The article explores various features of different kinds of architecture in Hong Kong and indicates the worrying fact that historical buildings, especially those belonging to colonial space have been disappearing for decades and will probably continue disappearing in the future. This inevitable disappearance apparently ignites a discussion on what exactly the identity of Hong Kong is.
In fact, I found it is worthy to ponder the own identity of Hong Kong, which, in Ackbar Abbas’s view, is extremely difficult to be defined or found, since Hong Kong has been in the middle of two ‘coloniality’, namely Britain’s and China’s, as he stated in the article(Ackbar Abbas,1997). In other words, Hong Kong had been immersed in British culture for a hundred years; suddenly, Chinese culture and values entered Hong Kong after 1997. It is nearly impossible to establish an identity that only belongs to Hong Kong. However, in my perspective, this problematic situation can be viewed in a completely different way: it is this unprecedented historical situation that perhaps create the new identity of Hong Kong. This unique identity of Hong Kong is the perfect integration of Chinese and Western culture, which can only be realized in this specific place. In Hong Kong, there is historical Chinese architecture built in the Qing dynasty as well as colonial-style buildings left by the British; the Flagstaff House, a typical British architecture, is being used as a Chinses teaware museum; the two most extraordinary buildings, specifically the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank and the Bank of China Tower, were constructed by the British architect and Chinese architect respectively. In fact, there is a lot of evidence, especially referring to the architecture in Hong Kong, that supports its new identity, showing an unprecedentedly intriguing integration of two entirely different cultures in the same space. Besides, it is this new identity that highly increases Hong Kong’s receptivity to architecture styles, from Chinese-type buildings to colonial ones, which makes Hong Kong stand out from other Asian cities like Taiwan, whose architecture mainly has the image of Chinese identity.
To conclude, there is only one Hong Kong around the world with its unique identity, where Chinese culture and British culture fuse naturally and perfectly. Indeed, Hong Kong is regarded as an indispensable bridge between western countries and China. Thanks to this bridge, western countries know more about China and China understands more western culture simultaneously.
Lin Ruqi 3035951739
I appreciate how you flip the perspective of understanding Hong Kong’s culture. In fact I do feel that Abbas is not that pessimistic about disappearance. Perhaps that is why he names the phenomenon ‘the culture of disappearance’, meaning disappearance itself is worth to be understood as a culture and way to look at Hong Kong, just like how you described it.