but again no understanding of what the characters are, though the songs which are sung throughout the film are translated into English.

Despite not knowing more about the language, Hidden Letters is refreshing in seeing the world through these women's eyes, telling their stories and getting a sense of who they want to be and to live with purpose through nushu culture. As Wu says, it is nushu that guides her, and she feels this is the right path to follow.

Hidden Letters

89 minutes

Directed by Violet Feng Du and Zhao Qing

Written by Violet Feng Du and John Farbrother

hiddenlettersfilm.com

Picture of the Day: Emperor Crab with French Fries

Want fries with your spicy emperor crab dish at Sun Sui Wah?

Since I've been back to Vancouver I've had the opportunity to eat emperor crab five or six times, and savour every bite.

I do have to admit feeling terrible for the giant crustacean that is paraded to the guests before it is slaughtered for our benefit, but as omnivores we finish every bit of the crab in three ways.

Steamed crab legs with garlic and scallions

The legs are steamed with tons of minced garlic and a sprinkling of scallions on top, the leg joints are stir-fried or deep-fried, usually with a dash of spice, and then any leftover bits and the shell are made into a curry rice.

Another time the roe from the crab was made into a sauce mixed with a very thin noodle that was divine.

Last night we went to Sun Sui Wah on Main Street for another round of emperor crab to treat out-of-town guests and friends we hadn't seen in a while. You do need at least a dozen people to eat this dish, but we only had 11 people, and one was a child.

This time the crab was 9 pounds and the almost 7-year-old boy managed to hold it up! Impressive.

The first course was good, perhaps slightly overcooked, but nevertheless the meat was still sweet and succulent. 

Curry rice with crab meat and shell

And the last course of the curry rice -- but by this point we were so full that most of it was brought home.

However, our second course raised some eyebrows.

It was a spicy deep-fry of the leg joints -- with French fries????

How bizarre was that. We joked this was the restaurant's way of trying fusion, or inflation had caused the business to turn to French fries because noodles were too expensive.

Either way we were really surprised to see French fries with crab -- in a Chinese restaurant.

If you like spicy fries then it was fine, but the sauce was dry, not wet so it didn't seem like a good combination.

Interestingly we also had another "fusion" dish of beef cubes stir-fried with Brussels sprouts... 

HK Authorities Gaslighting and Other Travel Snags

Lee (middle) claims Covid-19 changes are not abrupt

The border between Hong Kong and China will finally be lifted on January 10, while from December 29, the city will follow the mainland with no mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on arrival, a complete scrapping of the Leave Home Safe app, and quarantine for close contacts.

Mask-wearing in public is the only thing that remains.

After years of "following the science", everything is suddenly scrapped, even though the infection numbers in Hong Kong have surged. When asked about this abrupt U-turn, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu thought the change in direction was anything but startling.

"We have always been preparing [ourselves] for normalisation," he said in a press conference. "I have to do it progressively, orderly and under control, so we can assess the risk and go on... It's not rapid. It's not sudden."

Lo says it's time to put onus on HK residents

Lee added about 2.5 million people had been infected with Covid-19 and the vaccination rate had reached 94 percent for two doses, so the pandemic risks were manageable.

However, government pandemic adviser David Hui Shu-cheong, who is a member of a chief executive-appointed advisory panel, said the group had not been consulted on the decision -- and warned the local healthcare system could be overburdened after the border reopened.

In an abrupt turn of face, Secretary for Health Dr Lo Chung-mau said it was time for Hong Kong residents to take on responsibility with regards to the pandemic.

"It's time for change -- from the government controlling the situation to handing over the responsibility and power of quarantine and infection prevention to residents. It's up to them to decide whether they have symptoms to see a doctor or take sick leave."

What?!

Tien worries about unvaccinated mainlanders

Since he was appointed this position on July 1, he has taken a patriarchal approach in saying the government knew best on how to deal with Covid-19 and insisted for example that people still had to use the Leave Home Safe app when his undersecretary admitted the information it had was not used by the authorities.

But lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun disagreed with the move to end the vaccine pass scheme. 

