If a Han Chinese considers Xinjiang beyond the pale, imagine Prada-clad Hong Kong Man. The best each delegation of the nine provinces absent from the itinerary could afford was a scarce 20 minutes to pass their begging bowl among the Hon Kong tycoons clustered inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. It was as superficial an exposure to mighty Hong Kong power as that of the average Chinese citizen. For these masses, living in the hinterland, the only perception of Hong Kong is filtered through pop culture - movies, soap operas and hit songs. It is easy to spot the Hong Kong skyline on the walls of any Chinese shop in Xian or Chengdu.
People think it is a very wealthy place - although they've never been there.
Some think it is in Kowloon. It is also no wonder the carefully-planned itinerary excludes Tibet which has been sinicized by brute force. The capital Lhasa is booming with poor, unskilled workers from Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan - Han Chinese who have much better job opportunities than local Tibetans. Poor families, under the scheme, at least in theory, will be fully involved, and not only in receiving handouts from Beijing. It is impossible to know whether this program will benefit Tibetan families, or only Han Chinese.