China Leads the Way in Mobile Payments

Scan the QR code, input your password and presto! You've paid the bill

China is way ahead of Hong Kong when it comes to paying without having to take out your wallet.

And I'm not talking about using the Octopus card either.

CNN's Will Ripley demonstrated this by going to a small stall that sells jianbing -- a giant thin omelet filled with various ingredients and then folded up to eat like a sandwich -- and paid for it by scanning the QR code with his smartphone on the shop door.

This payment system can be extended to large stores, taxis, and even utility bills.

To put this into context, almost 10 years ago when I was in Beijing, I had to walk over to the management office and buy electricity and gas before using it. I would know if I ran out if my air conditioner suddenly didn't work or didn't have hot water in the shower.

And paying rent? I had to physically take out cash from my bank account from where I did banking and then bring it to my landlord's institution and deposit the large wad of cash into his account.

CNN's Will Ripley with Gu Yu of Mileslife

These days people can pay their bills and even their rent with a click of a button on WeChat or Alipay their smartphones.

Gu Yu is the co-founder of a new payment app called Mileslife where users can share a taxi and split the bill at the end.

He explains that because China's credit card system is not lucrative, the Chinese have skipped credit cards and moved onto mobile payments.

The benefits are obvious -- no need to carry cash around, particularly in China where the biggest denomination is 100 yuan, electronic receipts and easily keeping tabs on spending.

So why doesn't Hong Kong move into this direction? When the Octopus card came out in 1997, it seemed so revolutionary at the time, being able to use it for all forms of public transport and buy items with it and pay for parking.

But is that all Hong Kong can do when it comes to electronic payments?

Is the Octopus card the best that Hong Kong can do?

As Alipay is run by Alibaba and WeChat by Tencent, the banks here would obviously want a piece of the action, which is probably why the city doesn't have this service now. And besides people obsessed with collecting air miles/points/cash rebates on their credit cards may find it hard to switch...

But aren't mobile payments the future? Or are we waiting for the rest of the world to get on the band wagon before we do?

Interesting that in terms of mobile payments, China is the leader with estimated retail sales on smartphones rose to 85 percent to around US$334 billion in 2015, according to research firm eMarketer. That makes the Chinese market more than four times the size of the United States'.

Mind boggling.

Wellington Street's Changing Face

The bustling La Piola is no more on the ground floor

Yesterday I walked from Central to Sheung Wan along Wellington Street and saw so many changes, it made me wonder if I have been paying attention or not.

First off -- the restaurant La Piola at 8 Lyndhurst Terrace is no more. I heard it was going to be shut down, but to see the bare bones of the place left was sad. It used to be packed full of people all the time, particularly in the evenings, and so it was shocking to see it empty and lifeless.

An abandoned shell of a building

I'd only had drinks at the place once, and was impressed the location really did entice the older crowd from Lan Kwai Fong to Lyndhurst Terrace, less than a 10 minute walk away.

And then further down Wellington Street at Graham Street, there was a very old Chinese building that I never noticed before. It stood on its own, next to it an empty lot waiting to be redeveloped.

This three-storey building probably has an owner but no one has been able to contact them. That is the case of many buildings in the city that look like they could crumble at any moment, but they are left alone assuming the owner is still around. There should be some policy about absentee landlords...

Then I saw a cute little bakery called Dreams. The Bread on 97A Wellington Street. Inside it had a few items that were definitely different from other ones like small cubed loafs of different colours, loafs of chocolate rye bread and buns shaped like mini pumpkins.

The croissant and cranberry cube loaf

I bought a cranberry cube loaf (HK$9) and the intriguing pomelo croissant (HK$15) and tried them at home.

The cranberry one was fantastic. Inside were swirls of dried cranberry inside, a bit sweet and addictive.

I thought I bought a pomelo croissant so I was surprised to find it was plain, but now I see on my receipt it was just a classic croissant. It was mislabeled in the bakery!

The croissant was hardly flaky like the French ones, so this one wasn't particularly interesting. But if I go by Wellington Street again, I'll be sure to try the other cube loafs like green tea and black sesame.

The croissant hardly flaky, the mini loaf sweet and delicious

At the bottom of Wellington Street there was for a short time a restaurant called Black Kettle that tried to be creative in incorporating black ingredients in its western dishes, but alas, the concept wasn't strong enough, and the food was just average.

Less than a year later it has been replaced with Noodle... LAH. I had seen the shop space was being renovated but now it's open.

The changing face of Hong Kong -- presented in one street.

Beijing's Scare Tactics

Lee Po seems to praise the mainland whenever the media ask questions

We're all still shaking our heads over how the missing bookseller incident came about and how it ended is still a mystery.

