Hong Kong ( ) is a Special
Administrative Region of the People's
Republic of China
. It became a colony of the
British Empire after the
First Opium War (1839–1842), and then
extended in
1898 onto
the mainland and northern
islands. It was
occupied by the Japanese
during the
Pacific War, after which the
British resumed control. Hong Kong was reclassified as a
British dependent territory in
1983 until
China
regained sovereignty in 1997.
Situated
on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River
Delta
and South China Sea
, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep
natural harbour. With land mass of and a population of 7
million people, Hong Kong is one of the most
densely
populated areas in the world. It is the
179th
largest habited territory in the world. Although the city's
population is 95%
Han and 5% from other
ethnic groups, its
cosmopolitan makeup
is symbolised by its
cuisine,
cinema,
music and traditions.
Hong Kong has a
capitalist economy,
developed under the ethos of "positive non-intervention" and has
become one of the world's top financial centres. The
Hong Kong dollar is the 9th most traded
currency in the world. Under the principle of "
one country, two systems", the
independent judiciary
functions under the
English Common law
framework. The
political
system is governed by the
Basic Law of Hong Kong.
Although it has a
burgeoning multi-party system, its legislature
is partly elected through universal suffrage; the
Chief Executive of Hong
Kong is the head of government. It has a "high degree of
autonomy" in all areas except foreign affairs and defence. Hong
Kong's immigration policies remained largely unchanged since the
handover - residents from
mainland
China do not have the
right of
abode in Hong Kong, nor can they enter the territory freely.
The defence of Hong Kong is assured by military forces sent by the
Central
Government, and is constitutionally bound not to interfere with
its internal affairs.
History
Hong Kong began as a coastal island. While pockets of settlements
had taken place in the region with archaeological findings dating
back thousands of years, regularly written records were not made
until the engagement of
Imperial
China and the British colony in the territory. Starting out as
a fishing village, salt production site and trading ground, it
would evolve into a military port of strategic importance and
eventually an international financial centre that enjoys the
world's 6th highest
GDP
per capita, supporting 33% of the foreign capital flows into
China.
Human settlement in the area now known as Hong Kong dates back to
the late
Paleolithic and early
Neolithic era, but the name Hong Kong (香港) did not
appear on written record until the
Treaty of Nanking of 1842. The area's
earliest recorded European visitor was
Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese explorer who
arrived in 1513.
In 1839
the refusal by Qing
Dynasty
authorities to import opium resulted in the
First Opium War between China and
Britain. Hong Kong Island became occupied by British forces
in 1841, and was formally ceded to Britain 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,
Kowloon Peninsula south of Boundary Street
and Stonecutter's Island
were ceded to Britain under the Convention of Peking.
In 1898
Britain obtained a 99-year
lease of Lantau
Island
and the adjacent northern lands, which became known
as the New Territories. Hong Kong's territory has remained
unchanged to the present.
During the first half of the 20th century, Hong Kong was a
free port, serving as an
entrepôt of the
British Empire.
The British introduced
an education system based on their own model, while the local
Chinese population had little contact with the European community
of wealthy tai-pans settled near
Victoria
Peak
.
In
conjunction with its military campaign in the Second World War, the Empire of
Japan
invaded Hong Kong on 8 December 1941. The
Battle of Hong Kong ended with
British and Canadian defenders surrendering control of the colony
to Japan on 25 December. During the
Japanese occupation,
civilians suffered widespread
food
shortages,
rationing, and
hyper-inflation due to forced exchange of
currency for military notes. Hong Kong lost more than half of its
population in the period between the invasion and Japan's surrender
in 1945, when the United Kingdom resumed control of the
colony.
Hong Kong's population recovered quickly as a wave of migrants from
China arrived for refuge from the ongoing
Chinese Civil War. When the People's
Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949, more migrants fled to
Hong Kong in fear of persecution by the
Communist Party.
Many corporations in
Shanghai and Guangzhou
also shifted their operations to Hong
Kong.
As textile and manufacturing industries grew with the help of
population growth and low cost of labour, Hong Kong rapidly
industrialised, with its economy becoming driven by exports, and
living standards rising steadily. The construction of
Shek Kip Mei Estate in 1953 marked the
beginning of the
public
housing estate programme, designed to cope with the huge influx
of immigrants.