"If people coming from mainland China are not required to be fully vaccinated and enter restaurants after the border reopens, once the caseload increases, public hospitals will be full," Tien warned.

He said mainland visitors should be fully vaccinated just like other overseas arrivals.

Meanwhile upon hearing China is allowing its residents to travel from January 8, some countries like the United States, Japan and Italy have immediately insisted that not only mainland Chinese, but also those traveling from Hong Kong and Macau are not allowed into their countries without a negative test within two days of departure. 

Even if people from China, Hong Kong and Macau are travelling through a a third country they still have to submit a negative test.

Chinese need negative test to enter US, Italy

The reasoning is the concern that China hasn't been transparent with its data and it is unclear what kind of variants are in the country now. A news report said about 50 percent of mainlanders arriving in Milan tested positive for Covid-19.

Interestingly Canada has not joined the bandwagon -- yet -- or it is too scared to make Beijing grumble further.

Regardless this testing is prudent from an epidemiological perspective, but from a political one it looks like a tit-for-tat. 

Will this stop people from visiting the above-mentioned countries? 

In the case of Japan, it has upended the travel plans of numerous Hongkongers who have been dying to go to the Land of the Rising Sun, at first only allowing them to land in Narita and Haneda airports in Tokyo, Kansai International Airport in Osaka, and Chuba Airport in Nagoya.

But now Hongkongers can land in three more places -- Hokkaido, and two airports in Okinawa.

Crisis averted -- for now. 

Nevertheless in the meantime, the Hong Kong government should really stop the gaslighting and start admitting they have to follow Beijing. We all know it, just admit it! 

Hong Kong Makes it Harder to Recycle

500 of these recycling bins are being removed from HK streets

Why does the Hong Kong government make it so hard for people to recycle?

Its "Litter Cum Recyclables Collection Bins" were on many street corners, but thanks to zero public education, many residents did not use them correctly and threw trash into the recycling bins or any bin that was not yet full.

The government is now removing 500 of these long rectangular bins that didn't hold enough recycling in the first place because they weren't cleared out fast enough, and now people who want to recycle must find the nearest recycling centre, that for many will hardly be convenient.

Mobile recycling points are only open during office hours

Only 200 will remain, while the 1,100 recycling bins will stay in rural and fringe areas.

There are government mobile recycling collection points, but they are only during office hours during the week which isn't beneficial for most people.

So again I ask -- why is the government making it so hard for people to recycle?

Many have become much more environmentally conscious and are making an effort, so why not give them an outlet to do that and keep less garbage from entering the landfills, which we have been told over and over are almost full?

In his first policy address, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu suggested mandatory recycling at housing estates of more than 1,000 families and single buildings with 100 households or more before 2024.

Wan Chai recycling depot has nice design

The Environmental Protection Department said it began studying the legal framework and operational details of the proposed regulation... and more bureaucratic hurdles. How hard is it to set up a recycling centre in housing estates?

In 2015 the government set up a Green@Community scheme to promote recycling in society, and so far has set up 43 collection stations and more than 120 makeshift recycling stops at regular locations. One that I have visited is in Wan Chai in a beautifully designed space -- but it is hardly located in a convenient place where there is a lot of foot traffic. Instead it's near the SPCA and while it's near the Wan Chai Harbourside Park, the road traffic makes it difficult (and dangerous) to cross over there...

A 26-year-old university researcher by the name of Beatrice Chau feels "tortured" whenever she carries 15kg of cardboard, cans and glass bottles to the Tin Hau recycling station, 20 minutes from her home.

"I dreamed about making it a habit and recycling every week, but then reality is that I can only do it every two to three weeks, and I won't go until I can no longer stand the pile at home," she said. "There is no shade along the way. When days are hot, I'm soaked in sweat making that trip."

Inside are recycling bins for all kinds of waste

In some ways her comment is laughable -- isn't she doing this for the good of the environment and it will get hotter if she doesn't continue recycling. At the same time the government is not making it easier for people like Chau to recycle or be motivated to recycle.

Gael Cheng, 38, is an IT technician who lives in Tuen Mun. He has never been to any government recycling station because he has to take a train and walk 10 minutes to get there.

