Siu mai is a street snack that every Hong Konger has had before. We may remember it as a delicious hunger fix after school, the snack we look forward the most in a trip to the wet market with our mothers, or the must-have dim sum when we go to a teahouse to yum cha. Siu mai may look ordinary from the outside, but they are an illustration of the essence of the Cantonese cuisine, which is turning humble ingredients into exquisite dishes. Hoping to promote the street snacks of Hong Kong, Gigi runs a small shop in Central, where she has earned the support of the neighbourhood with her siu mai and met a right-hand man. Most surprisingly, through the coverage of various media, her story has encouraged more people with mood disorders to get back on their feet. Dim sum shop owner Jason says he grew up eating beef. As a child, he went to the teahouse very often with his family and beef siu mai was a must-have. These siu mai are unforgettable childhood memories to him.

Located in Shaanxi Province, Mount Huashan was already mentioned in the “Classic of Mountains and Seas”. Qing dynasty scholar Zhang Taiyan even believes that it is one of the cradles of Chinese civilisation. In 1949, towards the end of the Chinese Civil War, the People’s Liberation Army used bamboo poles and ropes to climb the precipitous cliffs of Mount Huashan in order to reach its North Peak. This trail was later paved and named “The Intelligent Take-over Route of Mount Huashan”. Shuangquan Village, which lies in the vicinity of the mountain, is the birthplace of Huayin Old Tune, a type of music dubbed “China’s most ancient style of rock and roll”. Research has deduced that it evolved from the calls that Western Han dynasty boatmen used to made. Although it has been included in the Representative List of China’s National Intangible Cultural Heritage, this ancient art form is sadly facing the cruel fate of being lost due to a lack of inheritors. Early humans excavated caves to use them as dwellings. Yangjiagou to the north of Yan’an is home to the Ma Family Manor, a cave home complex. Arranged in a configuration described as “Five Exposed, Four Concealed, Six Compartmental”, the courtyard cave dwellings served as the residences of prestigious families in the Qing dynasty. During the Chinese Civil War, the People’s Liberation Army was also stationed here under Mao Zedong’s leadership. The inhabitants of the Loess Plateau have subsisted on millet for millennia. It was even an imperial tribute in the Ming and Qing dynasties. This drought-resistant grain is the only crop that can be grown in the dry climate of Mizhi County. Generations of farmers have been persevering silently, all in the hope that their offspring can have a way out. Meanwhile, peculiar landscapes are on display below the plateau. A Danxia landform area the size of Kowloon Peninsula featuring wavy red sandstone terrain can be found in Jingbian County. A festive dance is performed amidst this masterpiece of nature – Jingbian Donkey Running. How does its inheritor Zhang Youwan attract the younger generation to learn this craft? Producer: Tsang Chor-sun

Crime Alert - Macau Hotel Package Scam

The controversial National Security Law is now on the statute books but considerable uncertainty remains as to how it will be implemented. Just an hour before midnight on July 1st, the details of the legislation were finally revealed and gazetted, taking immediate effect. Although Hong Kong’s has a bilingual legal system, there was no official English version when it was released. Chief Executive Carrie Lam and local officials freely admitted to having been left in the dark throughout the process. The four groups of crimes covered by the law are secession, subversion, terrorist activities and collusion with foreign countries to endanger national security. The maximum penalty for all these crimes is a life sentence. The central government has established a national security office in Hong Kong while the HKSAR government has set up a new committee chaired by the Chief Executive, and containing an adviser appointed by Beijing. Both the police force and the judiciary will establish new units to handle cases. In some instances, Beijing will have jurisdiction and suspects will face trail on the mainland. The power of interpretation is vested in the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. With us to talk about the new legislation is Maria Tam, Vice-chairman of the Basic Law Committee.

