60341    "There is trepidation about the future due to the reversion of Hong Kong and pride about being liberated from British colonialism. Caught between these two emotions, many people were forced to make a practical decision. In short, this was different from those people who were searching for a better life on an individual level. The recent immigrants from Hong Kong are breaking the pattern of traditional Chinese immigration."

60342    Previous Chinese immigrants would put down roots in places like Toronto's Chinatown and after achieving some success move to the various suburbs, but the only identifiably Chinese community was found in Chinatown.

60343    The Hong Kong immigrants arriving in the '90s, however, transcended the boundaries of Chinatown.

60344    They bought houses in the northern part of the city, in places like Scarborough, North York and Richmond Hill, built shopping centers and rapidly established "Hong Kong Towns" in each area.

60345    The number of these Hong Kong Towns is still on the rise.

60346    In reality, these immigrants have eclipsed traditional patterns of immigration and created a "colony" of their native Hong Kong.

60347    Government statistics only account for the total number of immigrants of Chinese descent, so an accurate count of Hong Kong immigrants is impossible, but there are an estimated 350,000 in the greater Toronto area and 250,000 in the greater Vancouver area.

60348    In many of the public schools in Hong Kong Town neighborhoods over half of the student population is from Hong Kong, reflecting the regional concentration of Hong Kong immigrants.

60349    In the case of Toronto, the sudden appearance of Hong Kong Towns has not resulted in much social conflict.

60350    Rather, it appears they are being welcomed.

60351    The most compelling reason is the economic stimulation Hong Kong Towns contribute to low profile Toronto, Canada.

60352    The largest local Chinese language daily newspaper, the Sing Tao Daily, illustrates this point.

60353    Almost 80% of the approximately 30-page newspaper is devoted to advertising, and even so, ad space is insufficient.

60354    In October of last year it spent a total of six million Canadian dollars to construct a three-story editing and printing center.

60355    "We procured all of the funding locally. We borrowed from banks, but we did not once need support from the head office," chief editor Gu says proudly.