"I don't feel the government has ever encouraged us to recycle," he said. "Without the recycling bins, I wouldn't recycle at all. It is not compulsory anyway."

Why is the government making it so hard for people to recycle?

It's baffling what the government's strategy is when it comes to the environment. It's a joke that makes wannabe recyclers feel that their contribution is meaningless.

Pent-Up Demand to Travel

Chinese residents are eager to travel abroad from January 8

Soon after Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the border between Hong Kong and China would be lifted by mid-January, it was confirmed the date would be January 8, and this would include international flights.

Thirty minutes after this announcement, the number of enquiries on travel website Ctrip.com surged 500 percent. Who can blame them after being isolated from the rest of the world for almost three years?

And the top 10 destinations Chinese residents are looking to travel to?

Top places are Macau, Hong Kong and Japan

Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and United Kingdom.

Queries for flights to the mainland also shot up after it was announced travellers coming into China would not need to do nucleic acid tests or quarantine, though a PCR test would be needed 48 hours before flying. 

The government also promises to make it easier for for business travellers and foreigners working in China to get visas more easily. During the pandemic overseas travellers could only enter China if they had a valid residency permit or obtained a relevant visa.

With this news, flights from Hong Kong to Shanghai increased by 1,039 percent, while searches for trips to Beijing and Hangzhou rose by 718 percent and 662 percent respectively.

Hongkongers looking to cross the border must do so at the Shenzhen Bay checkpoint, where there is a daily quota of 3,500.

Hongkongers can cross border at Shenzhen Bay

Perhaps most interesting is from January 8, Beijing is downgrading Covid-19 from a top-tier infectious disease into a second-tier one, putting it in the same category as HIV, viral hepatitis, and H7N9 bird flu.

These sudden changes are a lot to take in after years of Beijing scaring people about Covid-19.

Nevertheless this latest announcement not only allows international business to resume -- if there is any left -- but more importantly for family reunions to finally take place after years of being apart.

But still -- with the number of cases surging and not enough people vaccinated in the country, is now the best time to open up China to the world?

Plans Push Ahead to Reopen HK-China Border

Border between HK and China plans to open in mid-January

On Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, the city recorded over 20,000 cases of Covid-19, the highest level since March, and yet the government is actively working towards re-opening the border with China by mid-January -- only weeks away.

The border has effectively been shut for almost three years due to the pandemic, making it very hard for people to go to work or school across the border at specific border control points and of course the dreaded hotel quarantine.

But after Beijing abruptly pulled a U-turn from its "zero-Covid" policy recently, there are plans to re-open the border very soon.

Lee met with Xi to discuss border reopening

"The central government has agreed to the full reopening of the border in a gradual and orderly manner," Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu told the media.

Local authorities on both sides of the border will present a proposal for Beijing's approval, "intending to be implemented before mid-January," he added, and that there will probably be a daily quota of mainlanders coming into Hong Kong.

While many businesses will be eager for these tourists to come back, flooding the streets, buses and MTR trains, others will miss having Hong Kong to themselves. That almost three-year privilege will come to an end soon.

Government officials like Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki who is leading the Coordination Group on Resumption of Normal Travel, is feeling the time crunch.

"We must race against time to prepare for resumption of normal travel, with a two-pronged approach adopted. We need to formulate a sound proposal on such resumption as soon as practical," he said.

Chan needs to come up with plan with Guangdong

"At the same time, we need to maintain close liaison with the relevant authorities at the Central level, as well as from the Guangdong province and Shenzhen municipality, and submit the proposal to the Central Government for approval after reaching a consensus with them. The target is to resume normal travel by mid-January next year, such that various types of cross-boundary activities between Hong Kong and the mainland can regain momentum in a progressive and orderly manner."

Interesting he made no mention of the current situation of the rapidly rising number of Covid-19 infections in both Hong Kong and China, or that both visitors and residents should get fully vaccinated to protect themselves when the onslaught returns.

