Exiting the airport is usually a simple business — but those arriving after the closure announcement were facing long, chaotic waits for transport options
In the latest escalation, officials on August 12 took the extraordinary measure of closing Hong Kong International Airport, where crowds of demonstrators had gathered. All departing flights were canceled.
Exiting the airport, which is located on Lantau Island, about 35 kilometers from downtown, is usually a simple business — but those arriving after the closure announcement were facing long, chaotic waits for transport options. HKIA's closure is the latest development in nearly three months of increasingly violent protests in Hong Kong about a now-shelved extradition to China bill. That controversy has sparked a deepening political crisis which has, at times, brought parts of the city to a standstill.
"My feeling is that as long as we avoided the protest area we would be safe," she said."However, in light of the changes since we've been there I'm maybe more concerned about coming back, given the fact that protests seem to have escalated." Meanwhile, tourists have been posting pictures on social media of themselves in front of the countless Lennon Walls that have sprung up around the city. The colorful displays of Post-it notes with inspirational messages for the protest movement are named after the 1980s Prague mural of the same title, which was covered in Beatles-inspired lyrics of dissent against the Communist government.
At the beginning of the protest movement, at least, most marches took place on Sundays on pre-planned routes. While those marches took over some of the biggest highways on Hong Kong Island, they were easy to avoid and largely peaceful. The violence has at times spilled over into the city's trendy Sai Ying Pun and Sheung Wan districts, two heavily residential areas near the city center with restaurants, bars and boutique hotels popular with tourists, and a stone's throw from the ferry terminal to Macao.
Roads have at times been closed, bus lanes blocked and tram lanes brought to a standstill when protests have taken over some of the city's main streets. Subway stations have also been temporarily shut and train lines suspended in areas where protests have been concentrated.
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