Hong Kong is in the fight of its life—but don’t underestimate the city’s Lion Rock spirit

The idea of the “Lion Rock spirit”—of thriving in the face of bitter adversity—entered the collective imagination with a 1970s TV series about the lives of working-class residents living below the city’s iconic Lion Rock mountain, whose contours resemble the animal. The specter of losing its freedoms has never been far from Hong Kong’s consciousness, given that its special status is set to end in 2047—and there are many signs that the turning point is coming sooner than expected. The odds were longer this time that Hong Kong could pull off a repeat of 2003, when its leaders, faced with demonstrations, abandoned a law to punish a host of political crimes.