Hearts connected across regions

As ties deepen between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, young people lead the way in forging new bonds.

Just before the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China on July 1, 32-year-old Lam Chak-kai from Hong Kong celebrated his seventh wedding anniversary with his wife, who is from Quanzhou, Fujian province.

In 2012, Lam enrolled at Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) in Guangdong, the neighboring province of Hong Kong. At the time, however, students from the two regions were unfamiliar with each other's social media platforms. To bridge the gap, Lam took a more traditional approach — he carried around a small notebook and asked new friends to write down their names and phone numbers.

"I probably looked a little strange," Lam laughed. "But it helped me connect with people from all kinds of backgrounds."