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一 Ten is not just a number. For Hong Kong, it means change. That change began 10 years ago on July 1, 1997, when Hong Kong was returned to the mainland. A year later, putonghua became a major subject in middle schools there. Street chatter now is trilingual: Cantonese, English and putonghua. But language is just one of the many changes. Over the past 10 years, the flow of people has left its mark, especially on the young people. The first sign is in the job market before 2006, about 10,000 young professionals from the mainland found jobs in Hong Kong. At the same time, around 240,000 Hong Kong residents had worked or were working on the mainland. More than 60 percent of them were aged 23 to 25, according to official statistics. Geng Chun, 26, a native of northern China, managed to start his own IT business after completing his university degree in Hong Kong three years ago. “I like Hong Kong,” Geng said. “Hong Kong needs us. We’re young, well-educated and energetic.” Education is the next thing to change. After the return, more people from both the mainland and Hong Kong began crossing the border to get an education. According to China’s Ministry of Education, in 2006, 914 Hong Kong students were admitted to mainland universities. In all, 7060 studied in the mainland that year. Before that time, Hong Kong students were rarely seen in mainland schools. There was a growth on the other side as well. In the early 1990s, about 100 mainland students went to Hong Kong every year to study. Last year, 1300 studied in Hong Kong universities. Besides social and cultural changes in Hong Kong, business exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong have greatly increased. According to a Xinhua report, by the end of 2006, the mainland’s total investment in Hong Kong had reached $40 billion since 1997, which makes up 57 percent of all investments to places outside the mainland. “We have many clients from the mainland, and actually, they are becoming our biggest group of clients,” s