Sandwich Class Confronts Mainlanders Over Hong Kong’s Future

Wilson Wong is manning a barricade in the heart of Hong Kong, letting only emergency vehicles pass, when a purple Bentley drives up and tries to force its way through. As fellow protesters jump in front of the luxury car, two women get out and start yelling at them in Mandarin.

Immediately the tension escalates. Most Hong Kongers speak Cantonese. For Wong and his fellow students, Mandarin means mainlanders. Their anger reflects an underlying resentment fueling the city’s two-week-old protest: that the flow of people and wealth from across the border has strained the city’s services and driven the cost of a home out of reach of most.