Trade in Hong Kong accelerated even further
when Shenzhen
, immediately north of Hong Kong, became a special economic zone of the PRC, and
established Hong Kong as the main source of foreign investment to
China. With the development of the manufacturing industry in
southern China beginning in the early 1980s, Hong Kong's
competitiveness in manufacturing declined and its economy began
shifting toward a reliance on the service industry, which enjoyed
high rates of growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and absorbed workers
released from the manufacturing industry.
With the lease of the New Territories due to expire within two
decades, the governments of Britain and China discussed the issue
of Hong Kong's sovereignty in the 1980s. In 1984 the two countries
signed the
Sino-British
Joint Declaration, agreeing to transfer sovereignty to the
People's Republic of China in 1997, and stipulating that Hong Kong
would be governed as a special administrative region, retaining its
laws and a high degree of autonomy for at least fifty years after
the transfer.
The Hong Kong
Basic Law, which would serve as the constitutional document
after the transfer, was ratified in 1990, and the transfer of
sovereignty occurred at midnight on 1 July 1997, marked by a
handover
ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition
Centre
.
Hong Kong's economy was affected by the
Asian financial crisis, and the
H5N1 avian influenza,
both in 1997. After a gradual recovery, Hong Kong suffered again
due to an outbreak of
SARS in 2003. Today, Hong
Kong continues to serve as an important global financial centre,
but faces uncertainty over its future role with a growing
mainland China
economy, and its relationship with the PRC government in areas
such as democratic reform and universal suffrage.
Etymology
The name "Hong Kong" is an approximate phonetic rendering of the
Cantonese pronunciation of the
spoken Cantonese name "香港", meaning
"fragrant harbour" in English.
Before 1842, the name Hong Kong originally
referred colloquially to a small inlet (now Aberdeen
Harbour
/Little Hong Kong) between the island of Ap Lei Chau
and the south side of Hong Kong Island. The inlet was one
of the first points of contact between British sailors and local
fishermen.
The reference to fragrance may refer to the
harbour waters sweetened by the fresh water estuarine influx of the
Pearl
River
, or to the incense factories lining the coast to
the north of Kowloon which was stored around Aberdeen Harbour for
export, before the development of Victoria Harbour
. In 1842, the Treaty of Nanking was signed,
and the name Hong Kong was first recorded on official documents to
encompass the entirety of the island.
Governance
In accordance with the
Sino-British Joint
Declaration, and reflecting the policy known as "
one country, two systems", Hong
Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy as a special administrative
region in all areas except defence and foreign affairs. The
declaration stipulates that the region maintain its
capitalist economic system and guarantees the
rights and freedoms of its people for at least 50 years beyond the
1997 handover. The Basic Law is the
constitutional document that
outlines executive, legislative and judicial authorities of
government, although final authority for interpreting the Basic Law
rests with the PRC government.
The primary
institutions of
government are:
The Basic Law and universal suffrage have been major issues of
political debate since the transfer of sovereignty. In 2002, the
government's proposed
Article 23 of the Basic Law,
which required the enactment of laws prohibiting acts of treason
and subversion against the Chinese government, was met with fierce
opposition, and eventually shelved. Debate between pro-Beijing
groups and
Pan-democracy camp
characterises Hong Kong's political scene, with the latter
supporting a faster pace of
democratisation.
Legal system and judiciary
In contrast to mainland China's
civil law system, Hong Kong
continues to follow the
English
Common Law tradition established during British rule, rather
than
legal system
of China. Hong Kong's courts are permitted to refer to
decisions rendered by courts of other common law jurisdictions as
precedents, and judges from other common
law jurisdictions are allowed to participate in proceedings of Hong
Kong's Court of Final Appeal and sit as Hong Kong judges.
Structurally, Hong Kong's court system
consists of the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court, which is
made up of the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance, and
the District Court, which includes the Family
Court
. Other adjudicative bodies include the Lands
Tribunal, the Magistrates' Courts, the Juvenile Court, the
Coroner's Court, the Labour Tribunal, the Small Claims Tribunal,
and the Obscene Articles Tribunal, which is responsible for
classifying non-video pornography to be circulated in Hong Kong.
Justices
of the Court of Final Appeal
are appointed by Hong Kong's Chief
Executive.
The
Department of
Justice is the largest legal institution in Hong Kong, and its
responsibilities involve legislation, judicial administration,
prosecution, civil representation, legal and policy drafting and
reform, and the legal profession. Aside from prosecuting criminal
cases, officials of the Department of Justice also appear in court
on behalf of the government in all civil and administrative
lawsuits against the government. As protector of the
public interest, it may apply for
judicial reviews and assign legal
representation on behalf of the public to take part in such a
trial. The Basic Law, which serves as the constitutional document
of the Hong Kong SAR, protects the Department of Justice from any
interference by the government.
