China News Service, Shenzhen, March 27th: How can the cultural integration between Shenzhen and Hong Kong help Hong Kong better integrate into the overall development of the country?

　　——Exclusive interview with Chen Lin, executive vice president of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Research Association

　　China News Service reporter Guo Jun

　　Shenzhen and Hong Kong share the same origin. They have profound historical roots in culture and have formed their own distinctive characteristics over hundreds of years of development. In recent years, with the all-round advancement of cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, cultural exchanges between the two cities have become increasingly close. In the context of the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the outside world is paying attention to how cultural exchanges and interactions between Shenzhen and Hong Kong can help Hong Kong better integrate into the overall development of the country. Recently, Dr. Chen Lin, executive vice president of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Research Association, accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service's "East-West Question" to discuss the history and origin, current situation and characteristics of Shenzhen-Hong Kong culture, as well as the path selection for the integration and development of Shenzhen-Hong Kong culture.

The interview transcript is summarized as follows:

China News Service reporter: What do you think is the cultural relationship between Shenzhen and Hong Kong?

Chen Lin:

Last year was the 450th anniversary of the founding of Xin'an County. Xin'an County is the common source of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The cultural development of these two cities has actually gone through a process from "source divergence" to "same direction complementation."

　　Geographically, Shenzhen and Hong Kong as a whole are at the intersection of mountains, rivers and the sea. The mountains refer to the remnants of the Lotus Mountain, the rivers refer to the Pearl River Estuary, and the sea refers to the South China Sea. This kind of topography and water potential is closely related to the formation of the cultural character of the two places. Xin'an County was established in the first year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1573). Most of the counties in Chinese history ended at the sea. Only the entire county area of ​​Xin'an County at that time belonged to coastal areas and islands. This reflects the strong maritime strategy of the middle Ming Dynasty. consciousness. Marine genes have penetrated into every aspect of the cultural development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Until the mid-19th century, Shenzhen and Hong Kong belonged to the same county and developed together. This is part of the same origin.

Overlooking the Loop Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone. Photo by Chen Wen

　　After the Opium War, Hong Kong left Xin'an and developed relatively independently for a century and a half. Therefore, the culture of Shenzhen and Hong Kong has both a homology and a divergence.

　　Today, Hong Kong has returned to the motherland for more than 20 years and is actively integrating into the overall development of the country. Together with Shenzhen, it gives full play to its own advantages and jointly promotes the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Correspondingly, the cultural development of the two places has also entered a new stage of "symmetry and complementarity."

Reporter from China News Service: After the Opium War, the cultures of Shenzhen and Hong Kong were divided. As far as Hong Kong is concerned, how has cultural development been affected?

Chen Lin:

First of all, it is the influence of Chinese traditional culture. Since the mid-to-late 1940s, due to war, political and other social changes, a group of cultural figures from mainland China have come to Hong Kong. They have inherited traditional Chinese culture and have had an important impact on the development of Hong Kong culture. Including Jin Yong's martial arts novels, Jao Tsung-i's Chinese studies, and the New Asia Academy founded by Qian Mu and others to provide education in the form of traditional Chinese academies, etc. This is an important aspect of the formation and development of Hong Kong culture.

Neighbors in Shatoujiao, Shenzhen perform fish lantern dance, an intangible cultural heritage item. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Yantian District Committee of Shenzhen City

　　Secondly, there is the influence of British colonial rule. The British colonial rule of Hong Kong, on the one hand, made Hong Kong culture very advocating freedom and the rule of law; on the other hand, it also led to a serious lack of citizens' national and national awareness. The British only regard Hong Kong as a platform for doing business, a place similar to an autonomous territory. They neither want Hong Kong people to have a strong sense of being Chinese nor do they want Hong Kong people to have a strong sense of being British.

　　Third, it is the impact of Hong Kong’s social ecology. For a long period of time, residents in China's coastal areas have regarded Hong Kong as a springboard for overseas immigrants and do not have a strong sense of identity with Hong Kong society. It was not until after World War II that a large number of residents from the mainland poured into Hong Kong and gathered in the Kowloon Peninsula area. They gradually regarded this place as their home and formed the Lion Rock spirit of hard work and mutual help. At the same time, a group of Chinese elites living in the middle of Taiping Mountain, adhering to the traditional spirit of scholar-bureaucrats, regarded it as their own duty to cultivate themselves, manage their families, govern the country, and bring peace to the world, thus forming the spirit of Taiping Mountain. In a sense, it was these two cultural spirits that created Hong Kong.