While Hong Kong residents in general might fare better than their mainland counterparts health-wise when it comes to having exposure to the virus and its variants, isn't it not good timing to reopen soon? Or is it all about gaining political points for Lunar New Year... but then these family reunions will lead to an even greater spike in infections?

Doesn't seem like anyone is thinking this out clearly and is just racing towards the goal of opening up without realising the possible outcomes...

China Pushing Chinese Remedies to Treat Covid-19

Shelves in pharmacies in China are cleared of flu medication

With an estimated 36 million people infected with Covid-19 in China right now, residents there are desperate to find medication to treat flu symptoms and have even enlisted friends and family abroad to send them paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Not only is there a massive shortage of medicine in China, but also the government is handing out Chinese medicine instead -- Lianhua Qingwen, which some say has zero benefit in fighting the virus -- and people don't want it.

The government is stepping up production of Lianhua Qingwen and distributing tens of thousands of boxes across the country. Sound familiar? Last spring the Hong Kong government gave out packages wrapped in small garbage bags filled with N95 masks, a pack of rapid antigen tests, and two boxes of the Chinese medicine.

The government is pushing Lianhua Qingwen

A friend collected the two Chinese medicine boxes from me to distribute to people in her building complex who swore by taking it.

But in China, some residents like those in Yunnan province are complaining they are given the Chinese medicine and can't find modern ones, like paracetamol to help alleviate symptoms.

"Why give us expensive Lianhua Qingwen? What we need is drugs that can lower the temperature, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol," said one Weibo user.

"Why can Lianhua Qingwen be transported and distributed freely, while the usual fever drugs are not available or distributed?" asked another.

According to manufacturer Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical, Lianhua Qingwen is based on a formula dating back to the Han dynasty (202BC-220AD). The modern treatment was developed in 2003 for severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS.

Liu Qingquan, president of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Medicine, said earlier this month that the Chinese medicine was able to treat all kinds of diseases, including the Omicron variant.

However, medical authorities begged to differ.

Residents are demanding modern medicine

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has warned against using Lianhua Qingwen, saying it has not been approved or authorised. In Australia it has been banned outright because it contains ephedra, which can be used to make methamphetamine.

Last year Singapore's Health Sciences Authority warned that although the Chinese medicine could treat cold and flu symptoms, it was not approved for Covid-19 and threatened to punish sellers who made false claims about its benefits.

So even though Beijing is trying to look like a benevolent dictator, distributing lots of medicine to people, it's not what they want or need.

Some medical experts tracking Covid-19 from outside China are looking on with horror at how the country has just opened the  floodgates and allowed Covid-19 to spread. They worry that because not enough people are vaccinated or exposed to the virus that their immune systems will not be able to cope, let alone their healthcare systems.

It's a recipe for disaster that is manmade. 

And not a peep about blaming someone at the top...

Vancouver Snow Chaos Continues

A snarled mess of cars in downtown Vancouver 

Today was another snow day... overnight Vancouver received some 10 cm of fresh snow and I spent a good hour or so shovelling again. This time it was harder as freezing rain was coming down so the snow was heavier to shovel. 

The freezing rain lifted when I almost finished the shovelling (figures) and just to be safe I went back to salt the sidewalks and our walkway. I also managed to locate the city water drains underneath the snow and clear them.

Port Mann Bridge was shut down most of the day

That's because this afternoon temperatures were going from minus 3 degrees to plus 1 degree and rain.

Despite the rising temperatures, everyone was advised not to go out as the roads were extra slick -- and judging from the traffic reports I heard in the morning and afternoon, there were a lot of cars spun out, got into accidents -- or even lost their wheels.

The weather situation was so bad that even the Port Mann and Alex Fraser bridges were shut down from later morning onwards. Skytrain was struggling and so were the buses and ferries. 

Shop owners are fretting with yet another shopping day lost before Christmas. Tomorrow will be a mad rush if anyone has left their gift-buying to the last minute. Some news reports say business owners are already looking towards Boxing Day to make up for pre-Christmas sales. 

And there are still people stranded at Vancouver International Airport, but finally YVR has stepped up and offered hotel rooms to passengers who have been stuck there for days, with priority for the elderly, and with young children. They are also trying to sort out Christmas meals for people who are still here on Sunday.

