Peng Chau, a small island only a brief ferry trip from Hong Kong’s central enterprise district, has change into a haven for residents in search of to depart behind stress gathered from occasions reminiscent of pro-democracy protests in 2019, a nationwide safety crackdown that adopted, and extra lately, strict curbs in opposition to COVID-19.
One thing clicked immediately for Zero Chan when she first set foot on the island of Peng Chau, a brief ferry trip from Hong Kong’s central enterprise district, at a time when she was feeling burnt out and recovering from sickness.
“Individuals want area, however there’s a lot noise within the metropolis,” says Zero Chan, a 36-year-old yoga trainer and devotee of Buddhism and Zen. “I am very comfortable now.”
Some specialists say a rising pattern of different communities could be linked to protest episodes in 2014 and 2019 that railed in opposition to China’s tightening grip on the previous British colony.
“These social occasions are vital catalysts,” mentioned Ng Mee-kam, a professor of city research on the Chinese language College of Hong Kong. “Within the face of all these modifications, all these tensions and all these conflicts, I believe it is inevitable that individuals of all generations need to mirror on what is going on on, and what life means.”
Newcomers drawn by an idyllic life-style and low rents in one of many world’s priciest property markets are rejuvenating Peng Chau, reversing an exodus within the Nineteen Seventies as fortunes waned within the space, as soon as dwelling to Hong Kong’s largest matchstick manufacturing unit.
Many dilapidated village houses have been renovated, and abandoned concrete husks such because the Fook Yuen leather-based manufacturing unit have been transformed right into a “secret backyard” artwork area that includes graffiti and set up works.
Cafes, boutiques and an unbiased bookshop have sprouted beside conventional Chinese language temples, family-run retailers and diners.
But, regardless of a rising pattern of in search of out quieter life on islands in addition to villages within the rural New Territories, such areas are threatened by huge new growth initiatives, mentioned Ng, the educational.
“The frontiers for the youthful technology to have the area to discover these different life is diminishing, so I believe we, as a society, have to be very cautious,” she added.
– Reuters
