The COVID-19 news in the U.S. continues to go from bad to worse, so I turned off the television and instead read some of my favorite foreign periodicals. This evening I was reading articles on the South China Morning Post and a lot of the focus is on the passage of the national security law upholding the one country, two systems policy of China towards Hong Kong. I find the history of this city fascinating and the result of colonization has blended cultures like no other place on earth. Its heritage is as much British as it is Chinese. I won’t make a political statement as to what I think is best for Hong Kong, but I just hope that China sees beauty in the uniqueness of Hong Kong cherishes it.

On a more positive note, there was a nice article about writer Agnes Chee finding Hong Kong’s gourmet scene exciting and intriguing. It talks about how Cantonese cuisine is starting to show new twists by incorporating Western delicacies, her love of Dim Sum, making mooncakes with her family, and how even the most seemingly simple dishes are quite labor intensive. She works with local chef’s to document and preserve Cantonese dishes that are becoming less common due to the amount of work they take to make, such as one where a chicken is first debones, then stuffed with a bird’s nest, and finally inserted inside a pig’s stomach before boiling for hours to create a delicious soup.