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Show DAILY THE mmii CHRONICLE UTAH M ,e A8' pa "" "L"J"" j j l I i;; I vc. j . .nr . " j H ' l urn in, ' . 4 , i,.,- "4 . 1 - .11 :;,;n sff , V r. 14 1 'if 1 1 a c j r i, If J ru ft j fM-r- t. W v I ' , L.n hj f j ii kv I; wwiwwr-r-r--?y- i. A p iff l I I 1 I i - , ?j I m i ' in. J ' 1 f V. v--; J JY, ;t , r-- - y i . .,..3- - -- T Mtr "f ...1:: ..... 1 - - HIi;!;-5f- r; a ... Ji j f f- M I u - nu i. i . F3' Y l- .. ; ' ii- - : . a i' lm - w : 11, iM n i i ?r r lf H i VL' w 1 -- i Jim, ' ,J - ii , I- i 4 - " f , I V I v 4 Guangzhou's canopy of street signs resembles the concrete jungle of Hong Kong. The Bustling Chinese Province Is in a.Constant State of Flux Photos and Story by Alex Lee Chronicle Feature Writer GUAN GDONG JjpTGuansxhouN Right next to the busiest Daoist temple in apartHong Kong are a cluster of new 40-sto- ry ment buildings. There's nothing special about these high-rise- s except that they are built on what used to be my old neighborhood. Minus the temple, nothing here resembles the environment that surrounded me during my childhood. Not the new roads, parks, shopping mall or subway station. It's a loss for me, but that's just the facts of life here in Hong Kong. The new replaces the old continually to make life easier for the dense population in this city, which consists of a small island and peninsula. The 7 million residents accept changes in stride as evident by the latest technology and fashion that fill the streets of Hong Kong. The pace of change is even more dramatic at neighboring Guangdong province in China. The region encompasses the booming metropolitan centers Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Construction cranes and scaffoldings cover the skylines of these cities. The air is choked by exhaust fumes of the endless streams of cars, buses and motorcycles. The residents, with their increasing wealth, fill the modern shopping malls and restaurants that line the streets. Accessible through the coast of the South China Sea, Guangdong had more than its share of foreign contact during Chinese history. The bulk of foreign trade with Europe and the Middle East came through Guangdong, and consequently, much of Chinese influence abroad originated from this area. The province also included Hong Kong until it was ceded to the British after the Opium War. Guangdong's principle city is Guangzhou, or Canton, the Latinized version of the name. Anything pertaining to the area has subsequently been called Cantonese. A large number of people in the area emigrated to the West, bringing with them their Cantonese cuisines that are now so familiar to people around the world. Their dialect of Chinese, Cantonese, is also the com mon tongue on the streets of Chinatown. This is my fourth time back to Hong Kong and second to the Guangdong province since my family moved to the United States. It always amazed me that I used to live in Hong Kong because it is so far away from Utah, geographi- time to be alone would drive many of us mad. However, as Hong Kong became more developed, living conditions have improved. Gone are the shantytowns. Most homes now have all the amenities of the West. Hong Kong has one of the best systems in the world. New tertiary institutions here offer more opportunities for higher education. People seem more pleasant and sophisticated now. It's even becoming unfashionable to haggle prices at the street mass-transportati- on cally and culturally. For visitors, especially those used to the spacious suburbs, Hong Kong is a living to the city that has pushed limit. While our cities sprawl outward, Hong Kong piles it on vertically. The cityscape is a high-densi- ty markets. spectacular realization of the term concrete junbuses roll under canopies of gle. Double-deckneon street signs between canyons of skyscrapers. The streets are crowded throughout the day and late into the night. It's Times Squares at every corner. It's amazing how well Hong Kong residents cope with it all. The lack of green space and Hong Kong has been closely watched by the world as Britain handed it back to China in 1997. The long negotiations between the two countries have led the Chinese government to designate Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region, leaving the economic and legal system er mR. -- V. 1 r I P a -- v w t see GUANGDONG, page 6 rC 1 f, IT .... H y , j fit 1 .... .4 r 1 (Vi Farmers and shoppers gather at a street market in a small village in Guangdong province. CHRONICLE FEATURE EDITOR WYNNE PARRY WPARRYCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU 581-704- 1 |