I first heard of Hong Kong when I was probably four years old. Like many white kids of my generation, the first reference was in print: engraved in small print on the bottom of my plastic toys was MADE IN HONG KONG. Even though I was not a well-travelled child, I was beginning to acquire a sense that the world had many countries, and I could read labels on food like “Made in Canada” and “Made in USA.” “Made in Hong Kong” stood out to me because it was the first ‘country’ that had more than one word in its name. I think my mom tried to explain to me that Hong Kong wasn’t really a country (it was a British colony, and the handover was still long in the future), but I didn’t understand these things yet.
Today, “Made in Hong Kong” is a distant memory. The manufacturing industry, which developed after World War II beginning with textiles, then plastics, and later electronics and small appliances, rapidly declined in the late 1980s as China and other countries offered far lower production costs. Today, manufacturing and other dead industries are commemorated with these cute displays at the Hong Kong International Airport.