6 things mainlanders like to do in Hong Kong

Since Hong Kong returned to China on July 1, 1997 Hongkongers have gradually become indifferent, if not exactly welcoming, to the burgeoning number of mainland visitors and immigrants in Hong Kong, who have contributed so much to the city's GDP.

Mainlanders have long been regarded as Hong Kong’s favorite customers. They arrive in groups with empty suitcases and extended shopping lists. They go home with too many shopping bags to carry, maxed-out credit cards and a bunch of new Gucci, Prada and LV items.

Yes, Hongkongers would like to picture mainlanders that way. They tend to blame mainlanders for the stock shortage of milk powder, cosmetics and luxury goods, and the city’s increasing inflation rate.

Yet, at the same time, Hongkongers love mainlanders because they have a big part to play in keeping the city’s economy dynamic.

However, mainlanders have more on their agenda than just raiding shopping malls. Hong Kong has much more to offer -- and much more to gain -- from its northern neighbors.

1. Scouting 'banned books'

One of the good things about “One Country, Two Systems” is that Hong Kong enjoys freedom of speech and has full access to the Internet.

Mainlanders always make sure they take advantage of this while they are here. They log on Facebook and Twitter and watch videos on YouTube and take home books that are banned on the mainland for their sensitive content.

An online group called Hong Kong Bookworm on www.douban.com, a Chinese social networking website, encourages users to share their taste for movies, music, books, and more. Users also post wanted booklists and look for people travelling to Hong Kong to bring the books back for them.

Popular books are mainly about certain periods of Chinese history -- the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square massacre; tomes on Chinese leaders and their motives behind certain political acts are also popular.

Douban users also search for works of exiled writers such as Nobel literature laureate Gao Xingjian (高行健).

In fact, earlier this month, some of the mainland-banned books, including "China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao" (中國影帝溫家寶) and a memoir of veteran mainland Aids activist Dr. Gao Yaojie (高耀潔), were among 22 shortlisted for the fourth annual Hong Kong Book Prize, organized by RTHK and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Organizers said there were more political publications in this year’s list to help information flow to the mainland. Just beware of the customs checks.

2. Delivering babies

A Hong Kong identification document is considered as good as a passport to the rest of the world by many mainland parents.

In the planned upbringing for their children, which includes bilingual education, learning to play the piano, and a global career, a Hong Kong ID is the key.

For other mainland mums and dads, it is simply a way to get around the One-Child Policy.

Either way, mainlanders come to Hong Kong via various maternity service agencies scattered across China, but mostly in Guangdong province. Or they come by themselves, booking a spot several months ahead at a hospital and travelling back and forth two or three times for check-ups before they eventually hear the baby cry.

It is not too much hassle because agencies will provide spacious and clean accommodation in family hotels near the hospitals. Parents don’t even have to queue in the Immigration Office to get a birth certificate for their baby -– more than enough local “errand runners” are waiting outside the delivery room.

Of course, they charge a few hundred Hong Kong dollars, but compared with around HK$150,000 that parents have to spend for the entire process, this is nothing.

Government statistics state that out of the 88,000 babies born in the city in 2010, about 47 percent came from mainland mothers. In 2001, the figure was only 16 percent.

Even though the Hospital Authority announced at the end of last month that no more mainland mothers-to-be will be allowed to arrange maternity services for the rest of the year, the doors to private hospitals are still open -- at a premium price.

But the mainland nouveau riche do not care.

3. Pursuing a career in showbiz

Mainland faces are not rare in Hong Kong’s entertainment scene. In fact, they are quite popular. Faye Wong (王菲), one of the most successful singers in Greater China, was born and raised in Beijing until she went to high school.

Leon Lai Ming (黎明) -- actor,  singer and one of Cantopop's Four Heavenly Kings in the 1990s -- is also from Beijing, while Raymond Lam Fung (林峯) (now TVB’s top actor, was originally from Xiamen, Fujian.)

The list of mainland-born celebrities is endless. The most recent cases involve Tang Wei (湯唯), the Chinese actress whose fame came along with controversy after her explicit scenes in Ann Lee (李安)’s movie "Lust, Caution" (色，戒) and Liu Xuan (劉璇), former Chinese gymnast and Olympic gold medalist. Both of them decided to get Hong Kong citizenship.

Tang starred in her first Hong Kong movie "Crossing Hennessy" last year, after a three-year career break the role in "Lust, Caution" has cost her. Now she has become one of the new China Faces in the international film scene and frequently appears on magazine covers.

Liu, on the other hand, has already been a TV hostess and singer on the mainland already before she came to Hong Kong to explore more acting opportunities. Now she is a regular on TVB dramas.

Such success stories are indeed an inspiration for young mainlanders, especially when it is much easier to cross the border nowadays.

Mainland beauties nabbed three Miss Asia Crowns in the last five years. In ATV’s Asian Millionstar, a show that aims to discover beautiful and marketable voices, mainlanders were always on the top five.

Winning contests is just the start of a show biz career. But local youngsters who dream of fame should be aware of tough competition from their mainland counterparts, even if said competition has less than perfect Cantonese.