Hong Kong & 古惑仔 (Young and dangerous)

Ever since I came to Hangzhou - Fuyang (杭州富陽市) for work, the local Chinese often like to talk/ ask about Hong Kong to start off the conversation, especially when I first met them.

No matter what kind of people I was chatting with (including the taxi driver, the housekeepers, the bell boys etc.), the similar topics always cane across. I felt like I kept on repeating myself all the time. surprisingly, I found some common things in those conversations. Somehow I found it interesting and yet speechless.  This is how the conservation usually goes.

FY=Fuyanese   M=Myself

FY: 你是哪裡的？你應該不是我們這裡的。 

FY: Where do you come from? I don't think you are the local people here like us.

M: 我是從香港來的，但是我在澳大利亞上學。

M: I came from Hong Kong, however I did my studies in Australia.

FY: 香港來的，香港也就是我們中國的麻。怪不的你的口音跟我們大陸的不一樣。我还以為你是從外國（韓國／日本 etc)來的。不過你的中文还好。因為我聽香港的中文 。。。。。。。。［有客人曾經跟我說最怕聽香港人的中文］

FY: From Hong Kong... Hong Kong is part of China. No wonder your accent is different from the rest of the Chinese in China. I thought you are Japanese or Korean. Your mandarin is not bad, because I heard the people from HK who speaks Mandarin..........

[one of the guests told me that he scares of listening the hong kong people speaking in Mandarin]

The Movie - 古惑仔 (Young and Dangerous) 

FY: 哪你們香港是不是有很多古惑仔？ 我看看電視，甚麼銅鑼灣。。地方治安很亂。 

［还有人跟我說他的親人以前去香港，很亂！有黑社會。还是中國好，富陽好。］

FY: Are there many gangsters staying in HK? I saw it from the television , places like Causeway Bay is a mess. It is not a safe place.

[Some one told me that her relative went to HK before and said HK is a mess. China, Fuyang is a better place to stay]

M: 香港！？古惑仔！？治安很亂！？沒有阿。 我覺得香港很好。很安全阿， 还有很方便！ 你。。是不是看太多電視啦！？

M: Hong Kong? Gangsters? Not a safe place? No! Hong Kong is a really safe and convenient city. I guess you probably watched too much television

When the local said to me where do I come from and HK is part of China, I often feel speechless. It is not because I disagree the fact that HK is not part of China. It's because they asked me "where do you come from?", therefore I should give them a more specific answer consider I am already in China. -_-'. I thought they want to know which part of China do I come from. However, I still think there is a difference between Hong Kong and China. the culture is different.

 well, at least I should be glad that at least some of the Chinese understand my mandarin (with strong HK accent). haha.  

One thing I was surprised the fact that why would they thought HK is not a safe place. I thought when people talk about HK, they should think HK is a shopping paradise instead of a lot of gangsters in HK. Surprised the fact that some of the local think HK is a dangerous place. Perhaps it's because they've never been to HK plus the media influence. 

Funny how while the local chinese does not think HK is a safe place, before I came to work in China I did not think China was a safe place as well. haha. However, my 7 month studying and working in China changed my perception about China. Not everyone places in China are dangerous and of course, not all the places are safe as well. The way the local chinese look at HK is probably similar as some of the HK people look at China.