1930

I haven't gotten to Hanover in 1997 (more on that when space permits), but I did get to Handover, officially known as the Hong Kong Handover Ceremonies of June 30, 1997. When it's mentioned, a few people say "Huh? Never heard of it," though current periodicals were full of it. But most are envious, recognizing this as one of the defining moments of modern history, and possibly an emotional moment for anyone who's been exposed to Hong Kong's vitality, and to its charm, a mixture of British and Chinese cultures.

For me, I'm not what the Foreign Service used to call "an old China hand." My earliest exposure to Hong Kong was just a couple of overnights in 1958, en route to other destinations, and later a two-month working visit in 1959. But just as a traveler I've fitted it into my itineraries as often as possible. Thus, as travelers, Chuck Jacobs and I began talking about the Handover several years ago, and last January, none too soon, did something about it, realizing that all the world's media would be there, as well as countless historians, prognosticators, and the just plain curious by the thousands.

In the intervening months we succeeded in arranging travel, in getting press credentials (Chuck as publisher of the Far EastTravel Digest and I as "editor"), and, most important as it turned out, in getting rooms as the Sheraton Towers on the harbor front in Kowloon, overlooking the Convention Centre, where the action was, and where the Royal Yacht Britannia and its escorting destroyer were docked.

Obviously we weren't a pair of sharp young newshawks. Just as obviously, when we went to the accreditation office to be photographed and later returned for our badges, we were welcome guests, though we were just two of more than 8,000. Accreditation bestowed upon us certain material benefits, but not the royal rank needed for invitations to a dinner for 4,000 or seats at the Handover ceremonies. Our alternative, at a price, was even better: a window table at the Sheraton's 17th floor Sky Lounge overlooking the entire scene, with a five-hour, eight-course dinner, and two TV monitors, so we could see and hear all that was happening inside and out, blink at the fireworks, listen to the speeches, witness the simultaneous lowering and raising of the two nations' flags at midnight, and, 50 minutes later, watch the Britannia and destroyer as they pulled away from their berths, carrying Prince Charles and Governor Chris Patten away from the Chinese celebrations that followed.

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