　　As an immigrant city, Hong Kong has a developed corporate culture. Various large and powerful social organizations are intertwined and play the role of glue and lubricant between the government and citizens.

Street scene of Chung Ying Street. Photo by Yan Junjie

Reporter from China News Service: You just said that the cultural development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong has entered a new stage of "simultaneous complementation". How do you understand it specifically?

Chen Lin:

The relationship between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is the only two-city relationship in the world. The relationship between the two places has a long history, but before the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in 1980, there was no true twin-city relationship. This is partly due to the separation of the two places, and more importantly, to the unequal scale. When Shenzhen was removed from a county and established as a city in 1979, its population was only 300,000, and agriculture and fishery were the main industries. However, Hong Kong is already a metropolis with a population of 5 million, and its economic, social, and cultural development ranks among the best in the world.

March 21, 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen). It currently has 6 colleges, 1 graduate school and 7 colleges with more than 13,000 teachers and students. Photo by Chen Jimin

　　The true twin-city relationship between Shenzhen and Hong Kong began in the 1980s and can be roughly divided into three stages: the first stage started from the establishment of a special economic zone in Shenzhen to the return of Hong Kong to the motherland in 1997. This is the stage where Shenzhen is learning from Hong Kong and actively accepting Hong Kong’s radiation. The two sides are like a "master-disciple relationship."

　　After 1997, Hong Kong became a special administrative region. At this time, Shenzhen has entered the ranks of the club with a GDP of 100 billion yuan and has a certain size. After nearly 20 years of reform and opening up, Shenzhen has formed many of its own characteristics, which has added some confidence in the relationship between the two cities. The twin cities of Shenzhen and Hong Kong have entered the stage of "brotherly relationship". Brothers climb mountains, exchange what they have, and work hard independently. This stage lasted for more than 20 years, fully reflecting the huge tension between Hong Kong and mainland cities in complementing each other's advantages and developing together under "one country, two systems".

Chen Lin displays books about Hong Kong culture. Photo by Guo Jun

　　Marked by the promulgation of the “Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” in 2019, Shenzhen and Hong Kong have entered a new stage of jointly building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong's proposal to build a northern metropolitan area in 2021 can be understood as Hong Kong's initiative to accept the radiation from Shenzhen and other Greater Bay Area cities. The respective roles of both parties not only cooperate with each other but also play their respective roles, and ultimately a holistic culture will be produced.

Reporter from China News Service: What are your views on the cultural integration between Shenzhen and Hong Kong to help Hong Kong better integrate into the overall development of the country?

Chen Lin:

Integrating into the overall development of the country is the inevitable direction for Hong Kong, and jointly building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is the most realistic platform and path. Culturally speaking, there are several main aspects:

　　One is Lingnan culture. Lingnan culture plays a role in preserving and nurturing Chinese culture. This is first reflected in the creative inheritance of traditional culture by scholars from the Central Plains who traveled south with their clothes after the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty; secondly, a large number of Lingnan people went to Southeast Asia and overseas, forming a large Chinese business group and Chinese society internationally, and widely spread Chinese culture , and more importantly, since the reform and opening up, the tide has risen from the Pearl River, which has greatly promoted and led the modern development of Chinese culture.

South Gate of Nantou Ancient City. Photo courtesy of Shenzhen Nanshan Street Office

　　The second is marine culture. In traditional thinking, China is a typical mainland country. In fact, the maritime genes of Chinese culture are equally distant and powerful. From Qin Shihuang’s sending Xu Fu to the east, to the opening of the Maritime Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, to Zheng He’s voyages to the West in the Ming Dynasty, ancient China’s marine technology and marine development have long ranked first in the world. Forefront. Now, we have clearly proposed to speed up the construction of a maritime power. Therefore, Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation has more practical significance. When standing in front of a vertical map of China, Shenzhen and Hong Kong are no longer the southern borders, but the geographical center of China's maritime power.

　　The third is the special zone culture. Hong Kong is a special administrative region and Shenzhen is a special economic zone. They are both special zones. A special zone must be special, innovative, and good at learning from successful experiences outside, and it must also create new experiences that others can learn from.

Overlooking the Shenzhen Window of the World Scenic Area. Photo by Chen Wen

　　The fourth is immigrant culture. Shenzhen and Hong Kong are both typical immigrant cities. Immigrants are generally innovative and adventurous people.

