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General InformationHongkong is our 2nd station of our asia trip. It is maybe the most western metropolis of our trip. Famous for the economy and financial market.Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as Hong Kong, is one of the two special administrative regions (SARs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), along with Macau. Comprising more than 260 islands, the territory is located on the eastern side of the Pearl River Delta, bordering Guangdong province in the north and facing the South China Sea in the east, west and south. Hong Kong was a Crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1842 until the transfer of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Hong Kong stipulate that Hong Kong will operate with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2047, fifty years after the transfer. Under the policy of "one country, two systems", the Central People's Government is responsible for the territory's defence and foreign affairs, while Hong Kong maintains its own legal system, police force, monetary system, customs policy, immigration policy, and delegates to international organizations and events. History
Facts about the Travel
Human settlement in the location now known as Hong Kong dates back to the Paleolithic era. The region was first incorporated into Imperial China in the Qin Dynasty, and served as a trading post and naval base during the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty. The area's earliest recorded European visitor was the Portuguese mariner Jorge Álvares, who arrived in 1513. Contact with the United Kingdom was established after the British East India Company founded a trading post in the nearby city of Canton.
In 1839, the refusal by Qing Dynasty authorities to import opium resulted in the First Opium War between China and Britain. Hong Kong Island was first occupied by British forces in 1841, and then formally ceded from China under the Treaty of Nanking at the end of the war. The British established a Crown Colony with the founding of Victoria City the following year. In 1860, after China's defeat in the Second Opium War, the Kowloon Peninsula south of Boundary Street and Stonecutter's Island were ceded to Britain in perpetuity under the Convention of Peking. In 1898, Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the adjacent northern lands and Lantau Island, which became known as the New Territories.
The Basic Law of Hong Kong, which would serve as the constitutional document after the transfer, was ratified in 1990. Over strong objections from Beijing, Governor Chris Patten introduced democratic reforms to the election process for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. The transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong occurred at midnight on July 1, 1997, marked by a handover ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tung Chee Hwa assumed office as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
 Map of the area GeographyHong Kong primarily consists of Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories. The Kowloon Peninsula is attached to the New Territories to the north, and the New Territories spans northwards eventually connecting with mainland China across the Sham Chun River (Shenzhen River). In total, Hong Kong encompasses a collection of 262 islands in the South China Sea, of which Lantau is the largest. Hong Kong Island is the second largest island and the most populated. Ap Lei Chau is the most densely populated island in the world. The name "Hong Kong", literally meaning "fragrant harbour", is derived from the area around present-day Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island, where fragrant wood products and fragrant incense were once traded. The narrow body of water separating Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, Victoria Harbour, is one of the deepest natural maritime ports in the world. Despite Hong Kong's reputation of being intensely urbanized, the territory has made much effort to promote a green environment.[8] Most of the territory remains undeveloped as the terrain is mostly hilly to mountainous with steep slopes. Of the territory's 1,104 square kilometres (426 square miles), less than 25% is developed. The remaining land is remarkably green with about 40% of landmass reserved as country parks and nature reserves.[10] Most of the territory's urban development exists on Kowloon peninsula, along the northern shores of Hong Kong island and in scattered settlements throughout the New Territories.Hong Kong's long, irregular and curvaceous coastline also affords the territory with many bays, rivers and beaches. Despite the territory's extensive wooded and ocean setting, environmental awareness is growing as Hong Kong's air ranks as one of the most polluted. Approximately 70–80% of the city's smog originates from other parts of the Pearl River Delta. Hong Kong is 60 kilometres (37 miles) east of Macau on the opposite side of the Pearl River Delta and borders the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province to the north. The highest point in the territory is Tai Mo Shan, at a height of 958 metres (3,142 ft) above sea level. Lowlands exist in the northwestern part of the New Territories.  The Tian Tan Buddha ClimateTsubtropical and prone to monsoons. It is cooler and dry in the wintertime which lasts from around December to early March, and is hot, humid and rainy from spring through summer. It is warm, sunny, and dry in autumn. Hong Kong occasionally has tropical cyclones in the summer and early autumn. The ecology of Hong Kong is mostly affected by the results of climatic changes. Hong Kong's climate is seasonal due to the alternating wind directions between winter and summer. Hong Kong has been geologically stable for millions of years, though landslides are common especially after heavy rainstorms. Flora and fauna in Hong Kong are altered by climatic change, sea level alternation and human impact.The highest recorded temperature in Hong Kong is 36.1°C (97.0°F) while the lowest recorded temperature is 0.0°C (32.0°F). The average temperature in the coldest month, January, is 16.1°C (61.0°F) while the average temperature in the hottest month, July, is 28.7°C (83.7°F). The territory is situated south of the Tropic of Cancer which is approximate to Hawaii in latitude. In winter, strong and cold winds generate from the north cool the city; in the summer, the wind's prevailing direction changes and brings the warm and humid air in from the southwest. This climate can support a tropical rainforest.  