Administrative districts
Hong Kong has a
unitary system of
government, no
local government
exists since the two municipal councils were abolished in 2000. And
as such there is no formal definition for its
cities and towns.
Administratively, Hong Kong is subdivided into 18 geographic
districts, each represented by a
district council whose role is
to advise the government on local matters such as public
facilities, community programmes, cultural activities and
environmental improvements. There are a total of 534 district
councils seats, 405 of which are elected, while the rest are
appointed by the Chief Executive and 27
ex officio chairmen of rural committees. The
government's
Home Affairs
Department communicates government policies and plans to the
public through the district offices.
Military
As a British Colony and later
territory, defence was provided
by the
British military under
the command of the
Governor of
Hong Kong who was
ex officio Commander-in-chief. When the People's
Republic of China assumed sovereignty in 1997, the British barracks
were replaced by a
garrison of
the People's Liberation Army, comprising ground, naval, and air
forces, and under the command of the Chinese
Central
Military Commission. The Basic Law protects local civil affairs
against interference by the garrison, and members of the garrison
are made subject to Hong Kong laws. The Hong Kong Government
remains responsible for the maintenance of public order; however,
it may request the PRC government for help from the garrison in
maintaining public order and in disaster relief. The PRC government
is responsible for the costs of maintaining the garrison.
Geography and climate
Areas of urban development and
vegetation are visible in this false-colour satellite image.
Hong
Kong, which consists of a peninsula and 236 islands, is located on
China's south coast, east of Macau
on the
opposite side of the Pearl River Delta. It is surrounded by the South China
Sea on the east, south, and west, and borders the
Guangdong city of Shenzhen to the north over the Shenzhen
River. The territory's area consists primarily of Hong Kong
Island, Lantau, Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories as well
as some 260 other islands. Of the total area, is land and is
water.
As much of Hong Kong's terrain is hilly to mountainous with steep
slopes, less than 25% of the territory's landmass is developed, and
about 40% of the remaining land area is reserved as
country parks
and
nature reserves. Most of the
territory's
urban development
exists on Kowloon peninsula, along the northern edge of Hong Kong
Island and in scattered settlements throughout the New Territories.
The
highest elevation in the territory is at Tai Mo Shan
, at a height of above sea level. Hong Kong's
long, irregular and curvaceous coast line provides it with many
bays, rivers and
beaches.
Despite Hong Kong's reputation of being intensely
urbanised, the territory has made much effort
to promote a green environment, and recent growing public concern
has prompted the severe restriction of further
land reclamation from Victoria
Harbour. Awareness of the environment is growing as Hong Kong
suffers from increasing pollution compounded by its geography and
tall buildings. Approximately 80% of the
city's smog originates from other
parts of the Pearl River Delta.
Situated
just south of the Tropic of Cancer
, Hong Kong's climate is humid subtropical climate
(Köppen climate
classification Cwa). Summer is hot and humid
with occasional showers and thunderstorms, and warm air coming from
the southwest. It is also the time when
typhoons are most likely, sometimes resulting in
flooding or landslides. Winter weather usually starts sunny and
becomes cloudier towards February, with the occasional cold front
bringing strong, cooling winds from the north. The most pleasant
seasons are spring, although changeable, and autumn, which is
generally sunny and dry.
Hong Kong averages 1,948 hours of sunshine
per year, while the highest and lowest ever recorded temperatures
at the Hong Kong
Observatory
are and , respectively.
Economy
Hong Kong is one of the world's leading financial centres. Its
highly developed
capitalist
economy has been ranked the freest in the world by the
Index of Economic Freedom for 15
consecutive years. It is an important centre for international
finance and trade, with one of the greatest concentration of
corporate headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region, and is known as
one of the
Four Asian Tigers for
its high growth rates and rapid industrialisation between the 1960s
and 1990s. In addition, Hong Kong's
gross domestic product, between 1961
and 1997, has grown 180 times larger than the former while per
capita GDP rose by 87 times. The
Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the
sixth largest in the world, with a
market capitalisation of
US$2.97 trillion as at October 2007,
and the second highest value of
initial public offerings, after
London. Hong Kong's currency is the
Hong Kong dollar, which has been
pegged to the U.S. dollar since 1983.
