Hong-Kong:
There was an instant click for Zero Chan when she first set foot on Peng Chau Island, a short ferry ride from Hong Kong’s central business district, at a time when she was feeling burned out and recovering from illness.
“When I take the ferry back, it’s like a cleansing ritual,” the former film producer told Reuters. “I can fall asleep, read or do my own thing on the ferry. I already feel recharged.”
The island offers a valuable middle ground for some like Chan, who are trying to leave behind the stresses created by events such as pro-democracy protests in 2019, a national security crackdown that followed, and more recently, strict containment of COVID-19.
These changes have reshaped life in the global financial center, prompting hundreds of thousands to move to Britain, Canada and Taiwan, but Chan has stayed.
“At a time when many say Hong Kong isn’t the same as before, I feel the need to stay, to see what I can do,” says Chan, who runs a yoga and meditation studio at her home on the island. . , after that first visit in 2020.
Her clients are a wealth of housewives, office workers and retirees. Every morning she eats breakfast and drinks tea at a white cast iron table overlooking the sea, collecting her thoughts for the day.
“People need space, but there is so much noise in the city,” added the 36-year-old Buddhism and Zen adherent. “I’m very happy now.”
Some experts say a growing trend of alternative communities could be linked to episodes of protest in 2014 and 2019 that horrified China’s increasing hold on the former British colony.
“These social events are important catalysts,” said Ng Mee-kam, a professor of urban studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
“Given all these changes, all these tensions and all these conflicts, I think it’s inevitable that people of all generations need to think about what’s going on and what life means.”
Newcomers drawn to an idyllic lifestyle and low rents in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets rejuvenate Peng Chau, reversing an exodus in the 1970s when fortunes waned in the area, once home to Hong Kong’s largest match factory.
Many derelict village houses have been renovated and abandoned concrete enclosures such as the Fook Yuen leather factory have been converted into a “secret garden” art space with graffiti and installation works.
In addition to traditional Chinese temples, family-run shops and diners, cafes, boutiques and an independent bookshop have sprung up.
“My woodworking teacher recently came to visit,” said Jesse Yu, who moved to the island to pursue the dream of becoming a carpenter.
“He was quite surprised and asked me if we young people can really survive dreams,” added Yu, whose workshop, hidden behind a bed in his studio, is about 9.3 square meters, or just big enough. for two people to stand in.
“My dream is just a wall away from me,” adds Yu, who works freelance in corporate communications and sometimes goes kayaking with a close friend, Chan.
“I like working with wood because of the freedom.”
But despite a growing trend of seeking quieter lifestyles on islands and villages in the rural New Territories, such spaces are under threat from major new development projects, said Ng, the academic.
“The boundaries for the younger generation to have the space to explore these alternative lifestyles are diminishing, so I think we as a society have to be very careful,” he added.
Taki Chan, a university lecturer who moved to the island this year, praises his close-knit sense of community.
She quickly befriended a group of women she’d met on a hike after the experience cheered her up enough to swim with, despite feeling unwell.
“After moving to Peng Chau, I realized I don’t need to emigrate anymore,” Chan said.
“There are many resources here to rejuvenate you, the people, the natural and peaceful environment.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
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