Hong Kong can be the best and the worst place to be. People spend their entire lives on boats, never knowing what it feels like to live on land. The land is crowded. The Chinese are used to living five, eight, or more in one tiny room. Enormous quantities of the goods sold in Hong Kong are from the mainland, which may be one of the reasons why Hong Kong, unlike Taiwan, seems unworried about the giant next door.
China needs the outlet.
Hong Kong's water supply comes from the mainland. Much of the food comes from there. That border between Hong Kong and China, so impervious to us, is totally open to the local people. And the border is opening to us, too. One week after we left, a new program opened up allowing Americans to spend a five-day weekend in Canton.