“STORIES of Lion Rock Spirit,” a TV drama about ordinary people’s resilient struggle for a better life in Hong Kong over the past three decades, is being aired on China Central Television and livestreamed on Tencent Video, marking the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland.

The 27-episode series, reflecting Hong Kong’s famous “Lion Rock Spirit,” tells of a Chinese mainland woman (Myolie Wu) who goes to Hong Kong with her daughter in the 1980s to reunite with her husband. After he dies in an accident, the woman has to take on her husband’s restaurant business, whereby, supported by the staff and friends, she overcomes great odds to succeed.

The core setting of the series is a Hong Kong-style cafe, a type of small restaurants that offer an eclectic and affordable menu that includes Chinese and Western dishes. The story begins in 1984 with a bustling tea restaurant serving mouth-watering roast goose and signature Hong Kong snacks such as rocky buns with butter and milk tea.

The cafe witnesses the changes in Hong Kong from the perspective of daily life. It experiences the happiness and sorrow of Hong Kong people and is closely related to life. The restaurant also represents the culture of Hong Kong, just like the city’s milk tea blended with coffee.

It is through this restaurant that the main characters experience the return of Hong Kong to the motherland, Beijing’s success in the 2008 Olympic Games, the SARS in 2003 and the Global Financial Tsunami during 2007-2009. After the return in 1997, the “Pearl of the Orient” becomes prosperous and stable, integrates into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and then sets out again.

Director Ng Gam-yuen said he portrayed ordinary people from all walks of life in the TV series, such as policemen, teachers and chefs, to show the confusion, toughness, kindness and commitment of Hong Kong people over the decades.

The TV drama’s title and theme are reminiscent of the well-known Hong Kong TV series “Below the Lion Rock,” which was first telecast in the 1970s. It made the city’s Lion Rock Mountain a symbol of the “can-do” and “never-say-die” spirit of local residents.

The drama is co-produced by Hong Kong’s Bauhinia Culture Group and two mainland companies. It has scored 8.2 out of 10 in ratings on Tencent Video, one of the mainland’s major video streaming platforms.

Speaking earlier at a ceremony to launch the TV series, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), noted that under the service trade agreement of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, the first free trade pact between the SAR and the mainland, Hong Kong’s film and TV industries can now provide a wider range of professional services to the mainland market. The drama has again demonstrated Hong Kong’s advantages in providing professional services under the nation’s overall development, she said.

A growing number of mainland-Hong Kong co-productions have shown that such cooperation is fruitful, Lam said, adding that she hopes the film industry can utilize the SAR’s position as a hub for arts and cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world, which is highlighted in the nation’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25).

Lam said people are Hong Kong’s most valuable asset, adding that she hopes the new TV drama can also arouse and strengthen people’s affection for their home city.

(China Daily, Global Times)