Thea Tong Haoxiang arrived in Hong Kong from Shenyang in February 2023 with her teenage daughter for a long-awaited holiday, their first trip outside mainland China since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The city skyline from The Peak left her in awe, but it was a scene outside the tram station in Central in the afternoon that made her stop and stare.
“They were tall and looked smart in their uniforms. In addition to backpacks, everyone carried a bag of sports items,” recalled Tong, 42, who works in new media.
“The expressions on their faces and the way they chatted radiated cheerfulness. Not just a few of them, most of them.”
The sharp-looking teenage boys were from the elite Catholic school nearby, St Joseph’s College, and were on their way home.
Tong said her 14-year-old daughter, a secondary two student in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province, wondered how the boys had got out of school so early.
