Hong Kong has felt increasingly tense in the last few weeks. I’m not going to talk about the protests and their reasons here because, though I have formed my impressions, I’m not really qualified and it feels a little patronising from someone with the privilege of being able to leave if life changes too much for the worse. If at all, I’ll describe my feelings from an inexpert point of view elsewhere. In any case, it’s complicated.

The MTR network was shut down almost completely for the previous bank holiday weekend resulting in lockdown even here in sleepily suburban DB. When we did venture out to counter our cabin fever, we found an almost deserted Central district where restaurants and shops were closed because no deliveries had been possible for the last few days.

I’d wanted to buy some plants for our front steps to try and soften the harsh, dour look of too much concrete in too small a space. There are plant nurseries just around the bay but, without a car or golf buggy to transport them, we rely on shops willing to deliver to us often at vast expense.

Fa Yuen Street 花園 between Prince Edward and Mongkok is the place to go for plants and it proved a green lung of living hope amid the destruction and anger of the past weeks. I’ve tried to shown in these pictures the contrast between the eruption of simmering resentment and anger against those in power and concern for the future, and people going about their daily business: shopping, meeting up with friends; travelling around on the subway as they must and living in the present. Disturbances recommenced in this area about an hour after I took the pictures at the station.

It’s always struck me how people living in war zones must try and balance their fear of being caught up in violence with the business of feeding their children; finding clean water; going to school; doing the laundry and this post, in a small way, attempts that conversation.