I actually find HK people on the whole quite friendly and have felt welcome the whole time I have lived here. You get the odd arsehole here and there, but the same could be said about any location that one lives in. I don't subscribe to, nor do I expect everybody to get along etc. Having lived here so long, I feel I have a pretty good handle of the Hongkie culture and often get people saying hi, or good morning to me, when I walk around my neighbourhood, or crack jokes with shop keepers that I regularly patron. To be honest my experience here is a pretty positive and well received one..
I will give our mainland cousins a bit of a pat on the back, I recently had to train it in an hour away from Lo wu to get a custom made 1 foot high stainless steel, backlit house number made for the street side wall of our house. Try as I might, I gave up trying to get it sourced/made in HK as it was like trying to build a pyramid, they either couldnt do it or couldn't assure me on quality.....so i subsequently gave up looking in HKG.. I eventually found a very large company on the outskirts of Shenzhen to make it for me instead.
My experience with dealing with that SZ company was amazing, very professional, they picked me up from the metro station in their brand new VW passat, drove me to their factory 15 minutes away and to be honest, they put HK business to shame as to how easy they were to deal with. Once they were clear about what I wanted, I paid them in full in RMB, and they delivered the completed item a week later, all pre wired ready for me to install on my wall, with a drill location template included and everything required to bolt it to the wall. I was SOOOO happy with what I received !!!! The quality was top notch and once it was installed, it looked a million bucks! I also noticed that things have really come along in SZ, just noticing the obvious improvement in how people dress today and the overall behaviour, compared to when I last visited 5 years ago, the obvious financial improvements to peoples lives there really has made a positive impact...
So, for a small percentage of you, you can continue to sledge mainlanders/Hongkies, if you like, ( I liken that personality trait with picking a fist fight with the weakest kid in the playground ) but in my opinion, I have never been treated badly often enough ( very rare ) for it to faze me to be honest. I have no problem with the respect is earned ideology either, as I live by the same rule, which is probably why I get on well in this dynamic city...
I am sure when we move to France full time, we will have to adapt to how things are culturally there, and will enjoy every minute of it, regardless of what those that scream the loudest about, racism, discrimination, the inequities of the world blah blah blah, I find it is those people who shout it the loudest, are far too expectational, if not just plain snippy/demanding as people ... Water off a ducks back in my view..