Late yesterday WestJet proactively cancelled all its flights at YVR and Toronto Pearson and Air Canada cancelled most of its flights too, which gave YVR an opportunity to clear its backlog and allow international flights to land. 

After almost three years of the Covid-19 pandemic, people were hoping to meet up with friends and loved ones, and now a nasty winter storm has prevented many from meeting up. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day -- with temperatures shooting up to 7 degrees! And more rain...

Nano Flats Lose Their Value

Nano flats are passed over for one- and two-bedroom homes

Remember Hong Kong's nano flats, some no bigger than a parking space and costing millions of dollars? Some young people bought them a few years ago, thinking this was their way to get their foot in the door of the property market and hopefully move up from there.

But now they will be stuck.

As the property market has softened due to people emigrating and interest rate hikes, resulting home values dropping by 14 percent this year, buyers can afford to get more for their money and are looking to purchase one- and two-bedroom flats instead.

T Plus flats were recently sold at a loss

First-time home buyers can also buy properties by only making a 10 percent down payment. The cap on housing value for this arrangement was lifted to HK$10 million (US$1.28 million) from HK$8 million in February.

As a result buyer interest in nano flats has waned. Remember T Plus in Tuen Mun, where some of Hong Kong's smallest flats were only 128 square feet big? Since October seven out of nine transactions at this three-year-old complex were sold at a loss.

In one of the recent transactions, the owner had to take a 21 percent loss, compared to 16 percent since 2019 for other properties when sellers first bought their homes.

So much for trying to climb up the property ladder when the lowest rung leaves you in the red...

Curious Contraband Confiscated

Some 9,000 bottles of contraband wine were seized in a raid

On December 11 and 12, Hong Kong Customs seized a huge haul of contraband goods that was destined for Shanghai, but officials have only now let the media know.

The market value of the goods confiscated from two ocean-going vessels at Tsing Yi Container Terminal is valued at HK$200 million (US$25.6 million).

So what contraband was found?

Most of the wines were from Penfolds

Nine thousands bottles of wine, mostly Penfolds from Australia. China had imposed a 175 percent tariff on the wine's parent company, Treasury Wine Estates, so importers found other creative ways to bring the popular Penfolds into the mainland. The other bottles were Moet et Chandon Champagne and Japanese sake brand Dassai.

In addition there were also about 22 tons of expensive food items, such as shark's fin, fish maw and dried sea cucumber. This demonstrates not only the massive appetite of Chinese for shark's fin that has been mostly eradicated in Hong Kong, but also they seem desperate to eat these delicacies.

Then there's 140,000 electronic goods which are not clarified as to what they are, and 4,000 boxes of medicine and endangered species.

The medicine is probably because China doesn't have enough on pharmacy shelves and people are desperate as they have become infected with Covid-19 or have flu-like symptoms. Relatives in Hong Kong have told me Chinese people have snapped up all the medicine in Australia, the United States and Hong Kong to send to their relatives back home. Sound familiar?

A classical music lover won't get his vinyl haul!

And last but not least, the quirkiest contraband item confiscated was 7,000 vinyl records. From the scant pictures, it shows one is a recording of Dvorak's cello concerto Faure Elegy in French, and Belgian violinist Arthur Grumiaux playing seven violin concertos. So were these classical music records just for one person or a group of vinyl fanatics? 

Sadly they won't be able to listen to any of them anytime soon...

Five men ranging in age from 38 to 54 were arrested.

Snowmageddon in Vancouver

Many side streets looked like this this morning

The story today in Vancouver was snow, snow, snow and how it affected people, bad and good.

An unusually cold front overnight led to precipitation becoming snow which started coming down from around 8pm until late morning, leading to an accumulation of about 30cm, or about a foot of snow. We already had a small dump on Sunday, but this was unprecedented.

From 5am onwards I was glued to listening to the radio, hearing the traffic reports telling people not to go out unless they really had to, as the driving was treacherous and public transit was spotty. 