“Getting sold down the river” and “Old Man from San Fran” were used to describe the Cantonese people who travelled overseas to be mine and railroad workers during the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China period. Taishan’s coastal location and deep-water port makes it a natural gateway to faraway lands, leading successive generations of Taishanese to seek livelihoods away from their ancestral home. Taishan is China’s first overseas Chinese hometown. There are over 1.3 million overseas Chinese of Taishanese descent around the world, a number which exceeds the local population. There is actually a Taishanese village in Hong Kong – San Wai Fuk Hing Lane Village in Yuen Long, which was established more than a century ago. Thomas Yeung grew up there and saw the changes that the village has undergone first-hand. Although the blue brick house that he lived in as a child is now a Western-style villa, he has managed to preserve his clan’s genealogy book which has over 100 years of history. William Chan is Thomas Yeung’s primary school classmate and friend. His grandfather opened the only grocery store in the village – Overseas Chinese Store has borne witness to the changes within the village. Initially solely patronised by villagers, it became the canteen for construction workers when the highway was being built. Nowadays, however, it is much more convenient to go into town, leaving the store deserted. It has also been relocated from the market plaza to an inconspicuous spot next to the Chan family’s ancestral residence. William Chan has persisted with running the store to fulfil his promise to his late father of “continuing to provide a place for neighbourhood residents to get together”. Like many other Taishanese, William Chan and Thomas Yeung have both worked abroad. The former went to Africa when he was 45 to manage a car factory for 17 years, climbing the corporate ladder at the cost of missing his sons’ childhoods. Meanwhile, the latter worked in Europe for a few years before returning to Hong Kong as he was unable to adapt to the local life. They both say that the Taishanese of today do not necessarily have to work abroad, because there are many opportunities for development in Hong Kong and the mainland, offering them a plethora of options. Regardless of this, the Taishanese people’s sentimental ties to their hometown remains unchanged. The number of fortified towers which stand in the city are a testament to this. The overseas Chinese remitted money back to their ancestral home, contributing to its prosperity. Subsequently, the residents built fortified towers to protect their home from thieves. The two men are now leading semi-retired lives and go back to their ancestral home when they are free to drive their cares away. Returning to one’s place of origin is not just a habit of the elderly. Thirty-something Kenny used to go to his mother’s hometown (Zhongshan) with her to visit relatives as a child, and always thought that this was his ancestral home. It was not until he was in his 20s that he learnt that his roots originate in Taishan. His wife and mother-in-law (both of Shundenese descent), as well as his mother, all have their own ancestral residences, but why does he not? Consequently, he joined Hong Kong Federation of Tai Shan Association in hopes of finding his ancestral home. His family has lived in Hong Kong since his grandfather’s generation, with both Kenny and his father being born here. As his father lost interest in searching for his roots long ago, Kenny is tackling the task on his own. In a cruel twist of fate, he discovers that his grandfather had been using a fake name, making his already difficult search an even greater challenge. Will he be able to find his roots in the end? Everyone has an ancestral home. Whether it has withstood the ages or vanished without a trace, the search for it serves as a cure for homesickness.

Starting our journey from Shanghai, the eastern estuary of the Yangtze River, we visit the Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party located in the former French Concession, where the Communist Party was established in 1921, to explore the origins of our ancestors’ ideals. After passing through Qutang Gorge and travelling along the Wu River, the largest southern tributary in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, our presenter arrives in Guizhou. There, we climb Mount Fanjing, the highest peak of the Wuling Mountains and a Natural World Heritage Site, and also traverse Red Cloud Golden Peak, one of the summits in the mountain’s upper section. Continuing our tour of Guizhou, we drop by Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, a site related to the Red Army’s Long March, to look back at an important turning point in the history of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. We then head west to the upper reaches of the Yangtze to experience the local scenery and culture there.

Understanding the Law - Prevention of Bribery Ordinance

On June 12th last year, the controversial Fugitive Offenders amendment bill, better known as the extradition bill, was scheduled for a second reading in Legco. A general strike was called on the day. Thousands of protesters gathered outside the government complex to protest. At around three in the afternoon, police started dispersing the crowd, using more than 150 rounds of tear gas, beanbags and rubber bullets. It marked a turning point in the protests that, one year on, have not gone away. However the extradition bill has been shelved. But a high level of tension persists in the wake of the new national anthem law and the pending national security legislation, not forgetting the on-going Covid-19 pandemic. We talked to some Hongkongers to see how these issues have impacted them.