ASIAN CITY
JUNE 3, 2022
Some Basic Facts Of Hong Kong
Learn some basic facts of Hong Kong before you visit the city to have better knowledge of “The Pearl Of The East”.
• Hong Kong under British rule / British Hong Kong refers to the area of Hong Kong as a crown colony and then a British Dependent Territory under British rule from 1841-1997.
• “The Pearl of the East” is the nickname given to the City of Hong Kong. The theory says that Hong Kong is a city in Asia that does not have natural resources that is able to develop rapidly until it has become one of the most important cities.
• The name Hong Kong comes from the word “Heung Kong” which means “harmful port”. In the Cantonese dialect it is known as “Heung Gong” which means port of fragrance. As for Kowloon which means “Nine Dragons”. However, Hong Kong’s nickname as a kingdom of thieves is also not wrong. Because when the traders from Portugal came in the 16th century. Hong Kong is a collection of fishing and agricultural villages.
• The territory of Hong Kong includes a group of small islands not far from mainland China. Until 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony, which was then ceded to China. Since then, Hong Kong and China have become one country with two systems.
• The territory of Hong Kong is thought to have been inhabited by humans since Neolithic times but was only widely known when Hong Kong was handed over to Great Britain after the Opium Wars in the 19th century. Earlier in 1513, the Portuguese sailor Jorge Alvares, became the first European to visit Hong Kong.
• In the Peking Convention of 1860 following the Second Opium War, the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutter’s Island were ceded to the United Kingdom while the New Territories, including Lantau Island, were leased to Britain for 99 years starting 1 July 1898 and ending 30 June 1997.
• After being occupied by Japan during World War II (1941–45), Britain regained control of Hong Kong until June 30, 1997. As a result of negotiations between China and Britain, Hong Kong was ceded to the People’s Republic of China through the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984.
• Ahead of Hong Kong’s return to China, Deng Xiaoping, China’s leader at the time, promised to implement the “one country, two systems” concept. The concept gives the Hong Kong government autonomy such as the legal system, currency, customs, immigration, road regulations which continue to run on the left, except for matters concerning national defense and diplomatic relations which are still handled by the central government in Beijing. In other words, the concept ensures that Hong Kong remains on the capitalist system, and China remains in the socialist system.
• With a population of 7.43 million (2018), Hong Kong is a developed “country” and is one of the world’s financial centers. Their economy is a mix of capitalist and service economy.
• Hong Kong is known as a global trading hub and calls itself an “entertainment hub”. Martial arts-themed films gained immense popularity in the late 1960s and 1970s. Several Hollywood actors, famous actors and martial artists hail from Hong Kong, such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung and Jet Li.
• Hong Kong is the third most important financial center after New York and London. A services-based economy, characterized by low taxes and free trade, and the country’s currency (the Hong Kong Dollar) is the eighth most traded currency in the world.
• According to Emporis, there are 1,233 skyscrapers in Hong Kong, placing it as the city with the most skyscrapers in the world. This high population density is due to less vacant land available, and the average distance between the coast and the steep mountains on Hong Kong Island is 13 km (8.1 mi) much of it also from reclaimed land.
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