My Sister, the Celebrity!

“No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make the other person feel important." ~Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman

I think this quote perfectly sums up what my sister and I experienced today on the Promenade in Tsim Sha Tsui – it was one of those moments in time that we would have missed had we been “too busy” to stop for a few minutes and take part in the fun these women from the Mainland were having on their tour of Hong Kong!

There are still villages and outer cities in Mainland China that are so remote and removed that Westerners (always called “foreigners”) are never seen, except occasionally on TV when the censors allow. Even in a fast-paced economy firmly embracing most aspects of capitalism, Western magazines and newspapers are nearly impossible to come by outside of the main urban centers in China; in that way, a majority of the country still remains virtually isolated from the “outside world.”

When Chris and I first arrived in China over ten years ago with our two small blonde daughters, we found it hard to even walk down a street without being stopped and asked to pose for photographs with the locals. It was fun at first, definitely an experience we had never had in the States or on our European travels, and even our daughters enjoyed the attention. But once we realized our own tourist experiences were being compromised while we were busy being “props” for local sightseers, we had to politely start refusing the very flattering, but endless requests!

It doesn’t happen very often anymore – only when we visit the smaller cities in China or the highly-visited tourist areas on the Mainland where families from China’s rural communities are apt to appear. They’re always very polite, but persistent, and always make their requests with big smiles and much laughing – it’s now an experience I don’t resist, knowing it’s only a matter of time before this local “celebrity attention” will be no more.

There was no way to prepare Gwynn for the enthusiastic assault she experienced this afternoon while walking along the Promenade! Dressed in her Grace Kelly sundress and designer shades, blonde hair blowing in the harbor breeze, perfectly manicured fingernails and cute leather flip flops – she was the perfect target! These women, clearly from the Mainland and dressed in their tourist-best, couldn’t get enough of her! They followed us down the Promenade, calling to their friends to join them, while their husband/father/uncle “videographer” enthusiastically prompted us to “Smile! OK, very good! Beautiful!” - no doubt the only English words he knew, but he got great results!

These women were thrilled to find a willing recipient of their affection – they literally couldn’t have been happier that we were ad hoc participants in their Hong Kong tourist experience! And, as so often happens in the most wonderful way for travelers, these women immediately became part of Gwynn’s “tourist experience” today! What a wonderful way of spontaneously demonstrating to her a part of Chinese culture that is still thriving, even in the midst of very modern Hong Kong!

After seeing this photo, one of Gwynn’s friends said to her, “Maybe you’ve always been a celebrity, you’ve just been on the wrong continent!” After our stroll down the Promenade today, I’m inclined to agree!! These enthusiastic “female fans” kicked off a magical week of adventures for us where Gwynn, more than once, was introduced as “My Sister, the Celebrity!”