Getting the Word Out; Hong Kong's political awakening is exposing mainland Chinese to more than good shopping.

Byline: Melinda Liu and Alexandra A. Seno

Wang Zhonghua was almost giddy with excitement. As head of a private think tank in China that studies efforts at grass-roots democracy, he has traveled across the mainland monitoring local political movements. But now he was in Hong Kong to meet real-life democrats--and watch first-hand a mass protest on the seventh anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty. His purpose: to learn "lessons" for the development of democracy on the mainland--and "to watch the action." "You can't have such a big political rally on the mainland, of course," says Wang, who asked that his real name not be used. Still, it's a heady experience for the Beijing researcher, who last witnessed a massive political demonstration at the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, adding that last year "a lot of mainlanders came to watch the action in Hong Kong on July 1."

Beijing now encourages mainlanders to travel to Hong Kong to shop and dine. Indeed, 12 million of them are expected to make the trip this year--a 42 percent increase over 2003--and they will spend $7.4 billion on retail goods alone. But political tourism is another matter. Last week, on the eve of the July 1 protest, mainland tour groups entering Hong Kong were cut to about 50 a day--down from an average of about 500. Still, this year's march drew a crowd that surpassed expectations: organizers say more than 500,000 people took part, topping last year's historic turnout, while city officials estimate the number was closer to 200,000. (The latter figure is widely deemed to be too low.) And Beijing can no longer take measures to block coverage of such a massive event from spreading. News about Hong Kong circulates on the mainland by e-mail, text-messaging and word of mouth, not to mention Hong Kong television and radio broadcasts that reach a significant portion of southern China directly. And Hong Kong's political feistiness is hardly a taboo subject among Chinese anymore. "I was touched by the scene," says Peter Zhang, who was on holiday from Shanghai. "Why don't mainlanders do something like this? Our rights have been suppressed so long."

For decades Hong Kong residents regarded the Communist giant next door with fear and fascination, worried that political turmoil there might spill over the border. Now the tables are turned. One of Beijing's biggest concerns about Hong Kong's political awakening is the fear that civil unrest in the former colonial outpost might inspire protest in mainland cities. In the past year the opposite has seemingly been the case; residents complained that the "mainlandization" of Hong Kong had led to media self-censorship and intimidation of pro-democracy politicians. But recently, as Hong Kongers have grown into a greater political assertiveness, they've also begun talking of a growing civic consciousness--even expressions of support--among mainlanders visiting or residing in Hong Kong.

The trend has been building for some time. Last year Hong Kong resident Shen Ting--an emigre from Shanghai--became politically active on the mainland when her elderly parents were forcibly evicted from their Shanghai home. Shen shuttled between Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, liaising with other protestors and lending her mobile phone and foreign-media contacts to angry mainland residents displaced by urban redevelopment. "In Hong Kong I know homeowners have rights," said Shen. "On the mainland they should be protected, too."

This year--for the first time--mainland visitors were among the more than 80,000 people who participated in the June 4 candlelight vigil commemorating the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen ...