Today is the 60th anniversary of modern China and it is a holiday. Sixty years ago Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the beginning of the People's Republic of China. In 1997 Hong Kong was handed back to China. Today they proclain One country, two systems, which means that Hong Kong can still be a capitalist powerhouse and decide its own internal affairs while still being part of the great republic. This supposed contradiction is quite typical of this place. We took the kids for a walk to our local park and it was full of people celebrating. The centrepiece of this was an American style marching band, peopled by hundreds of school kids (actually all girls) sweating away in these ornate uniforms. Now is it just me, but does it seem ironic that these people are celebrating a communist victory in a territory, still capitalist, once owned by Britain, with a traditionally Americain parade?
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