Originally Posted by
Happy
... Hmmm, for many the qualify of life is far better overseas... There is hardly any hardship whether it is cultural or ethnic related, not to us anyway. May be not as much financial gain if one counts the housing value - but then the "wealth" created by the expensive housing costs in HKG actually is more a "prison" to us - for you could not turn that into spendable cash because you have to live in it (unless you have several flats for rental income or buy/sell purposes). The general flats ordinary folks live in are so tiny in footage that there is no comparison to those far more affordable lodging options overseas. And let's not forget the pollution of air, noise, overcrowded condition, etc etc Many of us who chose to live overseas DONT have any desire to return to HKG to live long term. Visiting is fine, especially when one still has family members there, it is even an obligation to return for visiting every now and then, but not for returning for good.
You are in the minority. All those who felt they were "forced" out of HK to live abroad for 3-5 yrs fell differently about having to live outside HK. These are the same people who will get sick if they don't get a plate of Char Shui rice every couple of days (HK 1980's joke). There are even a few HK movie made about suffering in the "immigration prison" of living in Canada or US.
Originally Posted by
Happy
For us, we just want to see certain parts of the China that the sites of ancient history are still relatively intact... After all if we can travel all around the world to see the Greek and Roman ruins, Celtic ruins, even the Mayan, Inca and Aztec ruins, why not we come see our own ancient sites for whatever that is still there?
Yes, many Important Chinese historical and scenic site are on my wish list that I tack on extra days when I am in PRC. All the other historical site are nice but there is something special about a site with attachment to your roots
Originally Posted by
Happy
To us, getting the other documents is not for a shorter line to enter China - it would allow us to directly fly into China instead of having to go through HKG due to Chinese government's odd restrictions in Visa applications which can only be submitted to the Consulate that has jurisdiction over your state. For example there are 7 states in SE of US, including Florida, that is under Houston's jurisdiction. So even if we are in SFO, DC, or LAX etc in person, we could NOT apply our Chinese Visa there - Houston is our ONLY place where we could apply our Visa "in person" which can be "represented" by an authorized Travel Agency's employee... Talk about stupidity... Or may be that is just a reflection or extension of the Population Control of the Chinese government.
It is an income source as the desire to travel to PRC is high now that many of the city have world class travel accommodations. I think it is just a supply and demand.
However I am not personally ruling out the extra cost of a visa and the hoops one has to jump through vs the cost and the convenience of a home return permit give the government more clout in dealing with overseas ethnic Chinese by enticing them to declare themselves as Citizen of HK and PRC by SAR.