Cinematic Imagination of Border-Crossing in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta: Comrades, Almost a Love Story and Durian, Durian
Journal
East Asian Cinemas
Pages
170--188
Date Issued
2011
Author(s)
Abstract
Recent years have seen Hong Kong undergo a process of regionalization. Integration with the Pearl River Delta (PRD) to become a mega global city-region is placed high on both the political and economic agenda for Hong Kong’s development in the twenty-first century.1 For a long time, the relationship between Hong Kong and the PRD was defined largely in economic terms, that is, the dominant mode of “front shop, back factory” referring to a partnership based on comparative advantages. Yet the 1990s witnessed a dramatic change in dynamics. It was a time when Hong Kong met unprecedented challenges, including the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, deep economic recessions, SARS, and a high unemployment rate. On top of these socio-economic blows, the return to China, its ever-stronger presence in the global economy, and the increasing intra-regional urban competition with such neighboring cities as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Singapore, all contributed to motivating Hong Kong to reposition and redefine itself in relation to China, and particularly to the PRD. Integration with the PRD is loudly voiced by official and private promoters alike. For example, The Better Hong Kong Foundation, a nonprofit organization with political affiliations, urges Hong Kong to locate itself less as the gateway or mediator than the commercial hub of the PanPearl River Delta (Yeung 2003, page vii, emphasis added).
Type
other