Hongkong

​I never dream of Hong Kong in my dreams. But it inevitably became a place I miss, not a city, just a place. When we talk about longing, it also means that this thing is no longer there, or to some extent, it has died. Just as M, after a long period of love, suspicion, and dependence, learned that his girlfriend's death was a fiction, but he no longer cared about it. After the telephone was invented in Paris, the telegraph was forgotten.

It was a very vast sea, and it was a rare azure blue, so that when I was a child, I thought it was the result of artificial intervention. I never thought that I could witness such a sea. Like the Sheung Wan Ferry Pier, the ferry to Cheung Chau. Or, the more bumpy and tortuous journey from Taitung to Green Island. In the past, I had no interest in Hong Kong, including Cantonese. When I was a teenager, I rarely watched Cantonese movies (not many Hong Kong movies, such as the Happy Ghost series, are also dubbed in Mandarin), and I never watched "Young and Dangerous", and I didn't understand the difference between Andy Lau, Liming, and Tony Leung. I don't like Cantonese very much, the only Cantonese I like is the Cantonese of my little airport. A few years ago, when the boss of the company introduced me to each other, he introduced me to a colleague who had just arrived (studying in Hong Kong) and said that I had some understanding of Hong Kong's "politics". I immediately shook my head almost reflexively, expressing that I didn't understand. Since I stopped watching "Southern Weekend", I don't care much about everything in China. I know it's a bit of a self-deception, but there is no way, everyone must have a way to continue to live . Much later I read Deleuze's book, and he said that in some situations people desire a "movement from the territory". This is a literature of the underdog. So, in 2017, I don't care about Hong Kong, I feel indifferent and amused about the seats in the Legislative Council. Here, for me, represents the lucky strike of the duty-free shop, the taste of blueberries every two minutes. It represents dense high-rise buildings, bustling streets, a more international, freer travel destination where banknotes can be used. A hot and humid place, a row of flamingo birds in the park, a market in Sai Wan Ho where the cheapest canned drinks are sold, a salesman in the H Queen's building thought that I would also be a young collector and handed out a business card, attentive conversation, A small southern island that is far more air-conditioned than Taiwan. I come here these days just looking for an iced latte.

In 2018, I came here to see a certain rock singer's concert. The day before, my sister asked me to meet at a shopping mall near Shenzhen. My sister said that since the exchange rate became high, she seldom came to Hong Kong for shopping. My sister treated me to delicious Japanese ramen. My sister also told me that she believes that people should be put under control. After finishing speaking, my sister smiled embarrassedly and said that she was a conspiracy theorist, which is probably such a word. I was sitting in the concert hall (maybe), listening to the elderly singer start to sing, and I suddenly remembered these words my sister said to me.

During that time, my life began to change. I resigned from the company and barely knew any media editors. I wanted to make a living by writing articles. A few months later, I decided to move from Shanghai to Beijing. During the New Year, I stayed at home in Wuhan for almost a month, occasionally visiting my grandpa who was in the hospital. A few months later, Grandpa passed away.

I went to my grandpa's funeral.

In early summer in Beijing, the sun is shining brightly. I often go to a coffee shop​, looking for topics that can be submitted, or writing these things. I want to go a little further. In addition, I often stare at the computer screen, which shows the real-time live broadcast of six media outlets, people pouring into the street, water horses, shouts, and shaking cameras. Not obsessed, not with much attitude, but still can't stop watching it. Because I also take it for granted, there was one in 2014, but this was the first time I watched a live broadcast, right next to the computer, in a chain coffee shop in Beijing, in my ignorant life in a foreign land. It seems that I have no way out, but I feel fresh about everything.

I didn't think it was still happening until October, when, feeling more and more indebted, I submitted a resume to a magazine. Soon, I entered the trial draft, and I planned to write a story about Shanghai, so I went to Shanghai, like a kind of bet. In order to make it smoother, I plan to be more active after finishing writing, and go to Guangzhou to meet the editor of the column. (In the end, we didn't meet, but I ended up getting the job.) During the few days to Shanghai, the southern island became more boiling, like dynamite about to ignite the fuse. After the interview, I decided to go there. On October 5, I flew from Shanghai Hongqiao to Hong Kong. I posted a Moments, and many people were surprised why I went there at this time. It was only when I was heading to the airport that I realized my computer charger was missing. This allowed me to get out of Hong Kong faster, but also left me with just nothing to do. If I remember correctly, there was nothing unusual on the flight that day. One of the two girlfriends sitting at my lead table was flipping through Dai Jianyong's photo album "Zhu Fengjuan". This was also Shanghai at that time. It was so close to the outside world, but I didn’t think so at the time. I thought that the distance between Shanghai and other places was just a plane ticket.