Whenever Lee Po was accosted by local media, he would say such pro-China statements -- coming from someone who used to publish books criticizing the Communist Party -- that they were too bizarre to accept.

In the latest twist to the story, a publisher who knows Lee Po, has come out to say that mainland agents had visited him three decades ago when he went back into the publishing business.

Publisher Lau Tat-man says mainland agents visit regularly

And during the height of the missing booksellers incident, the same agents visited Lau Tat-man three times in the span of a month.

He claimed they were from the Guangdong State Security Department and were investigating his connection with Causeway Bay Books.

"They told me the public security department was very angry about the banned books business and that I could be the mastermind behind the five booksellers in question and take advantage of their downfall to expand my business," Lau said.

Lau says he's speaking out now because his wife has been detained by Dongguan authorities since October 24 -- the same day and place one of the booksellers, Cheung Ping-chi, went missing. Lau hasn't heard from her since, nor have the mainland agents given him any updates about her.

The connection between him and Causeway Bay Books is interesting. Gui Minhai, who allegedly returned to the mainland to stand for charges of drunk driving many years ago, used to write for Lau on a freelance basis.

Gui and Lee also poached Lau's distribution staff, Lui Por and Cheung.

Mainland agents asked Lau about Causeway Bay Books

"I told the agents, they [Lui and Cheung] took all my business contacts and distribution data when they joined Gui and Lee. How can you accuse me of being behind their business?" he said.

The mainland agents contacted Lau again in mid-January, saying the Causeway Bay Books sellers had revealed information against Lau, and that he had expanded his banned books business (because Causeway Bay Books was not in operation).

"I told them, 'why don't you kidnap me to the mainland to sort things out?'," he recalled, adding that he'd been banned from getting a wui heung jing or return home permit to go there.

Hopefully media pressure will help Lau be reunited with his wife. But what did he do to have mainland agents visit him regularly, and detain his wife up from late October until now?

These stories just confirm Hong Kong people's fears about the mainland, making them even more concerned and worried about their future in the city, while getting no reassurances from the local government nor Beijing.

Is it not surprising then that the film Ten Years won best picture at last week's Hong Kong Film Awards, that there are more localist groups running for seats in the upcoming Legislative Council, that people get sensitive when simplified Chinese is used in the city?

What is Beijing's strategy to win the hearts and minds of Hong Kong people? Scaring them is hardly effective...

More CY Leung Family Drama

Leung Chung-yan (middle) almost left her bag at Hong Kong airport

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and his family are back in the spotlight again after an Apple Daily report the other day about his daughter leaving her luggage in a non-restricted area but she was about to board her flight to San Francisco on Marcy 28.

What makes this interesting is the differing accounts of the story.

Apple Daily reported -- complete with a copy of Cathay Pacific's internal memo -- that Leung was in touch with the airline's staff demanding that they help his daughter retrieve the luggage -- even though this is against airport security rules.

When Cathay staff addressed him as "Mr Leung", he apparently demanded they call him "Chief Executive Leung"...

The bag was finally brought to the gate by a Cathay staff

But the document did not document the telephone conversations.

However, his office claims he only heard about the luggage issue when he called his daughter to wish her a good flight, as it was his wife Regina who saw their daughter off at the airport.

It was then that he called airline staff, but only to find out how the luggage would meet up with her if she left on her flight. The CE's office also stated Mrs Leung never went to airport restricted areas, or the boarding gate area, nor did she wear any "special identity".

He also claims he didn't abuse his power, nor ask anyone to call him "Chief Executive Leung".

Another version of the story has come out that it was Mrs Leung who insisted that airport staff take the luggage, which was left in the immigration area and bring it to her daughter.

According to a Cathay log, Chung-yan was arguing with airport security Aviation Security Co (AVESCO) for more than 20 minutes.

"Leung [Chung-yan] asked us many times to claim her bag on her behalf from AVESCO," the log said.

Apparently Chung-yan left her bag at immigration

"She was aware time was running out [boarding had started] and she did not want to waste time going through immigration."

"At 00:05 on March 28, passenger's mother returned to the site and confirmed the bag belongs to her daughter," according to another entry.

"Mrs Leung said her daughter must board [the flight] with this bag."

While AVESCO staff tried to explain to Mrs Leung that the owner of the bag must personally retrieve it, the chief executive's wife apparently insisted on having things her way.

Then at 12.15am, a Cathay staff retrieved the bag with permission of AVESCO and by 12.23am, Chung-yan received it and immediately boarded the flight.

Which version do you believe?

The story is making the rounds on social media and already the court of public opinion has weighed in.

Wouldn't it be best if the facts were clarified as quickly as possible?