The Government of Hong Kong plays a passive role in the financial
industry, mostly leaving the direction of the economy to market
forces and the private sector. Under the official policy of
"
positive
non-interventionism", Hong Kong is often cited as an example of
laissez-faire capitalism.
Following the Second World War, Hong Kong industrialised rapidly as
a manufacturing centre driven by exports, and then underwent a
rapid transition to a service-based economy in the 1980s. Hong Kong
matured to become a financial centre in the 1990s, but was greatly
affected by the Asian financial crisis in 1998, and again in 2003
by the SARS outbreak. A revival of external and domestic demand has
led to a strong recovery, as cost decreases strengthened the
competitiveness of Hong Kong exports and a long deflationary period
ended.
The territory has little arable land and few natural resources, so
it must 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. Much of Hong Kong's exports
consist of re-exports, which are products made outside of the
territory, especially in mainland China, and distributed via Hong
Kong. Even before the transfer of sovereignty, Hong Kong had
established extensive trade and investment ties with the mainland,
and now enables it to serve as a point of entry for investment
flowing into the mainland. At the end of 2007, there were 3.46
million people employed full-time, with the unemployment rate
averaging 4.1%, the fourth straight year of decline. Hong Kong's
economy is dominated by the service sector, which accounts for over
90% of its GDP, while industry now constitutes just 9%. Inflation
was at 2% in 2007, and Hong Kong's largest export markets are
mainland China, the United States, and Japan.
As of
2009, Hong Kong is the fifth most
expensive city for expatriates, behind Tokyo, Osaka, Moscow, and Geneva
. In
2008, Hong Kong was ranked sixth, and in 2007, it was ranked fifth.
In 2009, Hong Kong was ranked third in the
Ease of Doing Business
Index.
Demographics
The territory's population reached more than 7 million in 2007.
Hong Kong has a
fertility rate of
0.95 children per woman, one of the lowest in the world and far
below the 2.1 children per woman required to sustain the current
population. However, the population in Hong Kong continues to grow
due to the influx of immigrants from mainland China, approximating
45,000 per year – there exists a daily quota of 150 people from
Mainland China with family ties in Hong Kong are granted a 'one way
permit'. According to a United Nation report,
Life expectancy in Hong
Kong is 81.8 years as of 2006, the second highest in the
world.
About 95% of the people of Hong Kong are of
Han ethnicity, the majority of whom are
Cantonese,
Hakka and
Chiu
Chow. The remaining 5% of the population is composed of
non-ethnic Chinese forming a highly visible group despite their
smaller numbers. In addition, there are in excess of 300,000
foreign domestic
helpers from Indonesia and the Philippines, according to
official figures.
There is a South Asian population of Punjabis, Sindhis, Pakistanis
and Nepalese
. Some
Vietnamese refugee have
become permanent residents of Hong Kong. There are also a number of
Europeans (mostly British), Americans, Australians, Canadians,
Japanese, and Koreans working in the city's commercial and
financial sector.
Hong
Kong's de facto official language is Cantonese, a Chinese language originating from Guangdong
Province
to the north of Hong Kong. English is also
an official language, and according to a 1996 by-census is spoken
by 3.1% of the population as an everyday language and by 34.9% of
the population as a second language. Signs displaying both Chinese
and English are common throughout the territory. Since the 1997
handover, an increase in immigrants from mainland China and greater
integration with the mainland economy have brought an increasing
number of
Mandarin speakers to
Hong Kong.
Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of freedom, guaranteed by the Basic
Law. 90% of Hong Kong's population practises a
mix of local religions, most
prominently
Buddhism (mainly
Chinese Mahayana),
Confucianism, and
Taoism.
A
Christian community of around 600,000
exists, forming about 8% of the total population, and is nearly
equally divided between
Catholics and
Protestants, although other, smaller
Christian communities exist including the
Latter-Day
Saints and
Jehovah's
Witnesses. There are also
Sikh,
Muslim,
Jewish,
Hindu and
Bahá'í communities.
Religious freedom after the 1997
handover is guaranteed under the Basic Law. The practice of
Falun Gong is tolerated; the
Anglican and
Roman
Catholic churches each freely appointing its own bishops,
unlike in mainland China.
