By Zhang Yan

Shenzhen has given Caleb Ye a unique perspective on the integrated development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

On April 16,2021,a Hong Kong employee poses for a photo in Shenzhen Qianhai Hand-Painted Technology and Culture Co.,Ltd.in Shenzhen,Guangdong Province.(JIANG QIMING)

In 2014,the Shenzhen municipal government proposed to develop the“bay area economy”to accelerate Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao regional cooperation,after which Caleb Ye began receiving more information and news about Shenzhen while living in Hong Kong.

A Hong Kong citizen,Ye moved to Shenzhen in Guangdong Province at the end of the year.“I heard about the city on the news occasionally,”he recalled.“I learned that the Chinese mainland was undergoing rapid development,and because Shenzhen was so close to Hong Kong,my wife and I decided to try our luck there.”

The couple had no idea that their choice would enable them to witness and participate in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Blending in from ‘Boxing-out’

Caleb Ye and his wife moved to Shenzhen in the summer of 2015.Ye’s wife had experience as an English teacher,so their friends on the mainland helped her find a teaching job.“When my wife’s students learned that I used to coach basketball,they recommended job opportunities to me,”he said.“I managed to find my first job in Shenzhen thanks to their help.”

“It did not take long for me to realize that Shenzhen was teeming with job opportunities,and many were secure.”Ye is now a basketball coach at a university in Shenzhen and also helps out at basketball training for both adults and teenagers.“I barely realized the milestone after I had been living in this city for seven years.”

When he first started coaching basketball in Shenzhen,Ye encountered some language problems because of cultural differences between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.He was not fluent in standard Chinese or familiar with the basketball jargon which is different from that used in Hong Kong.

“In Hong Kong we tend to use English terms,and the terms usually have corresponding Chinese words,”he explained.“For example,we use the word ‘box-out’ to describe optimal positioning for a rebound.But I did not know how to say that in Chinese.My students were confused about the phrases I said,and I could not understand the Chinese terms.So at first it was difficult for me to communicate with my students.”After a while,Ye and his students began understanding each other,and Ye eventually became fluent in“translated”basketball jargon.

“The cultural differences also created opportunities,”said Ye.He quickly noticed how different mainland basketball training was to what he had seen in Hong Kong.

“The coaches here focus more on strengthening physical agility and skills,which means that no matter what level the players are at,they need to practice a single movement or a skill repeatedly to achieve proficiency,”Ye explained.“But in Hong Kong,coaches do more analytical and targeted training.They teach students to develop their own strategies and training plans according to their opponents’ strengths.”Ye added that alongside coaching moves and skills,Hong Kong teachers consider the training of strategic thinking equally important.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Workshop in Futian District,Shenzhen City.(MAO SIQIAN)

On June 30,2021,the launch ceremony of the Greater Bay Area Youth Card was held in Hong Kong.The card intends to help solve problems affecting Hong Kong youth living in the mainland and facilitate their integration into other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.(WANG SHEN)

Ye improved his training approaches based on these differences.He introduced“strategic thinking training”to his class as part of diverse training models to avoid repetitive and lowefficiency practices.“The feedback was good,”he beamed.“Students found the classes innovative and became more focused and engaged.”Ye’s classes became popular because of his unique diverse training approach.

“I grew up in Hong Kong,where schools tend to adopt Western education model,”he said.“But as a Chinese person,I could also understand education practices on the Chinese mainland.”Ye considered his ability to make his classes more eclectic by absorbing high-quality resources and advanced education philosophies from both education models a big advantage.

“Observation Program”

When the Chinese government released Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in February 2019,Ye had already been in Shenzhen for five years.“When I first arrived,the concept of the ‘Greater Bay Area’ was just a strategic plan,”he recalled.“After five years,the grand plan was finally implemented.”As a Hong Kong citizen living in Shenzhen,Ye witnessed the changes and development of the region up-close.

Ye would observe and record such changes as part of his“observation program”in daily life.He remembered that when he first came to Shenzhen,he needed a Mainland Travel Permit to buy air tickets or railway tickets.At that time,most automatic verification machines could not yet check the travel permits,so travelers like Ye had to spend a lot of time waiting in queues.

