There have been endless attempts to find out what adults in Hong Kong think about the territory's impending reversion to Chinese rule. But rarely does anyone ask how kids see things. So Time invited students to design a postcard in the form of a magazine cover expressing their feelings about their home town in this historic year. With the help of the Hong Kong Education Department, we sent entries to the territory's schools. The response was overwhelming. Teachers phoned to ensure we had received their class' submissions; some parents delivered their children's entries personally. Kids called to see if we would accept certain, more ambitious art forms. One of the winners, right, was actually a collage of cut-outs, pasted to the page. In the end, we received more than 2,000 colorful and creative pieces of art.

So what do local kids think about Hong Kong these days? These winning entries provide a taste. The visions tended to be upbeat, striking a note of celebration. One or two depicted British faces in tears; a few showed Governor Chris Patten and Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa shaking hands. But most tried, as we have in this magazine, to capture the Hong Kong they love. Following are winning entries for age groups 3-6, 7-9; and 10-12.

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