Cultural exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong are close, and "Flowers" and "Hurricane" are popular in Hong Kong

Deputy Director of the National Narcotics Control Commission and former Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force Tsang Wai-hung.

During this year's Chinese New Year, the "Chinese New Year International Parade Night" was staged in Hong Kong, bringing a wonderful large-scale party to residents and tourists. Xinhua News Agency

A few days ago, Zeng Weixiong, deputy director of the National Narcotics Control Commission, said in an interview with a reporter from Nandu that Messi's behavior did not meet the standard of integrity and fully understood the anger of fans.

Tsang Wai-hung, a former Commissioner of Police of Hong Kong and having worked in both Hong Kong and the Mainland, told reporters that in recent years, there have been close cultural exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong, with "The Press Queen" becoming popular in the mainland, while mainland film and television dramas such as "Flowers" directed by Wong Kar-wai and the anti-crime drama "Hurricane" have become very popular in Hong Kong, and film and television works have gradually become an important medium for cultural exchanges between the two places.

Tsang also noted that since last year, cultural and tourism exchanges between Guangdong and Hong Kong have become more frequent, and more and more Hong Kong residents have chosen to drink tea in Shenzhen and other cities on weekends. He believes that this is not only the well-established service industry of Shenzhen and other cities to attract Hong Kong residents, but also reflects the gradual deepening of exchanges between the two places.

As for how to further strengthen exchanges between the two places and promote the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Tsang Weixiong said that the current flow of people, logistics and capital in the Bay Area has been smoother, and the future may focus more on data exchange between the two places, and the relevant plan is still being studied.

Talk about cultural hotspots

The explosion of "News Queen" in the mainland may stem from cultural differences

Nandu: Messi's recent visit to Hong Kong has attracted a lot of attention, what do you think?

Zeng Weixiong: In a civilized society, no matter what you do, you must be honest, and Messi can't meet the standard of integrity, so it's completely understandable that the society reacts strongly and the fans are unhappy.

Nandu: For mainland audiences, in addition to Messi's visit to Hong Kong, TVB's "News Queen" has gained a lot of attention after it was broadcast in the mainland.

Tsang Wai-hung: I haven't watched this drama yet, but people around me say it's very good, and the popularity of this drama in the mainland may be due to the fact that the media environment in Hong Kong is very different, and everyone feels fresh when they see the environment and atmosphere in Hong Kong. However, I also noticed that everyone around me was watching "Flowers" directed by Wong Kar-wai, as well as "Hurricane", which was very popular before. I think the best situation is that there is a market for literary and artistic works in both places, and they can be loved by each other, and film and television dramas are a kind of soft culture that can promote cultural exchanges between the two places.

Nandu: Many mainland residents grew up watching TVB dramas, but they may have watched less in recent years. Which films and television productions do you think are likely to be more popular in the mainland?

Zeng Weixiong: The ratings still depend on the level of the work. I have found that mainland audiences like dramas that reflect the realities of society, and they can relate to them. The dramas I used to watch were all Bruce Lee, and everyone was still watching model dramas at that time, Bruce Lee conveyed the patriotic concept through martial arts movies, and it also reflected the social reality and background at that time, and I was very involved in watching it.

Talk about the interaction between cultural tourism and tourism between the two places

Mainland visitors to Hong Kong during the Spring Festival returned to pre-pandemic levels

Nandu: During the Spring Festival this year, mainland residents have become a boom in traveling to Hong Kong, in your opinion, has it returned to the pre-pandemic level?

Tsang Wai-hung: Hong Kong has always been a popular choice for mainland residents to travel during the Spring Festival, and the number of mainland tourists has almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels, while there are still relatively few foreign tourists, and I guess it is because international flights have not fully recovered. Hong Kong's tourism industry is booming, and there are quite a few Hong Kong residents who are celebrating the Spring Festival in the mainland this year, indicating that the integration between the two places is getting deeper and deeper.

Nandu: How do you feel about the phenomenon that many Hong Kong people spend in mainland cities such as Shenzhen on weekends?

Zeng Weixiong: Spending weekends in Shenzhen is very cost-effective, and I often go to Shenzhen because of work. In the past, we talked about Shenzhen's progress mainly because of the development of science and technology, which has made it a super city, but after the epidemic was released, I found that the development of Shenzhen's service industry is impressive, in addition to good service, the overall environmental design is also very attractive.

Some people who live in the northern part of Hong Kong say that it takes at least half an hour to take a taxi or bus to Tsim Sha Tsui, but it only takes more than 10 minutes to get to Shenzhen. In addition to the convenience of travel, another important reason is the change in the social atmosphere, which is that residents of the two places are now more willing to interact with each other than before.

Talk about the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater

In the future, we will focus on the data opening up of the Greater Bay Area, and the plan is being studied

Nandu: This year marks the 5th anniversary of the release of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Tsang Wai-hung: Now that the one-hour living circle has been basically established, and the flow of people, logistics and capital has been opened, the next step is to focus on the interconnection of information flow, that is, to open up the data in the Greater Bay Area, which is very crucial for Hong Kong's integration into the Greater Bay Area. At present, according to the laws of Hong Kong, the use and collection of data must follow a single principle, for example, residents' personal information is not shared between different administrative agencies, so as to protect personal information from leakage. In this case, domestic big data methods cannot be used in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's data cannot be circulated with the mainland.

Nandu: What is the significance of opening up the flow of information?

Tsang Wai-hung: Taking medical treatment as an example, if Hong Kong residents go to the mainland for medical treatment, they may face the problem of not being able to share personal information and medical information. If you want to obtain the relevant materials, you need to first seek authorization from the relevant administrative departments in Hong Kong, which is a cumbersome and complicated process, and the lack of information flow may cause inconvenience to people living in the Greater Bay Area.

Nandu: What is Hong Kong's positioning and advantages in the Greater Bay Area?

Tsang Wai-hung: Hong Kong's strength lies in its internationalisation. Under the basic national policy of "one country, two systems", coupled with the accumulation of previous history, Hong Kong can maintain its internationalisation.

Talk about anti-narcotics work

Significant reduction in drug addicts in China It is recommended to reduce the size of drug rehabilitation centers

Nandu: During the three-year period of the epidemic, due to strict control and control, drug crimes have shown a downward trend, has there been a rebound after the epidemic prevention and control transition?

Zeng Weixiong: In 2019, when I participated in the anti-drug work, there were 2 million drug users in China, and now there are about 1 million drug users, and the number of drug users has dropped significantly. The rest of the world is relatively severe. According to recent statistics, there are about 300 million drug users in the world, and the global population is 8 billion.

Nandu: In some places, there is no one in the drug rehabilitation center, where will the drug rehabilitation center and its staff go in the future?

Zeng Weixiong: The number of people in drug rehabilitation centers has decreased, one is because the number of drug addicts has dropped off a cliff, and the other reason is that China has introduced community drug rehabilitation and invested a lot of resources and manpower, and 80% of the people have successfully recovered from drug addiction through the community. In addition, China's drug surveillance is relatively scientific, and it is the largest country in the world to carry out sewage drug testing, and it is now possible to infer the presence of drug users in the area or the type of drug detected by detecting the amount of drug residues in the sewage.

In the face of the decline in the number of drug addicts, it may be necessary to reduce the scale of drug rehabilitation centers in the future and invest resources and manpower in other places, and if it is well controlled, the demand for drug rehabilitation centers will not rebound much in the future.

Written by: Nandu reporter Jiang Xiaotian, Liu Yan, Guo Ruomei