Hong Kong

BEIJING - "Beijing power struggle heralds end of China Communist Party," screams one headline. More sensational headlines purport to reveal how the wife of recently sacked Politburo member Bo Xilai poisoned an Englishman, who may have been her lover. And if that weren't enough, other stories claim that "Bo planned airline crash" and "slept with more than 100 women. " It's payback time for Chinese exiles, especially those with a printing press, television station or just a computer at their disposal.

China Daily, the largest English-language newspaper in China, carried a front-page headline last week: "Village Gratitude Shows Integrity of Task. " Not clear what that's about, and the opening sentence isn't much help: "On a hot afternoon, Zhou Yi picked up a bag of freshly boiled eggs that had been left on the doorstep of the committee office in Chaqulak village in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. " I figured this must be some feel-good story about the noble, uncorrupted country folk taking care of the less fortunate in their midst.

About 100,000 people jammed the neon-lighted, rainy streets of Hong Kong on Wednesday for a fifth straight day to support the pro-democracy movement in China. Students, teachers, workers and clerks marched through Causeway Bay, a major shopping district. The marchers paralyzed traffic for two hours, chanting "Support Beijing students!"

I just read Scott Kraft's article ["Looking Up, Up, Up in Hong Kong," May 6]. I lived in Hong Kong from the mid-1970s to 1980, and his article refreshed my memory. Hong Kong is one location that changes ever so quickly. I can only imagine what it must look like today - much, much more of what I loved, adored and encountered in my past living experience. I would suggest another film, "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," as parts of it were filmed in Hong Kong. Jennifer Jones and William Holden - a very touching story set in a dramatic time to come.

Not long ago, those who predicted that China's economy was headed for a fall were in a lonely place. U.S. economist Nouriel Roubini, widely praised for calling the U.S. housing meltdown, was dismissed as a serial contrarian when it came to his pessimistic China views. So was well-known hedge fund manager Jim Chanos. Lawyer and author Gordon Chang was derided as a Chicken Little for his 2006 book "The Coming Collapse of China. " Suddenly they're all Nostradamus. Backed by data showing a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy, doomsayers have taken center stage.

David Joyce marched his way to the front of the U.S. immigration line using his pocketbook, sinking half a million dollars into a Vermont ski resort. The British citizen had spent years in a futile effort to secure green cards for himself, his wife and their 9-year-old son so they could relocate to sunny Florida. Then, a fellow emigre tipped him off to a little-known federal program that helps foreigners gain permanent U.S. residency by investing in American businesses. Graphic: Number of investors' visas to U.S. "In six months, we had our green cards," said Joyce, 51. "Considering everything we've been through, this was easy.

In Hong Kong, you can design your own dinnerware--soup bowls to nut dishes--and emblazon it with your astrological sign, your initials or a hastily researched family crest. You can strew it with your favorite flowers, adorn it with doodles or simply match it to the dining room draperies.

Thousands of Hong Kong residents marched to the Chinese government's liaison office on Friday demanding that Beijing grant full democracy to the semiautonomous financial hub. Chanting "One man, one vote to choose our leader!" and clutching signs reading "Democracy now," the demonstrators set off from a crowded street in the heart of the central financial district. Some held aloft portraits of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, demanding his release after he was sentenced last week to 11 years on subversion charges.

BEIJING -- China's National Tourism Administration has issued an advisory on travel to Hong Kong after a video of mainland tourists being insulted and "forced to shop" by a Hong Kong tour guide sparked outrage on the Internet. A former British colony, Hong Kong attracts hordes of Chinese tourists, many of them on shopping trips for luxury or brand-name goods that are more expensive on the mainland. "An undated video clip currently circulating on the Internet shows a Hong Kong tour guide allegedly abusing a group of visitors from the Chinese mainland and forcing them to shop, triggering a backlash from the mainland public," the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

Hong Kong - India has the Taj Mahal. In France, of course, it's the Eiffel Tower. Russia has Red Square and South Africa has Cape Town's Table Mountain. Each a treasure, and each reason enough for a pilgrimage. In Hong Kong, the sight to see is not a single monument or even a majestic natural vista. It is the city's glittering homage to the modern skyscraper - a breathtaking skyline with verdant Victoria Peak as the picture-postcard backdrop. Still, when I arrived in Hong Kong for a long weekend last May, I was a bit worried that my first visit to the city of 7 million would be a disappointment.

