THOUSANDS of people turned up to watch a spectacular fireworks display over Victoria Harbour yesterday evening to celebrate Hong Kong's reunification with China.
Many also crowded round a waterfront building shaped like an upturned gin bottle to show their kids a rival attraction. This was the Prince of Wales barracks, the former British military headquarters now taken over by the People's Liberation Army.
The particular objects of their attention were two PLA guards, standing rigidly at attention beside a now redundant British notice saying "MOD property". The reaction was one of curiosity rather than hostility. "What's the gun they are holding?" a man asked a Hong Kong police officer, indicating their automatics. "I don't know," he said. "I was just asking my colleague."
After the dramatic 6 a.m. entry into Hong Kong of 4,000 Chinese troops yesterday, this was about all the ordinary Hong Kong people could see of the feared PLA.
The only other evidence of the new military power was a smartly turned- out PLA army band at a carnival to celebrate the return to China, and the honour guards at the handover ceremony, who matched the British for sharpness and discipline.
The entry of the PLA into Hong Kong was not, as British officials predicted, an invasion of Hong Kong by land, sea and air. It was a kinder, gentler PLA which came to town, not at all like the force which crushed the pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square in 1989, bringing one million Hong Kong people onto the streets in protest.
The white-gloved soldiers, who have taken courses in English and Cantonese, the Chinese language of Hong Kong, smiled and waved as they crossed the border at Lok Ma Chau in new vehicles adopted for right-hand drive in the former British colony. They did not brandish weapons.
When a flotilla of 10 warships steamed down the coastline to dock at Stonecutters Island on the north-western edge of Hong Kong harbour, the decks were lined with sailors saluting the people of Hong Kong and waving through a steady downpour.
Thousands of Hong Kong people turned out to greet them, many with garlands of flowers.
In 24 hours, the Chinese army has managed to begin to erase the legacy of Tiananmen Square, the images of which have defined it for eight years in the eyes of the world.
The sight of new armed personnel carriers was a brief reminder of darker days, but China has promised not to send PLA troops onto the streets of Hong Kong in armoured cars, the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, said yesterday, citing his Chinese counterpart, Mr Qian Qichen.
Mr Cook said Mr Qian told him explicitly that the defence role of the PLA was "solely external, not internal". Mostly they will stay in barracks, out of sight.
With China anxious to show Taiwan that the formula of one country two systems can work, President Jiang Zemin sent a message to the Hong Kong garrison, saying, "I hope you will abide by the laws so as to establish a reputation as a powerful and civilised force".
The PLA chief of general staff, Gen Fu Quanyou, told the troops to love the people of Hong Kong. "You should be civilised and courteous," he told them as they prepared to cross the border, adding, "You should also forget about fame and fortune when you get there".