Overview

Whats up with Hong Kong?

Everything started, in an official manner, on January 25, 1841, moment when the British Flag was raised in Hong Kongs territory.

The flag waived on an island allocated in the delta of the Pearl River.
The territory that comprised the new British colony would remain under Anglo-Saxon administration for a hundred years with just a three year brake, during WWII.

The British control over the island would cease exactly on the midnight of July 1 st 1997.

Yet, Hong Kong was destined to be a different type of State. Since its return to Chinas government, it became a SAR (Special Administrative Region).

Whats up with Hong Kong

The meaning of the phrase (Since its name is not one single word) is Fragrant Harbor. It was ceded to Great Britain during the times of the Qing Dynasty in perpetuity. This occurred in 1842 under the signature of the Treaty of Nanking.

Geographical location
Hong Kong is normally identified as the little island 80 kms. away from Canton (Guangzhou), yet it is actually bigger than that (17.6 kms. W<E and 3.2 to 8 kms. N>S).
The SAR territory actually consists in three parts: 1) The Hong Kong Island; 2) The Kowloon peninsula; and 3) the New Territories. Kowloon is 12.8 km and was yielded to G.B. in 1860 under the Convention of Peking. The New territories were granted to the British in 1898, are 365 km and include 230 diminute outlying islands.

As of today, Hong Kong has a population of about 11 million people which makes its demographic density one of the highest in the whole world. It has not too many natural resources, but its geographical location makes it a strategic point to control. The weather is a typical one for the region in Asia: extremely hot and humid during summer and freezing cold in winter.

Once considered the oriental Paris, Hong Kong today is somehow peripheral to Beijing, politically speaking, and to Shanghai, in terms of commerce.

Hong Kongs role

Sun Yat-sen, who led the Chinese revolution that defeated the last Chinese Dynasty grew up and was raised in Hong Kong. Just as Wu Tingfang who is considered the father of modern Chinese Law.

Whats then the transcendence it has played in Chinas History if it was not a part of it as it was splendorous and now that it is Chinese its not the center of everything?

Hong Kongs role

The island served as well as a haven for Chinese refugees in many occasions. 1) The Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) 2) The Republican revolution (1911) 3) All along the world decadence of the 20s 4) During the Sino-Japanese War (1937) 5) After the Communist revolution (1949)

Hong Kong has been Chinas link to the world historically since the times of the Silk Road and the Mongols. Until recently, 90% of the Chinese emigrants fled through the island.
It was the main bridge to Chinas exportations Nowadays it is considered a major film producer.

It plays as well an enormous role in Chinas imports. Most of the immigrants that went to America or Southeast Asia enter through the door of Hong Kong.

After the communist revolution in 1949, Hong Kong, which remained capitalist, served as the base, ironically, of Chinas socialist economy. A huge amount of foreign money came to China through the island (and Taiwan).

During the Korean War, Hong Kong provided China with energy resources such as gas, kerosene, penicillin even if everything was smuggle due to the UN and American embargoes.

Hong Kong is a rare mixture of Chinese and British culture.

Even if foreigners and members of a different race are often seen in China as thieves or non-trust worthy people. At the same time, its British dominion, allowed Hong Kong to relate to other Asian-British cultures such as India, Malaya, Borneo and Labuan. Traditionally the British governor of Hong Kong belonged to the British Colonial Service and had served in other colonies before arriving to HK.

Particularly during the 1800s India and Hong Kong were tightly connected, mainly due to the trade of cotton and opium, just as by the regular passenger ship service. British soldiers in Hong Kong and many other were even paid in Rupees. Until the foundation of the Hong kong and Shangai Bank in 1864, most of the Western banks in Hong Kong and China were branches of the Anglo-Indian Bank.

Hong Kong and America

USA had as well much to do with Hong Kong in different moments of their existence. Since the early 1800s, America traded opium to China as well means of Hong Kong. The island had a major impact in the transpacific trade in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The American exports consisted in ginseng, flour, lumber and kerosene, while they exported while they imported silk, tea, rattan and human labor. Hong Kong served also as a speaker for capitalism in Asia during the Cold, Korean and Vietnam Wars.

After the Korean War, Hong Kong supplied USA with clothing, plastic plowers and wigs manufactured mainly in fabrics founded by American capital.
In 1969, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce established a branch in Hong Kong and ca. 10 years later there were more Americans in Hong Kong than British.

Neverminding all the connections to the West and to colonial powers, Hong Kong has a History of its own.

And this is it