Many planes were grounded at YVR

Unfortunately there was complete chaos at Vancouver International Airport where flights were seriously delayed or cancelled. One man called into CBC Radio and explained he had a flight to Toronto at 5pm yesterday, but they didn't get on the plane until three hours later, but that they had been sitting on the tarmac ever since -- over 10 hours later.

This was not the only story. Another woman told the evening news that they had gotten on and off the plane several times and waited six hours. Other passengers were luckily allowed to finally get off, but then had to make their way home, their planned trip to Hawaii seeming further away than ever.

Apparently passengers were trying very hard to keep their patience, but sitting on a plane for hours with just two small cups of water and some cookies is very trying, even though the weather is beyond the control of the airline... 

It's not clear if there wasn't enough ground staff to open gates for people to get off the planes, or that the airlines were still trying to fly out. Regardless there were a lot of tired, hungry, frustrated and disappointed people at YVR.

Tired travellers rested wherever they could

The rest of us dug ourselves out of the snow. My mom thought her dental appointment was still on, so I walked her to the bus stop around 8.45am. Many of the house occupants hadn't cleared their sidewalks yet -- us included -- so we stepped in a lot of fresh snow and paths that had been trodden on but not enough to give us even footing. 

Luckily we didn't have to wait long for the bus and I saw my mom off and then walked back and had breakfast before starting the task of shovelling. Soon after I started she returned -- the dental office was closed! She was quite irate, but it was only later she found out her dentist had texted her at 7am, but she didn't see the message... her dentist profusely apologised.

Shovelling snow was a task that had to be done slow and steady. It helped to shovel small amounts of the white stuff than try to ambitiously cover more ground so that I didn't tire so easily. It was so quiet outside the birds were having a fun time (or freezing time?!) flying around chasing each other in the cold weather and chirping away. Dogs were having a ball playing in the snow. 

The snowfall inspired a lot of picture-taking

My favourite video on Twitter is of a guy whipping off his long black coat to reveal himself in a Speedo and googles in a backyard in Port Moody that is covered in snow. He steps up and pretends to dive into a pool, but it's actually a foot of fresh powder and he starts "swimming" freestyle for a few seconds. 

Hope he warmed up with a hot shower after!

Unfortunately the temperature is at minus 7 degrees Celsius so the snow will turn to ice tomorrow... 

Hong Kong's Nightlife Perks Up

People visiting bars and nightclubs no longer need RAT tests

Hong Kong's re-opening continues with bars and nightclubs thrilled at the news that its patrons no longer need to show a negative rapid antigen test to enter, or at cinemas, museums, amusement parks and performance venues. 

While the cap on banquets at 240 people has been lifted (how did they even come up with that number?), the rules that a maximum of 12 per table and wearing masks in public still remain.

Lee will visit Beijing on Wednesday

It seems the Hong Kong government doesn't seem to care how the lifting of social-distancing measures has had on the healthcare system, with over 14,500 new infections, 4,105 need to be hospitalised. That said there are 41 patients in ICU.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu warned the number of people receiving hospital treatment surged to over 4,000 -- four times the figure of when arrivals to Hong Kong underwent "0+3".

"The consideration is that we have to gradually open up while putting the risk under control," he said during a press conference announcing he would travel to Beijing on Wednesday until Saturday.

On the agenda? Talks to reopen the border with China, and ask about the progress for Beijing for its interpretation of the national security law on whether overseas counsel were allowed to take part in relevant cases, and in this case Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.

But back to the lifting of Covid-19 rules -- people can finally freely patronise bars and nightclubs, and restaurants and hotels are doing brisk business, why is it that people can't gather to watch fireworks still?

The government released a notice saying the 2023 Lunar New Year fireworks display would be cancelled. 

Yet another lunar new year without fireworks

"While there have been adjustments to the anti-epidemic measures recently, allowing the staging of more large-scale activities in society, this year's Lunar New Year Fireworks Display could not be organised in time, as it normally takes two to three months to arrange," it said.

Seems like the government was either caught completely off guard by the recent developments or it's a cost-saving measure. Either way it has sucked out the fun of the upcoming Year of the Rabbit already.

