Hong Kong entered 2023 with Covid-related restrictions still in place. It was not until February that the city’s border with mainland China fully reopened, and it was March before the mask mandate was lifted.
In the months that followed, Hong Kong celebrated a series of post-pandemic firsts: the first Ramadan without restrictions on how many people could sit around a table together; the first mask-free Songkran, which ended with arrests after police officers were shot with water guns; and the first Tiananmen crackdown anniversary since restrictions on the number of people who could gather were lifted, which saw people stopped by police over candles, clothes and slogans.
The year also saw fireworks return to Victoria Harbour for China’s National Day for the first time since 2018, successive extreme weather events, and Hong Kong’s first “patriots-only” District Council poll, which resulted in the lowest-ever turnout for an election in post-Handover Hong Kong.
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