Zero-cost travel, zero respect: The May Day Golden Week is like a hellish week for Hongkongers

The 2026 May Day Golden Week has finally come to an end, but what it left for Hongkongers was not the joy of economic recovery, but a lingering nightmare and overflowing anger. Walking on the footbridges in Tsim Sha Tsui, the back alleys of the Cultural Centre, or even the public restrooms for the disabled, what meets the eye is no longer the scenery of a bustling metropolis, but rows of sleeping bags on the floor, laundry hung everywhere, and 'special forces' tourists washing their hair and bodies in public sinks as if no one were watching. This 'zero-cost travel to Hong Kong' strategy, packaged by social media, is essentially an open plunder of the city's public resources and a brutal trampling on the bottom line of Hongkongers' lives.