Regina Ip Demands Google Answers

Ip asking for Google to come to Legco to answer questions

The saga over the wrong anthem played at rugby matches overseas continues to be dragged out, this time by Executive Council convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who wants Google executives to answer questions in the Legislative Council.

She said she would write to Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen to invite the behemoth search engine to answer lawmakers' questions, and if they refused, Ip would seek to invoke the Legislative Council (Power and Privileges) Ordinance to summon them. 

"If they ignore the summons, a warrant can be issued. It's a criminal offence and offenders can be jailed up to 12 months," she warned.

The 2019 protest song is the top search result

In other words, the Google executives are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Ip added a majority in Legco was all that was needed to call on the ordinance.

Last month Hong Kong's rugby team competed in Incheon, South Korea, where Glory to Hong Kong, a song associated with the 2019 protests, was played instead of the Chinese national anthem, March of the Volunteers.

Korean organisers apologised for the incident, claiming when they looked it up online, Glory to Hong Kong came up first. And so pro-establishment lawmakers are urging Google to tweak the algorithm so that March of the Volunteers came up first.

The lawmakers, in a bid to prove their patriotism to their Beijing masters are probably hoping to get air time grilling Google executives, but they won't get very far.

The wrong anthem was played in Incheon

As long as people keep searching for "Hong Kong anthem", then the protest song will come up first -- this is how Google works because this is what users are searching for. No amount of buying advertising will change the algorithm, as I found out in a podcast called Freakonomics in an episode called "Is Google Getting Worse?"

Freakonomics host Stephen Dubner interviews Liz Reid, vice president of Search at Google.

At one point she explains the correlation between search results and advertising:

"Behind the scenes in Search, we take great pride in not only trying to provide high-quality results, but ensuring that they are not influenced by ads. So we have a very strong culture that says whether or not you're an advertiser, does not allow you to change the results we show. You cannot pay us to change how you show. Those results are very pure, and we go to great lengths to ensure that this is the case. And so the quality of the search we provide is run separately from the ads to do that."

Reid says ads and search results are separate

So one can imagine if and when these Google executives go to Legco, lawmakers are going to go red in the face with frustration that the search engine giant will refuse to budge. 

But watching this process might be entertaining so don't miss it! 

Chinese Tourists Gamble and Get Vaccinated in Macau

Since last month Macau began vaccinating Chinese visitors

Chinese travellers to Macau are not just going to the gambling tables at the casinos, but also heading to a designated immunisation clinic to get mRNA vaccines in their arms.

As the Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted in China, the number of infections are exploding and some people are trying to do whatever they can to protect themselves.

While the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is used in Macau and Hong Kong, it is not approved for use in China.

Macau University of Science and Technology

But last month Macau's Covid-19 Infection Response Coordination Centre announced it was lifting restrictions on vaccinations for short-stay visitors.

Since then, the Macau University of Science and Technology Hospital -- the only vaccination site offering mRNA vaccines for tourists -- is now the place mainland visitors go to these days.

However, they are getting the mRNA vaccine that fights against the original Covid-19 strain and not the newest bivalent one that targets both Covid-19 and omicron.

In addition, the shots aren't free -- mainland tourists must shell out between HK$1,360 to HK$1,650 (US$175-US$212) per shot.

Mainland tourists cannot go to Hong Kong yet as the border still remains closed, but some Chinese visitors in Macau who got inoculated hope to get another dose in Hong Kong.

How fascinating that Macau has become a vaccination destination, and Hong Kong may soon become one too. That said the Hong Kong government had thrown out the idea of becoming a place for medical tourism... this might be the chance...

Beijing funeral homes inundated with bodies

Meanwhile on the mainland there are no accurate numbers of cases of Covid-19 infections, but what is for sure is the number of bodies arriving at morgues and funeral homes.

In Beijing, there are two designated funeral homes that are allowed to cremate those who have passed from Covid-19 and an Associated Press reporter saw about a dozen bodies delivered to one funeral home within one hour.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting about 200 bodies arriving daily, and quoting one crematoria worker as saying, "It's 24 hours a day. We can't keep up."

