>>24
While I agree that Mandarin is becoming even more of a Lingua Franca in China, I'm not sure I think Shanghai is overtaking Hong Kong as a financial center. Granted, Shanghai has more ready access to the booming manufacturing, but I think Hong Kong's greater freedoms, both economic and political, mean its position as top dog will not really be threatened until the CCP actually liberalizes, and doesn't decide to pull stunts like randomly arresting foreign national CEOs when their business does something the government doesn't like.