Forward, March: HKSAR Day

Today is the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China. It's a public holiday with a rather unwieldy name: Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day.

The main event of this day is a massive march (called a "pro-democracy march" by one newspaper) that starts in Causeway Bay. I went to this same march two years ago and remember getting Hong Kong and Chinese flags to wave at the marchers. The mood this time felt decidedly less festive and much more political. Dozens of booths lined the street, nearly all of them chanting slogans through bullhorns and loudspeakers or banging drums. They were selling t-shirts and tote bags. People everywhere pressed leaflets and flyers and stickers on me, even when I protested that I couldn't speak Chinese, much less read it.

Every ten paces stood a cop, keeping an eye on things.

Finally, the march got underway.

I was fortunate to catch a tram as it ran alongside the march, so I could get this somewhat aerial view.

 After just a few blocks, however, it became stuck at a junction, stopped by a sea of marchers. The tram driver, resigning himself to his fate, simply waved us off and refused to let us pay. A line of other trams were caught behind him.

UPDATE: A newspaper article says that 218,000 people turned out for the march, according to the event organizers. The police, meanwhile, said that only 54,000 people participated. At least both agree that it was a very large turnout, the most since 2004.