Mainlanders frequent a memorial to Tiananmen

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 05 June, 2012, 12:00am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 05 June, 2012, 12:00am

Most mainland tourists head to Hong Kong for the shops, but a few are venturing away from the malls to see something they won't find at home: a museum for a dark chapter in modern Chinese history.

The museum was set up by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China in a first-floor flat in Yu Chau Street, Sham Shui Po.

It remains the only institution in China commemorating the June 4 crackdown in Tiananmen Square.

One visitor was a Beijing student who gave her name as Selina.

'I think the truth should be made known,'' she said. ''Many people outside Beijing don't know what happened'.

She was born in 1989, the year of the crackdown, and said she was previously sceptical about the cause advocated by the students. Her parents told her the crackdown had brought chaos to Beijing, leaving them unable to buy milk for her.

Her visit to the June 4 Museum changed her opinion.

'Now I know why the students were protesting ... There should not have been any violence,'' she said.

The display outlines the events leading up to the crackdown and how it unfolded. It also showcases leaflets circulated by the students and black-and-white photographs of dead protesters and bullet cartridges used by soldiers.


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