In the blink of an eye, it has been ten years since Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient, returned to the embrace of the motherland. Since this year coincides with the tenth year, there are a lot of reports about Hong Kong in the media. As a result, my thoughts were drawn back to ten years ago.
In 1997, I was still single. I have a day off on June 30th. Early in the morning, I went to buy enough food for three days, because I planned to stay in front of the TV for the next few days in order to watch Hong Kong return to the big family of the motherland. In such a day of national rejoicing, the food should certainly be improved. I remember I bought pig’s feet that I liked to eat. After making breakfast, I started watching TV programs about Hong Kong's return.
While watching TV, I also recorded the wonderful programs on the video recorder to watch them later. At about 11 o'clock in the evening, I searched all the TV stations that I could receive. It was found that except for one provincial station that broadcast a gala program celebrating the return of Hong Kong in the province, all other TV stations and all channels were broadcasting CCTV programs in parallel. This is the first time I have encountered this phenomenon.
When July 1st came, I heard the long and warm sound of firecrackers everywhere. I know that this is the people of Chengjiang celebrating the return of Hong Kong. Throughout the night, I watched TV. For a while, I fell asleep unconsciously while watching it. After waking up, I continued watching. During the day, I didn't even take a step out of the door. This is the first time for me to watch TV continuously for such a long time.
During the sleepless night welcoming Hong Kong’s return, my mind could not calm down. Many humiliating past events in China's modern history came to mind. The loss of power and national humiliation in the past made me filled with righteous indignation, but the return of Hong Kong to clear up the shame made me overjoyed. Years later, I expressed these emotions in several poems.
It is the honor of our generation to be able to witness with our own eyes the territory that had been occupied by foreign invaders for a century and a half and be re-incorporated into the territory of the motherland. July 1, 1997, was a day full of happiness in my life.