“In 2018,mainland cities began issuing residence permits for Hong Kong,Macao,and Taiwan residents,after which time I didn’t have to go through all that,”Ye said.“It saved tons of time.”

“Local authorities rolled out various subsidy projects and corresponding policies or measures to attract talent and build a complete system to secure jobs and businesses for young people.”

Ye has tracked the massive changes in Shenzhen in his seven years there.“For example,in recent years,the Shenzhen government has been encouraging young people from Hong Kong,Macao,and Taiwan to start businesses on the mainland,”he said.“Local authorities rolled out various subsidy projects and corresponding policies or measures to attract talent and build a complete system to secure jobs and businesses for young people.”

Ye has seen the effectiveness of the measures.He has seen more and more Hong Kong youth moving to Shenzhen,particularly in the last three years.Many of his young friends in Hong Kong are also considering launching businesses in mainland cities.When they inquired about life on the mainland,Ye would patiently answer their questions and dispense his best advice.“The mainland government has friendly policies to help Hong Kong people come to work or do business,”he said.“Life on the mainland has become quite convenient for Hong Kong people.”

Ye’s observations of the differences between past and present life on the mainland gave him a new understanding of mainland life in general.

“Only after arriving in Shenzhen did I realize that women on the mainland face greater pressure than men because they have to balance their career and family life,”he said.“In Hong Kong,I had never thought about this because I had not seen or felt it.”Ye gained a better understanding of the social situation women navigate,and his respect for women in the workforce grew.“This has also been a big growth experience for me.”

After the COVID-19 epidemic broke out in early 2020,Ye’s family and friends in Hong Kong were deeply concerned about the couple’s situation in Shenzhen.Ye kept in touch with them on the internet and shared the latest information on the pandemic and local situation.

Ye has paid close attention to the epidemic in both the mainland and Hong Kong,and has his own perspectives about the pandemiccontrol measures the local authorities have introduced.“The Shenzhen government and the health department are very efficient at allocating resources,which gives them a big advantage in tackling big public health emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic,”he said.“In the long term,we also need more objective understanding of the virus and to ponder ways to balance pandemic control,economic growth,and social stability.”

Open and Inclusive

Shenzhen is an open and inclusive city,and reform and opening up has been intertwined with its historic development.People from across China and even the globe live and work in Shenzhen,facilitating communication and integration of diverse cultures.Construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area makes it even more attractive for Hong Kong citizens to work and start businesses in Shenzhen because of geographical proximity and similar cultural traditions.

Ye describes himself as understanding the inherent differences between the mainland and Hong Kong in an“inclusive”way.“It is true that the two places have differences,but that is not a problem,”he said.“I never felt a‘culture shock’ by moving to Shenzhen.I left Hong Kong,a city I knew,and came to Shenzhen to get to know a new city.I talked with friends from the mainland and gained a clearer understanding of the two cities’ differences and the underlying reasons.”

Ye added that he did not need to develop a new appetite for local food because there was little difference between the food in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Ye’s leisure hobby is talking with random people he meets.He always wants to hear and learn history and the current political situation,as well as the cultures,of the Chinese mainland.He believes that only through extensive communication and comprehensive learning can people understand each other and get along.

“I tend to disagree with my mainland friends’ biases against Hong Kong,”he said.“So similarly,I hope to reach an objective understanding and evaluation of the mainland,which requires me to meet and communicate with mainland friends and find out what they think.”

Ye revealed his future plans by claiming he and his wife are quite“Buddha-like”(a Chinese buzzword to describe those who favor peaceful and tranquil life).“Our work is quite stable at present,so we are taking a steady stroll towards a happy and cozy life,”he said.

Ye added that he has been lucky to grow up in a time when the mainland and Hong Kong were developing in tandem.“It gives me a sense of responsibility,”he asserted.“Particularly,as a Hong Kong citizen who lives on the mainland,I hope to facilitate mutual understanding between Hong Kong people and mainland friends all around me.”

Ye proudly hung a painting of flamingos a student made for him and his wife as a Christmas gift in his living room.He likes the work because it expresses his mainland friend’s love and kindness to them.“I still remember what my student said when he gave the painting to me,”said Ye.“He said that flamingos symbolize love and freedom,and he thought my wife and I were embodiments of that.”