History
| Home-Visiting Certificate for Compatriots from Hong Kong and Macau | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-1999 permit. | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 港澳同胞回鄉證 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 港澳同胞回乡证 | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Before the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong and Macau, 'home-return permits' were issued to any ethnic Chinese person in those territories.
Prior to 1999, permits were called Home-Visiting Certificate for Compatriots from Hong Kong and Macau and resembled passports. These booklets were considered inconvenient, because they were large and cumbersome to carry around. Furthermore, the booklets were also found to be inefficient because they could only be used at manned checkpoints where a manual stamp could only be made by an immigration official. Thus they are being phased out as residents replace them upon expiration.
In 1999, the permit was changed into its current card and the official name has changed from 'Home-Visiting Certificate for Compatriots from Hong Kong and Macau' to the current name.
Read more about this topic: Home Return Permit
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of his present majesty, is a history of unremitting injuries and usurpations ... all of which have in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Don’t you realize that this is a new empire? Why, folks, there’s never been anything like this since creation. Creation, huh, that took six days, this was done in one. History made in an hour. Why it’s a miracle out of the Old Testament!”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)
“This above all makes history useful and desirable: it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.”
—Titus Livius (Livy)