China’s authoritarian leaders have a long history of suppressing local identities and have vowed to make Hong Kong more “patriotic”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are constant signs of pushback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Olympics, when Hong Kong won a record six medals, there was an explosion of patriotism — not for China, but for the athletes representing the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one shopping mall gathering, China’s anthem was booed, triggering a police investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellow band My Little Airport have also built a huge following through their distinctly Cantonese lyrics, peppered with local slang, as well as clear nods of sympathy to the democracy movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The indie group has little of the corporate backing of Mirror, but tickets to two of their upcoming performances nonetheless sold out in just minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kitty Ho, a cultural commentator and recent Mirror convert, said the boy band had allowed Hong Kongers to realise they can still produce “Asia’s best” music acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kongers, she said, don’t need to look overseas to find musical inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These 12 men, coming right out of us, are capable too.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

su\/jta\/gle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the middle of a Hong Kong shopping mall, hundreds of people are excitedly screaming and chanting. But this is not a recent democracy protest.  Instead the crowd has gathered for the latest boy band frenzy sweeping the troubled city, where many are desperate for both a happy escape and a source of local pride. The occasion is an appearance by Edan Lui, one of the 12 members of local band Mirror who have taken Hong Kong by storm, who has arrived to promote an animated kids’ movie screening in local theatres. A glass-shattering scream erupts as he takes the stage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment-destinations"],"yoast_head":"\n