Yacht people is a slang term for the wealthy residents of Hong Kong who fled the city in the 1980s and 1990s, prior to the city's return to Chinese rule in 1997. The term is a deliberate contrast to the poor "boat people" who fled southeast Asia (most notably Vietnam) in the 1970s. One of the destinations for the yacht people was Vancouver, Canada.
This term has also been used for rich Kuwaiti who fled their country upon the Iraqi invasion.
Famous quotes containing the words yacht and/or people:
“I’ve given parties that have made Indian rajahs green with envy. I’ve had prima donnas break $10,000 engagements to come to my smallest dinners. When you were still playing button back in Ohio, I entertained on a cruising trip that was so much fun that I had to sink my yacht to make my guests go home.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)
“Whenever [Leonard Bernstein] entered or exited a country he would fill in on his passport form not composer or conductor, but musician. Of course people in the press spent a lot of Lenny’s life telling him what he should have done; he should have been a concert pianist, he should have composed more.... And people wouldn’t let him live his own life. But he created his own career, in his own image.”
—John Mauceri (b. 1945)