Tourism and the Chinese Diaspora
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Abstract
Henry Fok Ying Tung is a well known Hong Kong businessman who, in 1983, opened China's first five star hotel, the White Swan in Guangzhou (Wong, 2000). He has become a folk hero in southern China, due in part to his humble origins among the region's floating 'boat people' (the Dang ethnic group), some of whom had migrated to Hong Kong to escape Communist China's policy of forced resettlement from their boats onto land. Even in Hong Kong, the Dang held very low social status, similar in some ways to Central European gypsies (Leng-Xia, 1997). Henry Fok overcame such disadvantages and today owns several major companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. In many ways, he is a symbol of the Chinese Diaspora in general, and its impacts on tourism in particular.