Tai O with Hasselblad

A short trip to Tai O fishing village in Hong Kong.

Saturday afternoon and we had not much to do. After lunch we decided to go to Tai O, which is around 80 km from Macau.

Driving my car, we cross the border heading to Hong Kong through Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. It’s an engineering marvel, the longest bridge in the world.

My wife with her Marimekko dress from Finland.

It’s a bit surreal and probably hard to understand if you don’t live here. There’s Macau, Hong Kong and Mainland China. Three different regions, each with its own currency, judicial system and government.

There are borders separating us. You go through immigration and customs.

Yet we are all part of China.

It’s all a result of the centuries old colonial History. Hong Kong and Macau, settlements from the British and the Portuguese respectively, were handed over to China in 1997 and 1999.

We are in 2025 now. Going through a transition. While the handovers focused on overall stability, now the driving force is towards integration.

Integration. Because of our differing historical roots, we are all culturally different. We all have different backgrounds.

But we need to integrate because we are all part of one China.

This is the direction.

Some people have difficulties accepting this or getting used to this.

Not me. Even though I was born here, even though I’m the 6th generation of a family that came from Portugal and Italy, even though my roots are all here.

I’m a foreigner, a Portuguese living in China. So I prefer to distance myself from politics.

I focus on the good things and enjoying my life. Integration means my driving license from Macau is now valid in Hong Kong and China. Integration allows me to drive my car to Hong Kong and mainland China.

I’m enjoying my lifestyle, so politics are what they are and let’s not dive into it.