　　In addition, there is the culture of "one country, two systems", open culture and long-standing business culture, which are all characteristics of Shenzhen and Hong Kong culture. They are also a realistic path for the cultural integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong to help Hong Kong integrate into the overall development of the country.

China News Service reporter: What do you think of the prospects for the cultural integration and development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong? Will the two merge into a new regional culture in the future?

Chen Lin:

This is a very interesting question. I have only been working in Shenzhen for a short time, but I clearly feel that a culture is about to explode. Shenzhen attaches great importance to cultural construction, and investment in hardware continues to increase. There are more and more libraries, art galleries, and opera houses. Streets and parks are filled with various sculptures. Software construction is no less generous, and Shenzhen Reading Month is famous at home and abroad. In addition, Shenzhen has good economic development, a strong sense of innovation, and is not exclusive. Cultural people from all over the country are gathering here one after another, which is a bit like Hong Kong back then. Hong Kong was once called a cultural desert. It is precisely because of the arrival of a large number of cultural people that it has developed into a fertile ground for cultural prosperity in just a few decades. With this momentum, Shenzhen's cultural prosperity is just around the corner, and Shenzhen-Hong Kong culture will definitely become a bright spot in China's cultural landscape.

Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town Cultural and Creative Park Market. Photo by Chen Wen

　　There are several prominent schools in Chinese regional culture, such as Dunhuang studies, which interpret the frontier culture of the lonely smoke in the desert; Tibet studies, which reflect the image of snowy plateaus; and Huizhou studies, which are reminiscent of the misty rain and small bridges and flowing water in the south of the Yangtze River. These are all important elements that constitute Chinese culture, but there is still one missing piece, the vast ocean. With the integration and development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong cultures, will a new school of thought displaying ocean imagery be formed? Perhaps it can be called "Xin'an Learning".

Reporter from China News Service: The "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" mentions "jointly building a humanistic Bay Area" and "shaping the humanistic spirit of the Bay Area." In your opinion, how should Shenzhen and Hong Kong play their respective roles in shaping the humanistic spirit of the Bay Area? feature?

Chen Lin:

To build the Humanities Bay Area, Shenzhen should give full play to the advantages of socialism in concentrating its efforts on big things, focus on creating cultural facilities and cultural atmosphere, and strengthen exchanges with Hong Kong. Hong Kong must maintain its traditional characteristics and advantages, but it must not rest on its laurels. It must pay close attention to changes in the mainland's economy, society, culture and other fields, and find the best adaptation methods and development opportunities.

On August 30, 2023, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Card was launched online in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, and Shenzhen citizens displayed the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Card. "Shenzhen-Hong Kong Interoperability" is jointly launched by Shenzhen Shenzhen Tong Co., Ltd. and Octopus Co., Ltd. and can be used in more than 300 cities in Hong Kong and the Mainland. Photo by Chen Wen

　　The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area embodies the intersection and interaction of the two major national policies of reform and opening up and "one country, two systems". In the construction of the Bay Area, Shenzhen and Hong Kong are both very important development poles. The linkage between Hong Kong and Shenzhen is not a simple cooperation between two cities. Shenzhen, as a pioneer demonstration area of ​​socialism with Chinese characteristics, serves and leads the entire mainland. Hong Kong, as a senior international financial, shipping and trade center, connects the world. Shenzhen Hong Kong cooperation is related to the two-way interaction between China and the world.

　　Hong Kong culture pays more attention to details, while the culture of Shenzhen and the entire mainland pays more attention to macro narrative. Both the details and the macro are needed for the future development of Shenzhen-Hong Kong culture. If the two sides can bring out their respective characteristics and gain recognition and understanding from the other side, they can complement each other's advantages and have a positive interaction. (over)

Expert profile:

Chen Lin. Photo by Guo Jun

　　Chen Lin, a native of Chongqing, graduated from the School of International Relations of Peking University, holds a PhD and is a researcher. Member of the Party Leadership Group of Shenzhen CPPCC and executive vice president of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Research Association. He once worked for the Central Translation and Translation Bureau, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, and the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of the CPC in Hong Kong, and lived in Beijing and Hong Kong for 16 years respectively. He has published many books, essays and travel notes, including "Hong Kong Hidden in Place Names" and "Shenzhen Ten Peaks: Reading the City from the Mountains and Sea".