Usually a few dozen bodies are cremated daily. 

The government has not reported any new deaths from Covid-19 since it relaxed its pandemic restrictions on December 7. The official death count is 5,235.

However, a University of Hong Kong study predicts nearly 1 million people could die from Covid-19 without a massive fourth dose vaccination campaign, a supply of antiviral drugs and social-distancing measures.

The funeral homes and crematoriums will be literally burning the midnight oil for the next few months... the number of lives lost is a painful cost for insisting on the zero-Covid path for the longest time...

Chinatown Ally Retires

Mayor Sim poses with Johnson and his wife Brandy

On Monday I went to Chinatown and was eating lunch in The Boss cha chaan teng when I spotted Harold Johnson walking in and saying hello to a few people.

He's a security guard who has been a fixture in the neighbourhood for decades.

I only found out today that he retired, and the new mayor Ken Sim gave him a nice send off at City Hall with a cake.

Moments after he was attacked in August 

The 64-year-old Johnson was in the news this past summer when he was assaulted by a stranger at the Chinese Cultural Centre near East Pender and Columbia streets on August 12. 

The incident not only left the senior with a concussion and a broken nose and cheekbone, but he was also traumatised by the incident.

"I'm still having nightmares and headaches," he said recently in a media interview. "When I get a headache, it gets nasty."

Johnson had originally planned to retire next year, but the assault left him shaken and wants to prioritise his health and safety.

During his two decades of patrolling Chinatown, he has gotten to know the business owners in the area who will miss him dearly.

A sweet farewell for Johnson in City Hall

"Harold's been around forever. He knows everyone around here and everyone knows him," said pharmacist and Corning Drugs Chinatown owner David Wong. 

"He's always there for us, backing us up."

"He comes in a makes me smile everyday," added Tracy To of Forum Appliances.

"Everybody in Chinatown's family, we all work together," Johnson said.

His wife Brandy LaRocque Johnson says it's time for her husband to get out of Chinatown, which is a sad reality of the area, as homeless drug addicts nearby turn to petty crime and attacks on people to get cash.

Two Chinatown businesses managed to fundraise a total of CA$30,000 to pay for his medical costs.

Who will be the next Harold to help look over Chinatown? The neighbourhood badly needs any allies it can get.

Visitors Trickle into Hong Kong

Hong Kong Tourism Board is promoting the city again

While people are happy to see "0+0" or no restrictions when coming into Hong Kong -- provided you test negative upon arrival -- many are still leery of traveling to the city because of the other tests they need to do in the following days.

Even though the Hong Kong Tourism Board will be heavily promoting the city with its "Hello! Hong Kong" campaign, travel agencies are reporting prospective visitors are concerned about having to do the testing requirements.

Arrival numbers are still sluggish

"As long as there is the PCR and antigen [tests], it is kind of disheartening because [tourists] will always be afraid that if they have a positive result, they'll just be staying in the hotel" said Dolly Santos, president of Manila-based Golden Sky Travel and Tours.

Nevertheless, the tourism board is targeting Southeast Asian visitors. These short-haul flights account for 14,368 of the 80,524 travellers who visited Hong Kong in October, while 47,607 came from the mainland.

In November the number of visitors was 113,763, a 41 percent increase from the month previous. In 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic, the number was 55.91 million.

But even if the tourism board tries to entice prospective travellers with incentives, there aren't necessarily enough planes to carry all these visitors, which is why ticket prices are high at the moment.

Ricky Tse Kam-ting, vice-chairman of the Travel Industry Council expects a growing number of the visitors will be business travellers, as for them the current situation is far better than what was in place before, and could only loosen further eventually.

Lo wants people to keep using the LHS app

He estimates that of the 80,000 travellers who came last month, about half were in Hong Kong for business, and the number could double to 80,000 by January.

So have people gleefully deleted the Leave Home Safe app from their phones in the last few days?

Secretary for Health Dr Lo Chung-mau is begging people not to.

He said people still need to show their vaccination record which is stored in the app, though they could also use the eHealth and iAM Smart app, though they sound just as pathetic as the Leave Home Safe app...