Background

Hong Kong (Heng gng in Cantonese,

meaning fragrant harbour) is a place with
muluple personaliues, as a result of being
both Cantonese Chinese and under a more
recent contemporary ex-Briush inuence.
Today, the former Briush colony is a major
tourism desunauon for China's increasingly
a uent mainland populauon. It is also an
important hub in East Asia with global con-
necuons to many of the world's ciues. It is a
unique desunauon that has absorbed people
and cultural inuences from places as di-
verse as Vietnam and Vancouver and proudly
proclaims itself to be Asia's World City.
The Hong Kong Special Administrauve Re-
gion (SAR) of the People's Republic of China
is much more than a harbour city. The trav-
eller weary of its crowded streets may be
tempted to describe it as Hong Kongcrete.
Yet, this territory with its cloudy mountains
and rocky islands is mostly a rural landscape.
Much of the countryside is classied as
Country Park and, although 7 million people
are never far away, it is denitely possible to
nd pockets of wilderness that will reward
the more intrepid tourist.
Hong Kong has a subtropical climate with
at least one season to match your comfort
zone. Boasung one of the world's best air-
ports, it is the ideal stopover for those who
wish to travel deeper into the Orient.
While legally part of China, Hong Kong is se-
cluded from mainland China as a dependency
with a high degree of autonomy. Within the
PRC, the former colony has its own consutu-
uon which lays out its own laws, separate
immigrauon controls, nancial system and
is o cially bi-lingual (Cantonese and Eng-
lish). It also enjoys western-style freedoms
unheard of on the Chinese mainland. The
democrauc system and ideals of a free and
open society are rmly rooted here.
Hong Kong Island
This is the island that gives the territory Hong
Kong its name. Although it is not the largest
part of the territory, it is the place that many
tourists regard as the main focus. The parade
of buildings that make the Hong Kong skyline
has been likened to a gliuering bar chart that
is made apparent by the presence of the
waters of Victoria Harbour. To get the best
views of Hong Kong, leave the island and
head for the opposite Kowloon waterfront.
The great majority of Hong Kong Island's
urban development is densely packed on
reclaimed land along the northern shore.
This is the place the Briush colonisers took
as their own and so if you are looking for
evidence of the territory's colonial past, then
this is a good place to start. Victoria was once
the colony's capital but has been rebranded
with a more descripuve name, Central. Here
you will nd the machinery of government
grinding away much as it always has done,
except Beijing, not London, is the boss that
keeps a watchful eye. In the eye of the world,
there is no other city that serves as such a
great melung pot of culture.
Places of Interest
Hong Kong has many places for tourists to
enjoy such as:
Big Buddha
Mongkok Street Market
Cheung Chau Island
Lan Kwai Fong
Victoria Peak
Disneyland
Houc Kouc sk\tiur
Ltu Kwti Fouc, Crutett Sterrt Mtekrt, MoucKok
Culture
Hong Kong is frequently described as a place
where "East meets West", reecung the
culture's mix of the territory's Chinese roots
with inuences from its ume as a Briush
colony. Hong Kong balances a modernised
way of life with tradiuonal Chinese pracuces.
Concepts like feng shui are taken very seri-
ously, with expensive construcuon projects
oen hiring expert consultants, and are oen
believed to make or break a business. Other
objects like Ba gua mirrors are sull regularly
used to deect evil spirits, and buildings of-
ten lack any oor number that has a 4 in it,
due to its similarity to the word for "die" in
Cantonese. The fusion of east and west also
characterises Hong Kong's cuisine, where
dim sum, hot pot, and fast food restaurants
coexist with haute cuisine. There are a wide
variety of cuisines available all around.
Transport
Hong Kongs transportauon network is high-
ly developed. Over 90% of daily travels (11
million) are on public transport, the highest
such percentage in the world. Payment can
be made using the Octopus card, a stored
value system introduced by the Mass Transit
Railway (MTR), which is widely accepted on
railways, buses and ferries, and accepted like
cash at other outlets.
The citys main railway company (KCRC) was
merged with the urban mass transit operator
(MTR) in 2007, creaung a comprehensive rail
network for the whole territory (also called
MTR). This MTR rapid transit system has 152
stauons, which serve 3.4 million people a
day. Hong Kong Tramways, which has served
the territory since 1904, covers the northern
parts of Hong Kong Island. With a single ride
cosung only 2 HKD, it is denitely a cheap
and e cient method to get around the inner
parts of the city.
Hong Kongs bus service is franchised and
run by private operators. Five privately
owned companies provide franchised bus
service across the territory, together operat-
ing more than 700 routes. Double-decker
buses were introduced to Hong Kong in
1949, single-decker buses remain in use for
routes with lower demand or roads with
lower load capacity. Public light buses serve
most parts of Hong Kong, parucularly areas
where standard bus lines cannot reach or do
not reach as frequently, quickly, or directly.
IMAGE CREDIT GOES TO WWW.DISCOVERHONGKONG.COM, WWW.LANKWAIFONG.COM, AND NIKO CHEN
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