China's President Xi Jinping arrived on Thursday ahead of celebrations on Saturday to mark 20 years since Hong Kong was returned to his country by Britain.
He's also in the city to swear in its new top leader Carrie Lam.
Celebrations were taking place all over the city, but some were mourning the anniversary, concerned that China was increasingly encroaching on Hong Kong's autonomy.
The event was significant for Lam Wing-Kee, who doesn’t leave his home without wearing a baseball cap and mask.
The former bookseller has good reason to be vigilant. In October 2015 he went missing while travelling from Hong Kong to the mainland.
“When they detained me they didn’t tell me why or how long for. Sometimes they told me I’d spend my life in prison without anybody knowing," he told SBS World News.
Bookseller Lam Wing-Kee stands outside his closed store (SBS) Source: SBS News
"I didn’t know what was happening in the outside world. I felt very lonely and helpless.”
Mr Lam was imprisoned in Ningbo, in China’s east, for almost eight months before being released.
He was accused of smuggling anti-Chinese government literature into the mainland, though he was never formally tried.
The 61 year-old said he was forced to make a confession and sign a form saying he wouldn’t tell his family what had happened, or hire a lawyer.
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But just days after his return, he went public with his story to Hong Kong press, and he has been speaking about the ordeal ever since.
“I’m careful these days, but I’m not afraid. You have to stand up for justice, you can’t stay silent," he said.
"My arrest doesn’t just concern me. It’s also about the influence of the mainland on Hong Kong’s governance. If no one speaks out, there’s no hope for Hong Kong."
The bookstore in Hong Kong’s Causeway has be shut down and padlocked.
Politically sensitive materials have been taken away. Notes of support remained scribbled on the shop’s door and sign.
The bookseller is just one of Hong Kong’s residents planning to join the pro-democracy marches on July 1.
“20 years ago, I never thought that Hong Kong would become like this," he said.
"In the past Hong Kong enjoyed a division of power. Hong Kong no longer enjoys judicial independence.
“We’ll greet President Xi with protest. We’ll remind him to keep his promise to Hong Kong.”
Ceded to the UK after the Opium wars of the 19th century, Hong Kong was returned to Beijing in 1997. Part of the deal was the assurance of democracy, and eventual universal suffrage. But many believe China has not kept its end of the bargain.
“People are very concerned about the erosion of civil liberties in Hong Kong. Every aspect of our freedom, from our free press and our freedom to protest or to publish is under threat,” said Jason Ng, an author and Hong Kong columnist.
“The arrest of the booksellers was a watershed moment. Before we thought we were protected in Hong Kong, but that showed we had a false sense of security."
Hong Kong’s constitution, the Basic law, declares that mainland authorities do not have jurisdiction in Hong Kong.
The election of Beijing-backed chief executive Carrie Lam in March sparked debate about Beijing’s grip over the special administrative region.
“I feel cheated, 20 years on we don’t have democracy,” former lawmaker Martin Lee said.
The founding chairman of the Democratic Party and contributor to the Basic law said the mainland began to interfere with the city’s development of democracy in 2003.
“Those promises were not just made to the people of Hong Kong, but the international community," he said.
"We want China to implement, really implement, the two systems part of 'one-country, two-systems'. They must learn to trust Hong Kong people."
“It’s one country, 1.5 systems. The 20th anniversary of the handover is nothing to be celebrated,” shouted pro-democracy activist Nathan Law during a protest at Hong Kong’s golden Bauhunia, an iconic symbol of the city and gift from Beijing.
Two dozen activists, including Umbrella movement leader Joshua Wong, by-passed guards to chain themselves to the monument on Wednesday evening.
The action was criticised by pro-Beijing lawmaker Holden Chow in parliament the following day.
“One would expect challenges and conflicts to arise in the course of implementing the one-country two-systems principle," Mr Chow said.
"But how will we solve it? Amicably or by stirring conflict? The pan-democrats always blow things out of proportion, it doesn’t do anyone any good."
He pointed to Hong Kong’s prosperity and economic development as an indication of the one country two systems policy was working well.
Hong Kong lawmaker and mainland loyalist Holden Chow (SBS) Source: SBS News
“The pan-democrats relentlessly demonise China,” Mr Chow said.
“I suggest they stop attempting to ruin the relationship between Hong Kong and mainland China.”
Referring to Chow’s comments, Martin Lee said: “These kind of people seem to suggest that if Hong Kong does not have any dissenting voices at all, (they'll) always be an obedient little boy, then daddy will give you more candies. It’s very naïve.”
Jason Ng believed the only way to ease tensions in Hong Kong was for both sides to step back.
“We’re caught in this endless circle of escalation. The more Beijing tries to tighten its control in Hong Kong, the more people, especially young people, try to push back," he said.
"And that in turn makes Hong Kong appear more ungovernable. I think Beijing will quickly find out the moment it takes its foot off the gas pedal, the other side will respond in kind. They will de-escalate as well.”
