Morning commuters, all wearing face masks, swarmed the Central MTR station on March 2, 2020, when civil servants returned to their offices after the Lunar New Year holiday. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

The repealing of the local government’s mask mandate — in force for almost two and a half years —marks a significant step. The lifting of the mask mandate, the last of the pandemic-related restrictions, serves as a visual metaphor of the city’s future. Hong Kong has opened up to the world, and is flashing a wide smile while it’s at it. Through China Daily photographers’ lenses, the days when we lived behind a mask already seem like distant memories.

Members of a community alliance to fight the novel coronavirus distribute free face masks to cleaners in Fanling on Feb 14, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

Hong Kong residents form a long line outside a drugstore in Tsim Sha Tsui on Feb 3, 2020, to buy face masks as a precaution against the novel coronavirus. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

A woman and a child collect free masks distributed by the Hong Kong Coalition in Sheung Wan on May 9, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

A new factory for making face masks started operating in Hong Kong on March 17, 2020, when there was a shortage of the protective coverings after demand and prices had spiked in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau announced on June 30, 2020, that the government would deliver masks free of charge to all residential addresses in Hong Kong. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

A couple take off their masks to share a kiss on the Peak on Feb 14, 2020. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

A man and a woman with masks lowered eat ice cream in a park on May 24, 2021. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

A man with his mask removed takes a break in front of a theater-drama advertising billboard in Tsim Sha Tsui on Feb 28, 2023, the last day that the mask mandate was in effect in Hong Kong. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

A woman chooses various masks at a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui on Feb 28, 2023. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

A man covers his eyes with his face mask to catch some sleep in a park in Tseung Kwan O on Feb 13, 2023. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)