Hong Kong, June 30 (PA) It's 3am in Hong Kong's nightlife entertainment district of Lan Kwai Fong and the only thing that stops the party is the heavy rain.

Thousands of revellers are crowded into the narrow but well-policed streets of The Fong.

Flags, particularly of China and Britain, are very much a part of the dress code of anybody who is anybody, although some go further and wear and carry large flags.

Bernard Neal, 50, originally from Herne Bay in Kent, has been interviewed by several TV crews in the course of the evening for waving a large Chinese flag while wearing a T-shirt that reads: "Free Tibet Now" in both English and Chinese characters.

"I'm really pleased that Hong Kong is going back to the Chinese people," said Neil, who adds that the Government is irrelevant.

He says he has worn his T-shirt for irony and to get people to think about the issue of Tibet.

"You get them to agree what a disgusting thing the takeover of Hong Kong was in the first place: then you raise Tibet."

Bernard had his picture taken next to one of the new sentries from the Chinese People's Liberation Army outside the Prince of Wales Barracks which they had taken over just minutes before.

"When I stood there wearing it, I saw the guy's eyes flickering so he was reading it," says Bernard.

Across the street from Bernard a young man with a group of friends is carrying a large Hong Kong flag which he claims he's looking after for a friend who disappeared when he went to buy cigarettes.

Asked why he's carrying the flag, Nathaniel Greene, 24, says at first that it's "just for a laugh", but adds moments later: "Because we grew up here and we've benefited a lot - we hope it will continue."

Greene, whose family have lived in Hong Kong since 1973 says he does not think there is much future there for him before explaining that his specialisation as an engineer is not really needed in Hong Kong.

However, his sister Patricia Greene, 22, says she would quite like to move to Hong Kong if the marketing company she works for had a job in Hong Kong.

"I'd be quite happy here," Ms Greene says, adding that she and her family and friends "would be perfectly happy if Hong Kong continues as it is".