Hongkong!​

The entire Hong Kong airport is in a state of panic.​I hate panic, I hate queuing, the airport bus is crowded with people, and no one leaves for dozens of minutes. I have forgotten how I entered the urban area, many roads were blocked, we have to learn to wait patiently again. But this is where I want to be and think I should be. I stayed in a high-rise youth hostel in Yau Ma Tei. (At the time) it was very cheap and clean, and I could see the movement on the street from the window. There are not many people living there, one Japanese, three Chinese (including me), I had a friendly and simple exchange with the Japanese, and soon became some kind of translator, he was very embarrassed to tell me, can you tell me The Chinese shopkeeper, don't wear his slippers. He looked a little embarrassed, but also a little unbelievable. I did. But I didn't feel/express sorry for that person (just because we are one country? Am I going to be ashamed of what someone else did?). I can't help but I am very interested in why they are coming to Hong Kong at this time. He was polite, a single-lidded boy in his early twenties, he told me, from Osaka. I couldn't help thinking that the news has said many times recently that Osaka has suffered from a long period of extremely high temperature, and it may be to escape the heat. (After that, we didn't talk too much, I don't know if he came for sightseeing, or also wanted to witness what happened before his eyes). After the Japanese left, the Chinese told me that they came to play because it was cheap at this time, but they didn't think it was too messy outside, so they just stayed in the dormitory and didn't go out.

That night, I went out in my slippers, staring at a real-time map software that can help people escape and assemble better. First of all, I ate a bowl of beef noodles (or rice), and then walked to Shanghai Street. It didn't take long to see a small group of people waving different flags and making noises.

Hongkong!​

Maybe it was them who started to occupy the crossroads. I didn’t expect such a small number of people to complete the short-term occupation​. Before that, a middle-aged woman walked past the teenagers, and she complained several times in dissatisfaction. The teenagers yelled at her, and several of them tried to follow her. This was regarded as a threat, which meant that those who opposed could be privatized. But "private" is nothing more than a random kind of good or evil.

Occupation is done slowly with wooden strips, one piece after another. Before the building is built, there is still a way to go. When I see a car passing the intersection, the driver will say "5" to the teenagers, maybe it means, thank you, thank you, my own, I will pass first. On the road, a preliminary barricade was finally formed. I pointed at a young man and wanted to take a picture with his mobile phone. He nodded to me. What impressed me deeply was that at this time a car wanted to pass, and I heard the sound of wood being crushed. At this time, the crowd cheered. I saw clearly that the car stopped obviously, presumably The driver felt scared, but it was difficult to back up. A few seconds later, it suddenly accelerated forward, and a teenager ran towards the car, trying to open the rear door. After that, no more cars drove by until the police came again and cleared the area again.

I also remember that the subway in Mongkok was closed and it had just been vandalized. I walked in, and there were water leaks in many places in the underground passage, and there were obvious marks of smashing. When I was about to go out, two brave boys came to me with sticks and gas masks. They were tall, thin but powerful, very young people. I panicked briefly because I don't speak Cantonese. But they didn't ask me what I was going to do when I came in, and I didn't ask them anything, so I came to the corner again.

Sometimes, people who wear masks immediately become citizens, and citizens quickly become people who wear masks. I saw the police force assembled in the distance, many, many people, many, many cars, and an arrest was about to begin. At this time, many citizens surrounded the police team who were about to take action, and I was also watching. The police raised the X flag (I forgot the color) and asked people to leave. The citizens were unmoved. At this time, a female policeman, holding a DV, filmed the rows of people as if on a sliding track. The citizens were unmoved.

I've seen it several times, they run towards the crowd, and people run back, in different directions.

Hongkong!​

One afternoon, I went to Ryefield Bookstore on Hong Kong Island. When I was leaving, the silver-haired elderly woman standing on the cash register suddenly said to me: Young man, come on. I didn't tell her: Ah, I'm not them. The girl is the revolutionary ランラランラーン薬もやららない男も知らない闘攻だけがあいつののででもはもはいいつももはくいいいいいいて

(​I didn’t get a power cord in Hong Kong. Finally, I finished my trial draft at Pacific Coffee in Mayflower Plaza in Guangzhou. That story is about a certain disappearance of Shanghai. ​Take the high-speed train from West Kowloon Guangzhou, it’s really fast, it’s still 2019, 2019 that can’t be copied and lost forever.)

Another afternoon,​I went to the Preface bookstore, sat on the window sill, and looked outside. This place looks like the twentieth century. When I came down, it rained quickly and wet the extra magazines I bought in my schoolbag. I stood on the high platform at the lane dividing line, and many people walked past me, and I kept watching, people walked forward. One of them turned around and asked me several times, do you want to go together? But I didn't. I wanted to take a look again. There were more and more people, and there seemed to be no end.

Suddenly, I felt as if the rain had stopped. For a few minutes, I was still standing on the high platform of the dividing line, watching the crowd pass by me. Only then did I realize that there was a young man standing beside me holding an umbrella. He didn't say anything.