About Hongkong
Hong Kong post-1997 is still that unique meeting place of
east and west, of magic, charm and chatter that has fired
the imaginations of travellers, traders, fortune- seekers,
refugees and sailors for 150 years. The constant clatter of
commerce hardly pauses, and all around can be heard the most
garrulous tongue on earth: Cantonese. And permeating all this
hustle and bustle linger the fragrances of the city. The aromas
of Canton- ese cooking from countless kitchens hang over the
streets, mixing with the scent of dried fish and herbs while
the perfumed smoke of incense beckons you into the hidden
portal of a roadside shrine. Hong Kong at night offers yet
more. Lovers of good food will be spoilt for choice in the
city's eclectic eateries. Hong Kong's bars offer everything
from alternative to chic to the refined. The New Territories
and other outlying islands also offer bracing walks among
dramatic and spectacular countryside. Now is the time to visit
Hong Kong. Hotel prices and airfares have fallen considerably
and there are some excellent deals out there. Good news for
all of you who couldn't make it on the night of 30 June 1997.
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History
By
1979 the colony even had its own subway with the opening of
the first line of the Mass Transit Railway. Deng Xiaoping,
who took control of China in the mayhem following Mao Zedong's
death in 1976, opened up the country to tourism and foreign
investment in 1978. Deng's 'Open Door' policy, designed to
pull China into the 20th century, revived Hong Kong's role
as the gateway to its mysterious, gigantic northern neighbour.
Hong Kong companies gradually began shifting their factories
across the border, and foreign firms came in droves seeking
out Hong Kong businesses for their China contacts and expertise.
Investment in China grew and trade in Hong Kong skyrocketed
as it became a transshipment Point for China's exports, and
later on, imports. Underpinning this boom was the drive to
rake in Profits ahead of 1997, when Hong Kong's unpredictable
new master was due to take over.
One Country, Two Systems' Actually, few people gave much thought
to Hong Kong's future until the early 1980s, when the British
and Chinese governments started meeting to decide what would
happen come 1997. In theory, Britain was legally bound only
to hand back the New Territories. More importantly, for Beijing,
Hong Kong remained the last reminder of foreign imperialism
on mother soil ( Macau is a somewhat different story, having
never beer formally ceded to Portugal - it is due to return
to Chinese rule in 1999). The idea was to transform Hong Kong
into a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China upon the
handover of sovereignty on 1 July 1997. Beijing's catch phrase
for this is 'one country, two systems', whereby Hong Kong
is allowed to stay capitalist after the handover, while across
the border the Chinese continue with a system which they label
socialist. Deng Xiaoping also called this gangren zhi gang,
or'Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong'.
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Language
Cantonese,
the dialect spoken in Guangdong province, is the main language,
but since the handover in 1997, Mandarin (Putonghua) has become
increasingly important. English is spoken in all the main
tourist areas, hotels and restaurants. Taxi drivers may speak
some English, but it’s advisable to have your hotel concierge
write your destination in Chinese. Business meetings are usually
conducted in English. All street signs, directions and bus
routes use both English and Chinese.
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Area
Hong Kong Island is only about 30 sq mi/78 sq km, but the
whole territory is 413 sq mi/1,070 sq km. There are 235 outlying
islands, the largest being Lantau. Most of the islands are
uninhabited and extremely small; others have fishing communities
that are relatively unchanged after hundreds of years, and
some house communities of workers who commute to the city
by ferry each day.
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Time
Zone
Hong Kong is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. Daylight
Saving Time is not observed.
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Travel
Guide
WHEN TO GO. In terms of
weather, October-November and April-May are probably the best
times to visit. Temperatures are moderate, and there's a good
chance of clear skies and sun. December through to March tends
to see a lot of rain, and from June to September the sweltering
heat and humidity make for rather sweaty sightseeing. For
more details, see the Climate page. Under normal conditions,
Hong Kong hotels have two high seasons: September to January,
and March to June. During this time rates go up, and rooms
are often hard to find. Airfares to Hong Kong are also usually
higher around these times. This was generally the golden rule
until the handover, but the subsequent slump in tourism brought
fierce competition among airlines and hotels. Cuts of up to
50% in hotel room prices and huge discounts in airfares greeted
travellers in late 1997. Travel in and out of Hong Kong can
be difficult during Chinese New Year, which falls around late
January/early February. Planes are usually full, and the border
with China becomes a living hell as millions (yes, millions)
of locals flood to the mainland to visit relatives. On the
other hand, the crowds that can make Hong Kong a tiring place
to visit are absent during this time, and more and more shops
and restaurants only close for one day during the holiday,
instead of the traditional three to seven day break. If you're
planning to leave Hong Kong for the UK or the USA in August,
book your flight early. You will be competing for seats with
tens of thousands of Hong Kong students, most going to universities
abroad.
Travel Orientation. Surprisingly, a good deal of Hong
Kong's 1084 sq km is comprised of mountains, sparsely inhabited
islands and country parks. The city itself is cranuned into
a relatively small area centred around Victoria Harbour. Hong
Kong Island lies to the south, the Kowloon peninsula to the
north. The urban area basically runs from the north side of
Hong Kong Island to the Kowloon Hills, which mark the effective
border between the peninsula and the New Territories. Urban
Hong Kong is divided into numerous districts. The main business,
banking and administrative district is Central, on Hong Kong
Island directly across from Tsim Sha Tsui, which lies at the
tip of the Kowloon peninsula. Going west from Central will
take you through the districts of Sheung Wan and Kennedy Town,
which have some of Hong Kong's oldest residential neighbourhoods.
Sheung Wan and Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, and Yau Ma Tei
and Mong Kok in Kowloon, all offer good possibilities for
strolling around and checking out the local lifestyle. Tle
Peak not only has spectacular views of Hong Kong, but a series
of tree-lined walkways and trails as well. And if your feet
get tired, Hong Kong's outstanding public transport network
will help get you to your destination quickly and, for the
most part, comfortably.
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Population and People
Hong Kong's population is roughly 6.4 million, making it one
of the most densely populated places in the world. The overall
density of the population works out to about 5800 people per
sq km, but this figure is deceiving since there is a wide
variation from area to area. The urban areas of Hong Kong
Island and Kowloon pack in over 25,000 people per sqkm, compared
with only 2860 in the rural New Territories. About 98% of
Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese, most of whom are
Cantonese, who have their origins in Guangdong Province. About
60% were born in the territory. About 33% of the population
lives in Kowloon, 22% on Hong Kong Island, and 45% in the
New Territories, with around 2% of the latter living in the
Outlying Islands. . A case in point was the maintenance of
the shark nets on Hong Kong's beaches that was given to a
Chinese company in 1997; the company that won the contract
failed to perform adequate daily checks, resulting in a compromise
of safety for swimmers. The contract was apparently offered
to the company as it made the lowest bid, and because it was
operated by Chinese; the job has now gone to a company hiring
western divers (at greater cost). If this trend continues,
many see a drop in standards as inevitable.
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