2019-02-27又中又英——tourist hotspots

Every Chinese New Year my friends joke that local people like to stream out of Hong Kong but mainland visitors like to flood into the city. In fact, it is not a joke. Hong Kong people love to travel. There are many tourist hotspots within easy reach, such as Japan and Thailand. Every Christmas and Chinese New Year they stream out of Hong Kong to these tourist hotspots. Mainlanders have long holidays during Chinese New Year and for the October national day. They love to flood into Hong Kong. Many years ago, Hong Kong used to be very quiet during Chinese New Year. Locals streamed out of Hong Kong but mainlanders didn’t flood in because it was not as easy as now for them to get travel permits.

　　The expression “stream out” used this way means people leaving in large numbers. The expression “flood into” used this way means people entering in large numbers. The word “hotspot” has several meanings but a tourist hotspot is a popular place for tourists. When something is within easy reach, it means it is not too far to go there. I loved the feel of Chinese New Year in the past when Hong Kong people streamed out but mainlanders didn’t flood in. The city was quiet and peaceful. I stayed home like a hermit this Chinese New Year. A hermit is someone who prefers to live alone and seldom leaves his home, but a hermit can also mean a person who lives alone, far away from society, for religious reasons.

　　I stayed home alone like a hermit because I knew Hong Kong would be overcrowded with mainland tourists. Almost half a million mainlanders came here in just three days last week. Last year, 65 million tourists came to Hong Kong. About 80 percent were mainland visitors. The whole of the US has about 75 million tourists a year, just 10 million more than tiny Hong Kong. I feel Hong Kong has too many tourists. It is ruining the quality of life of locals. The government needs to control the flood of mainland visitors. Today is Valentine’s Day. Happy Valentine’s Day.

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　　每年的農曆新年，我的朋友們都會打趣說，本地人都喜歡湧出（stream out）香港，但內地遊客則喜歡湧進（flood into）這個城市。事實上，這可不是甚麼玩笑。香港人確實很愛旅遊，鄰近（within easy reach）亦有許多旅遊熱點（tourist hotspots），例如日本和泰國。每年的聖誕節和農曆新年，他們都會湧出（stream out）香港飛往這些旅遊熱點（tourist hotspots）。內地人在農曆新年和十月國慶有長假期，都愛湧進Ｎ（flood into）香港來。許多年前，香港在農曆新年曾經是非常安靜的，本地人都會湧出（streamed out）香港，內地人卻不會湧進來（flood in），因為當年他們不像現在那麼容易便可以取得旅遊簽證。

　　習語stream out在這裏的意思是大量地離開一個地方，習語 flood into在這裏則指大量的人湧進來。Hotspot有幾個意思，但a tourist hotspot就是受遊客歡迎的熱門勝地。當某物是 within easy reach，即是指相距不遠、近在咫尺。我很喜歡過往農曆新年的感覺，就是香港人都會湧出（streamed out）香港，卻不會有內地人湧進來（flood in），城市是安靜而平和的。今個農曆新年，我像個隱士（hermit）般躲在家中。A hermit就是選擇隱居而很少離家的人，但 hermit也可以指因着宗教緣故，遠離社會而獨居的修道者。

　　我像隱士（hermit）般獨留家中，因為我知道香港會擠滿了內地遊客。上星期短短三天內，就幾乎有五十萬內地人到港，上年整年則有六千五百萬遊客訪港，當中約八成是內地遊客。整個美國一年才有差不多七千五百萬旅客，比香港這彈丸之地不過多出一千萬。我認為香港有太多旅客了，有損本地人的生活質素。政府應該控制內地旅客的洪潮（flood）。今天是情人節，祝各位情人節快樂！