In 1997 many were hoping that integration of the open and free territory of Hong Kong into the People’s Republic at some point would lead to a process of democratization in China. Who would have believed back then that only six years later Beijing would send a team of officials down to Hong Kong to talk to local leaders and residents and find out why many are so concerned over the recently shelved anti-subversion laws and to collect ideas for what to do next. If the Chinese leadership is really climbing down from its ivory tower and is starting to listen to its citizens, things are really changing in the Middle Kingdom.