Hong Kong, battered by Asia's economic woes, celebrates its first year under Chinese rule this week in a somber mood.
Beijing-appointed Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa has scaled back celebrations due to the economic crisis, with unemployment at a 15-year high.The extravagant fireworks displays that lit up Hong Kong's harbor last year have been canceled, and none of the dazzling neon scenes that graced the city skyscrapers have been put up again.
And it's not just the money.
"People's excitement over the handover has cooled," a survey by Hong Kong University said last week.
Only 9.2 percent of those questioned said they were excited about Hong Kong's return to China, compared to 35.1 percent last year, and only 31.6 percent said they were proud to be citizens of China, compared to 46.6 percent last year.
Britain yielded Hong Kong, a city of 6.6 million people and a world financial center, to communist China at midnight on June 30, ending 156 year of colonial rule.
Britain and China indulged in a week of lavish celebrations, with national honor on the line over which would stage the biggest fireworks display or produce the best pomp and ceremony.
This year will feature a flag raising ceremony, attended by China President Jiang Zemin Wednesday, followed by a public celebration at Hong Kong Coliseum and a low-key dinner banquet.
Adding some spice to the week will be a two-day visit by U.S. President Clinton, who will arrive a day after the anniversary, and the opening of Hong Kong's new international airport a week from Monday.
But Tung, a former shipping magnate picked by Beijing to run Hong Kong, has been at pains to present a humble face amid signs of resentment over his administration's handling of the economy.
Opinion polls ahead of the handover anniversary have been unkind to Tung and his administration, and poll analysts say the economic downturn has a lot to do with that.
The economy shrank for the first time in 13 years in the first quarter of 1998, and officials have warned the public to brace for more bad news this year.
A weekend poll for the South China Morning Post showed that Tung's popularity rating had fallen to 59 percent, from 78 percent just after the handover last year.
The irony is that the public now has greater confidence in the future of democracy in Hong Kong and less confidence in the future of the economy - a reversal of their views last year.
Of those questioned 82 percent said that they were satisfied political freedom would be maintained, compared to 54 percent after the hand-over.
"Few people anticipated they would be free to criticize the government after July 1, including the media," said Lau Siu-kai of Chinese University's Center for Asia Pacific Studies.
He said approval ratings for democracy were probably high because people "expected far worse."