"Cosmopolitan City" a Hong Kong Travel Page by NoFuture

Today HK is a flourishing international centre which is compact and accessible. Hong Kong is located in South-East Asia, below China. It has an area of 1100km/2 with a population of 6.8 million people of which 95% are Chinese. It is an SAR (Special Administrative Region) of China, which consists of;

* Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon peninsula, which are densely populated and where most of the trade and business occur.
* The New Territories, north of Kowloon and extending up to Shenzhen River, which are less densely populated and have some countryside areas.
* Lantau Island, the second largest island after HK Island, where HK International Airport/Chek Lap Kok is found, plus a growing number of residential apartments are being built there. Disneyland Hong Kong is being completed there.
* Many other small outlying islands, where small fishing villages still exist.

Many parts of Hong Kong are built on reclaimed land, and the region is still being extended.

It is hilly to mountainous (a major tourist attraction being a mountain known as The Peak/Victoria Peak) with steep slopes, and there are lowlands in the north.

It has beaches and some countryside. It has a deep waters, allowing huge commercial ships to come for trade. (Though if they keep reclaiming land, they're not going to have a harbour anymore!). The major harbour is called Victoria Harbour. (Guess who it was named after...?)

It has a tropical monsoon climate; cool in winter, hot and rainy from spring through summer, with occasional typhoons, and is warm and sunny in autumn

Hong Kong’s flag is that of a tropical flower which grows there. The local currency is the Hong Kong Dollar, HKD.

The majority of Chinese people in Hong Kong, were from Canton, or Guangdong as it is known today, in China. This is why Cantonese is spoken more widely than Mandarin in Hong Kong.

Today the service industries; namely tourism and stock market trade, have taken over from manufacturing as HK's main enterprise. And while much of the manufacturing is now done across the border in China, HK is still one of the world's largest exporters.

Social programmes continue to raise the standard of living, which is comparable to that Western countries.

Hong Kong was originally an insignificant part of China, once described as being a "barren rock", simply a few fishing villages when taken by Britain in 1842 after the first Opium War with China.

HK Island was claimed by the British by the treaty of Nanking. The Kowloon Peninsula and other islands were taken in 1860.

In 1898 a 99 year lease was granted by China to Britain on the New Territories and the outlying islands. So, HK was a British colony from 1898 to 1997.

During the buildup of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), businesspeople were driven out of China, especially the ones who owned the most commercial companies.

Thus, in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, vast numbers of Chinese from mainland China came to HK to escape communism.

Many of the Chinese that fled China for HK were businessmen, merchants and intellectuals (many from Shanghai, the biggest port in China) who had supported the Guomintang; they were capitalists who fell in the civil war against the Communists.

Only those who were willing and determined to make a new life for themselves with the greater democratic freedom that could be found in HK left China, so HK had the “cream of the crop” of China’s business people. This was a solid foundation for business success in HK.

An influx of poorer refugees from China also came to HK in the '40s and this provided a cheap workforce for the economy.

The Japan-China War affected many HK Chinese, as the Japanese invaded HK as well as mainland China.

In the '50s and '60s, the British were very tight on controlling communist movements in HK, as these would threaten the capitalist nature of HK's economy and success.

HK was not so densely populated in the '50s, and it was not unusual to see fairly "low rise" buildings.

The Cultural Revolution started by Mao in 1966 spread from China to HK. The Little Red Book by Mao was banned by the British, but anti-British protests and demonstrations still happened. The British put an end to these severely, with violent means. However after this, a greater degree of order was restored.

In the 1980s and 90s, HK became ever more wealthy and new building projects sprung up. Skyscrapers grew up, as did an increase in high rise apartments.

The HK Chinese enjoyed a greater level of freedom than those in China, but this was limited by the British. The HK Chinese were not allowed to vote until the '90s, they were not allowed official government positions and in earlier days were not allowed to walk in the front door of certain buildings (banks, shops etc), these were reserved for whites. It was also harder for Chinese to obtain business licenses than it was for whites.

It has been through these various factors that HK has become so commercially successful; the businesspeople from China, the location and geography of HK, the way the British ruled.

China has always maintained that the three treaties which brought HK into existence were signed under pressure, and thus unjust. In 1984, the Joint Declaration signed by Britain and China agreed that the sovereignty of HK would revert back to China in 1997. HK, from July 1 1997, became an SAR of the PRC.

The Joint Declaration also states, that for 50 years after 1997, HK's lifestyle will remain unchanged. The territory will enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs, and China's communist system and policies will not be practiced in the SAR. The law in HK is based on English common law
This is known as “one country, two systems.” However, interestingly enough, HK has a separate olympics team from China.

There is actually an internal border dividing HK and China where there is strict passport control, but this is being gradually relaxed.

In the 1980s-1990s US and Japanese made up the majority of tourists. After SARS, many foreign tourists were put off going to HK. Now, mainland Chinese are becoming the majority of the tourists in HK.

HK is a unique place combining 150 years of British colonial influence and over 5000 years of Chinese tradition.

Cantonese is the main language spoken, though English is widespread and the use of Mandarins growing. Many studentsa opt to learn English and Mandarin, after these the most popular languages learnt by students are French and Japanese.

As I have explained on my homepage, HK is a very familiar place, almost a second home.

*Shopping-yes, this really is a brilliant place to shop, so much variety and choice and all in a small area. There are markets, malls, major international labels and more. There is no sales tax, which means that items are often lower priced than in other countries. You can buy almost anything in HK. Whether it's fashion, food, electronics or Chinese handicrafts, this is the place!

*HK is like a gateway to other asian countries (plus New Zealand and Aust.), you can easily organise a side trip to Tokyo, Thailand or wherever you feel like going.

*If you don't want to go far, you can take a train direct to Shenzhen to the China border.

*Dining-dubbed the "culinary capital of Asia", and for good reason. As with shopping there is a huge choice of foods, on every range of budgets. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Western etc etc.

*Transport-because the transport in HK is so cheap, fast and easy to use it is not hard to find your way around and see everything you want to see.

*Size-because it is so compact, you can do so many things without travelling too far. Beaches, mountains, countryside, remote fishing islands, city areas, harbour...

*Luxury hotels-if you can afford it, stay at one! HK has some of the best hotels in the world...