The recent Occupy Central Protest in Hong Kong has pushed Hong Kong into its worst chaos in decades. TravelChinaGuide here would like to remind any potential travelers to avoid or put off your trip to the region, and wait till the situation is clearer. Otherwise, your vacation may be ruined by the complete disorder of transportation, business, etc.

As protesters are blocking roads and forcing shops to close, fewer tourists went to Hong Kong during the past “Golden Week”, cutting its rise to 5.4% compared with 16% of last year. In addition, many countries warn their citizens not to go to the protesting sites, or even Hong Kong.

Occupy Central on Harcourt Road on October 1st

It is also estimated that by October 3rd, the Occupy Central has caused a loss of 350 billion HKD for Hong Kong. Indexes of economic development and employment status have decreased by 16.3% and 8.3%, and the sales volume in retailing slumped by 10%-45%. In transportation, 270 bus lines stops running or changed the routes. The Occupy Central has also caused severe traffic jams in HK Island and Kowloon. For instance, in the morning peak hours of October 6th, the cars queued up almost 6 miles on the Island; in the evening peak hours, passengers waited 40 minutes to get onboard at MTR Admiralty Station.

No matter what political demand the protesters are requiring, it is totally wrong to achieve their goal by occupying central, paralyzing the core areas of Hong Kong and harming the social order. It is not the way of expressing thoughts by common citizens.

Then let’s have a look into their political demand, democracy, or to be more specific, universal suffrage. In the colonial times, election had never been held in Hong Kong and the governors were all English. Nowadays, the autonomy degree in Hong Kong is much higher after its returning to China. All in all, Hong Kong is a city under China. That is the base line.

At last, I want to say a few words to these students involved in the protest. Do you think the initiators are doing all these for democracy? No, they just want to be leaders of certain groups or communities, or even Hong Kong. Behind them are western powers, who aim to interrupt the internal affairs of other countries, like the unrest in Syria. Please, wake up and do not be used by these political plotters! If you love Hong Kong, give her a stable and peaceful environment to grow!