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Hello and welcome to Chinese Whispers with me, Cindy Yu. Every episode, I'll be talking to

journalists, experts and long-time China

watches about the latest in Chinese politics, society and more. There'll be a smattering

of history to catch you up on the background knowledge and some context as well. How do the

Chinese see these issues? As of last month, if you're a British national overseas passport holder living in Hong Kong,

you're able to have a road to citizenship when coming to live in the UK.

That offer was made last year, but a foreign secretary, Dominic Raab,

concerned about China's passing and implementation of the national security law in the city.

But it got me thinking, what were the people who take up this offer be leaving behind?

When I went to Hong Kong, I was surprised at how different it was to what I was expecting,

which was really mainland China, I guess.

So as potentially up to 3 million BNO passport holders consider their options,

this episode is a look at the city and how its very special identity formed.

And joining me is Professor Steve Tang, who is the director of the SOAS China Institute,

and author of many books on China, including a modern history of Hong Kong,

which is the best book to get you started on understanding

the history of the city. Steve, thank you so much for joining me. I think that listeners to Chinese

whispers would have followed closely what's been happening in Hong Kong in recent years,

but I actually wanted to start at the beginning. You left Hong Kong in the early 1980s,

and if you don't mind my ageing you, you were born in 1959.

What was the Hong Kong of the 60s and the 70s like?

...