The Bank of China Tower EconomyHong Kong maintains a highly capitalist economy built on a policy of free market, low taxation and government non-intervention. It is an important centre for international finance and trade, with the greatest concentration of corporate headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region. In terms of gross domestic product per capita and gross metropolitan product, Hong Kong is the wealthiest urban centre in the People's Republic of China. Continuing the practice established under the British administration, the Government of Hong Kong mostly leaves the direction of the economy to market forces and the private sector. Since 1980, the government has generally played a passive role under the official policy of positive non-interventionism. Hong Kong has often been cited as a prime example of laissez-faire capitalism in practice, most notably by economist Milton Friedman. It has ranked as the world's freest economy in the Index of Economic Freedom for 13 consecutive years, since the inception of the index in 1995. It also places first in the Economic Freedom of the World Report. Hong Kong has little arable land and few natural resources within its borders, and must therefore import most of its food and raw materials. Hong Kong is the world's eleventh largest trading entity, with the total value of imports and exports exceeding its gross domestic product. As of 2006, there are 114 countries that maintain consulates in Hong Kong, more than any other city in the world. Much of Hong Kong's exports consists of re-exports, which are products made outside of the territory, especially in mainland China, and distributed through Hong Kong. Even before the transfer of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong has established extensive trade and investment ties with mainland China. The territory's autonomous status enables it to serve as a point of entry for investments and resources flowing into the mainland. It is also a connecting point for flights from the Republic of China on Taiwan destined for the mainland. The currency used in Hong Kong is the Hong Kong dollar. Since 1983, it has been pegged at a fixed exchange rate to the United States dollar. The currency is allowed to trade within a range between 7.75 and 7.85 Hong Kong dollars to one United States dollar. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the sixth largest in the world, with a market capitalization of about US$1.71 trillion. In 2006, the value of initial public offerings conducted in Hong Kong was second highest in the world after London. The City of London Corporation's Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) 2007 evaluates the most competitiveness of 46 financial centres worldwide, it shows that Hong Kong is the 3rd financial centre globally and the strongest Asian centre in Asia. Hong Kong's economy is dominated by services, which accounts for over 90 percent of its gross domestic product. In the past, manufacturing had been the most important sector of the economy, as Hong Kong industrialized following the Second World War. Driven by exports, the economy grew at an average annual rate of 8.9 percent in the 1970s. Hong Kong underwent a rapid transition to a service-based economy in the 1980s, when growth averaged 7.2 percent annually. Much of the manufacturing operations moved to mainland China during this period, and industry now constitutes just 9 percent of the economy. As Hong Kong matured to become a financial centre, growth slowed to an average of 2.7 percent annually in the 1990s. Together with Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, Hong Kong is known as one of the Four Asian Tigers for its high growth rates and rapid industrialisation between the 1960s and the 1990s. Panorama View: Skyline of HongkongArchitectureDue to the creative destruction so endemic to Hong Kong over the past 50 years, few historical buildings remain in Hong Kong. Instead the city has become a centre for modern architecture, especially in and around Central. Dense commercial skyscrapers between Central and Causeway Bay lining the coast of Victoria Harbour is one of Hong Kong's most famous tourist attractions and ranked the best skyline in the world. Four of the top 15 tallest skyscrapers in the world are in Hong Kong. In Kowloon, which once included the anarchistic settlement called the Kowloon Walled City, strict height restrictions on structures were in force until 1998 with the closure of nearby Kai Tak Airport. With restrictions lifted, several new skyscrapers in Kowloon are under construction, including International Commerce Centre which, when completed in 2010, will become the world's fourth tallest. Hong Kong's best-known building is arguably Ieoh Ming Pei's Bank of China Tower, completed in 1990 and now Hong Kong's third tallest skyscraper. The building attracted heated controversy from the start, as its sharp angles were said to cast negative feng shui energy into the heart of Hong Kong. Predating the Bank of China Tower, another well-known structure is the HSBC Headquarters Building, finished in 1985. It was built on the site of Hong Kong's first skyscraper, which was finished in 1935 and was the subject of a bitter heritage conservation struggle in the late 1970s. Both banks' buildings are featured on many of Hong Kong's banknotes. The tallest building in Hong Kong is the International Finance Centre 2. One of the largest construction projects in Hong Kong and the world was the new Hong Kong International Airport on Chek Lap Kok near Lantau, a huge land reclamation project linked to the centre of Hong Kong by the Lantau Link, which features three new major bridges: Tsing Ma, the world's sixth largest suspension bridge; Kap Shui Mun, the world's longest cable-stayed bridge carrying both road and railway traffic; and Ting Kau, the world's first major four-span cable-stayed bridge. |
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