Just in case you don’t know, yesterday was the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong’s whatever-you-want-to-call-it (happy, Roger?) from England to China.  Highlights of the day were a protest march attended by at least 400,000 people (by some estimates) and a near riot as protesters attempt to get the attention of Chinese President Hu Jintao.  Check Alex Hofford’s blog for some truly excellent photos of the police spraying the crowds with pepper spray.

Someone with some photoshop skills should take the pepper-spraying cop meme

and do something with it related to Hello Kitty (the above is the best I could find).  That’s because some of the protesters had this sign:

Photo from here, translation is “Asshole, don’t bully Hello Kitty.”

Anywho, also yesterday, CNNGo ran a piece called 50 Reasons Why Hong Kong is the World’s Greatest City.  Okay, I get it, CNNGo is a travel site.  It’s related to CNN only in that it comes from Turner/Time Warner.  Mostly it’s a pretty good site (and I know one or two people who work there).  But even without the protests and tear gas, this is a seriously deluded bit of “journalism.”

Here are some of their 50 reasons why Hong Kong is the World’s Greatest City:

• The go-go bars on Lockhart Road
• Soy sauce western food
• Lots of 7-11′s
• The Tsing Ma Bridge
• Hard Boiled was a really good movie
• Maggie Cheung is really cool
• Shopping malls have air con

And of course they trot out that tired shit about Hong Kong having the freest economy in the world.

So, despite the wealth gap (one of the largest in the Asia Pacific region if not the world), the lack of world class museums, the lack of democracy, the growing threats to freedom of speech, the pollution or any one of dozens of other things you might care to name, Hong Kong is the world’s greatest city?

Look, I think Hong Kong is a great city.  I live here by choice.  But the world’s greatest?  Better than New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Barcelona … ?  Please CNNGo, whatever drugs you’re on, send some my way!