Mid-Day

Manners have long been a source of tension in the southern Chinese city, with Hong Kongers routinely complaining about what they see as the unrefined social habits of their “nouveau-riche” mainland counterparts.

According to the Standard newspaper, the incident occurred over the Lunar New Year holiday at a time when mainland tourists flock in large numbers to shop in the former British colony, the Age reported.

The mother, who allowed her son to relieve himself in a bottle which she normally carries for such purposes, wrote in an online forum that she and her family got very depressed after a female waitress pointed out at them.

Meanwhile, her complaints met with little sympathy in Hong Kong, where locals have expressed a growing unease about their relationship with the mainland and its increasing financial and political influence.