If you go WHERE TO STAY The luxury Harbour Grand Hotel, 23 Oil St., North Point; (852) 2121-2616, http://www.harbourgrand.com . Away from the bustle of the shopping and business district, but alongside the Fortress Hill subway stop, making it easy to reach hikes. Doubles from $178. Harbour Plaza 8 Degrees Hotel, 199 Kowloon City Road, Tokwawan, Kowloon; (852) 2126-1988, http://www.harbour-plaza.com/en/home.aspx?hotel_id=hp8d§ion_id=home&subsection_id=overview.

If you go THE BEST WAY TO HONG KONG From LAX, Cathay Pacific offers nonstop service to Hong Kong, and Air China, United, China Airlines, Asiana, All Nippon, Korean, Delta and China Eastern offer connecting service (change of plane). Restricted round-trip fares range from $890 to $1,252, including taxes, fees and fuel surcharges. TELEPHONES To call the numbers below from the U.S., dial 011 (the international dialing code), 852 (the code for Hong Kong)

Hong Kong - India has the Taj Mahal. In France, of course, it's the Eiffel Tower. Russia has Red Square and South Africa has Cape Town's Table Mountain. Each a treasure, and each reason enough for a pilgrimage. In Hong Kong, the sight to see is not a single monument or even a majestic natural vista. It is the city's glittering homage to the modern skyscraper - a breathtaking skyline with verdant Victoria Peak as the picture-postcard backdrop. Still, when I arrived in Hong Kong for a long weekend last May, I was a bit worried that my first visit to the city of 7 million would be a disappointment.

Birds twitter and sunshine twinkles through groves of bamboo and banyan trees adorned with cascades of orchids. With every step, my Vibram boot soles crush hibiscus blossoms littering a pathway, while butterflies flutter around a group of elderly folks welcoming the morning with the gracious silent semaphore of tai chi. At a clearing where remnants of a World War ll gun emplacement rust, half-swallowed in greenery, an opening in the jungle reveals...

--London has overtaken Dubai as the world's prime shopping destination, according to a new report. The British capital attracts the most retail brands among all the great shopping cities around the globe, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE. Last year, London and Dubai tied for first place and beat out shopping hot spots such as New York, Hong Kong and Paris. CBRE said London draws about 56% of all international brands, with Dubai close behind at 54%. In third place is New York, followed by Moscow, Paris and Hong Kong.

HUIZHOU, China — Tony Zhang used to make cents on the dollar churning out cheap sneakers for Wal-Mart. And like every other low-margin exporter in China's manufacturing heartland, he was struggling to keep pace with rising costs for labor and raw materials. Rather than run his business into the ground with ever-shrinking profits, the Taiwan-born Zhang decided to upgrade his operations. His factory just outside Shenzhen now makes specialty footwear, including fire retardant boots, steel-toed shoes and soccer cleats.

China calling? You can get a round-trip fare from LAX to Hong Kong on Air China for $690 that includes all taxes and fees. It is subject to availability, and the windows for travel are limited: Jan. 21 to 25, Feb. 17 to 19 and Feb. 20 to 28. For more information: Air China, (800) 882-8122, http://us.fly-airchina.com . Source: Airfarewatchdog.com

I just read Scott Kraft's article ["Looking Up, Up, Up in Hong Kong," May 6]. I lived in Hong Kong from the mid-1970s to 1980, and his article refreshed my memory. Hong Kong is one location that changes ever so quickly. I can only imagine what it must look like today - much, much more of what I loved, adored and encountered in my past living experience. I would suggest another film, "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," as parts of it were filmed in Hong Kong. Jennifer Jones and William Holden - a very touching story set in a dramatic time to come.

HONG KONG - A few days ago, an art professor from northern China named Li Xu was in a small Beijing gallery in the shadow of Tiananmen Square explaining the unlikely inspiration for one of his paintings: the $2.7-billion blockbuster "Avatar. " After the 34-year-old finally caught the film last year (it first opened in China in early 2010), Li wanted to see if he could marry the serenity he felt infused "Avatar"with the aesthetic of traditional Chinese painting, his primary medium.

Unlike Cannes or Sundance, whose film festivals and their constellation of stars overtake their host cities, nothing overtakes the bristling bustle of Hong Kong, not even the 36th annual Hong Kong International Film Festival, which opens here Wednesday. At the festival headquarters Tuesday in the Hong Kong Cultural Center in Kowloon, film fans grabbed festival programs and queued up for tickets – even as about 500 school kids shuttled into the complex for an orchestral program.