Education
Hong Kong's education system roughly follows the
system in England, although at the
higher education levels, both English and
American systems exist. The
government maintains a policy where the
medium of instruction is Cantonese
(母語教學), written Chinese and English. In secondary schools the
policy now emphasises 'biliterate and trilingual' proficiency, thus
Mandarin language education has
been increasing. The
Programme for
International Student Assessment, has ranked Hong Kong's
education system as the second best in the world.
Hong Kong's
public
schools are operated by the
Education Bureau. The system features a
non-compulsory three-year
kindergarten,
followed by a compulsory six-year
primary education, a three-year junior
secondary education, a
non-compulsory two-year senior secondary education leading to the
Hong Kong
Certificate of Education Examinations, and a two-year
matriculation course leading to the
Hong Kong Advanced Level
Examinations. However, starting from the year of 2006 of Form
1, all students receive 3 years of compulsory junior and 3 years
compulsory senior secondary education. Most comprehensive schools
in Hong Kong fall under three categories: the rarer public schools;
the more common subsidised schools, including government aids and
grant schools; and
private schools,
often run by Christian organisations and having admissions based on
academic merit rather than on financial resources. Outside this
system are the schools under the
Direct Subsidy Scheme and private
international schools.
There are nine public universities in Hong Kong, and a number of
private higher
institutions, offering various
bachelor's,
master's, and
doctoral
degrees, other
higher diplomas
and
associate degree courses.
The
University
of Hong Kong
, the oldest institution of tertiary education in the territory, was
referred by Quacquarelli
Symonds as a "world-class comprehensive research
university" and was ranked 24th on the 2009 THES - QS World University
Rankings, making it 1st in Asia. The Hong Kong University of Science &
Technology
and Chinese University of Hong
Kong
are ranked 35 and 46 respectively, making them
ranked 2nd and 4th respectively in Asia.
Culture
Kong is frequently described as a place where "East meets West",
reflecting the culture's mix of the territory's Chinese roots with
the culture brought to it during its time as a British colony. One
of the more noticeable contradictions is Hong Kong's balancing of a
modernised way of life with traditional Chinese practices. Concepts
like
feng shui are taken very
seriously, with expensive construction projects often hiring expert
consultants, and are often believed to make or break a business.
Other objects like
Ba gua mirrors are still
regularly used to deflect evil spirits, and buildings often lack
any floor
number that has a
4 in it, due to its similarity to the word for "die" in the
Chinese language. 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.
Hong Kong is a recognised global centre of trade, and calls itself
an 'entertainment hub'. Its
martial
arts film genre gained a high level of popularity in the late
1960s and 1970s.
Several Hollywood
performers and martial artists have originated from
Hong Kong cinema, notably
Bruce Lee, Chow
Yun-Fat, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Woo-ping. A number of Hong Kong
film-makers have also achieved widespread fame in Hollywood, such
as
John Woo,
Wong
Kar-wai and
Stephen Chow. Homegrown
films such as
Chungking
Express,
Infernal
Affairs,
Shaolin
Soccer,
Rumble in the
Bronx, and
In the Mood
for Love have gained international recognition. Hong Kong
is the centre for
Cantopop music, which
draws its influence from other forms of
Chinese music and Western genres, and has a
multinational fanbase.
The Hong
Kong government supports cultural institutions such as the Hong Kong
Heritage Museum
, the Hong Kong Museum of Art
, the Hong Kong Academy for
Performing Arts, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic
Orchestra. Also, the government's
Leisure and Cultural
Services Department subsidises and sponsors international
performers brought to Hong Kong. Many international cultural
activities are organised by the government, consulates, and
privately.
Hong Kong has two licensed
terrestrial
broadcasters –
ATV and
TVB. There are three local and a number of
foreign suppliers of
cable and satellite
services. The production of Hong Kong's soap dramas, comedy
series and variety shows reach audiences throughout the
Chinese-speaking world. Magazine and newspaper publishers in Hong
Kong distribute and print in both Chinese and English, with a focus
on sensationalism and celebrity gossip.
The media is relatively free from
official interference
compared to
mainland China, although the
Far Eastern Economic Review
points to signs of self-censorship by journals whose owners have
close ties to or business interests in the PRC, but state that even
Western media outlets are not immune to growing Chinese economic
power.
Hong Kong offers wide recreational and competitive sport
opportunities despite its limited land area. It sends delegates to
international competition, namely the Olympic Games and
Asian Games, and played host to the equestrian
events during the
2008 Summer
Olympics.
There are major multipurpose venues like
Hong Kong
Coliseum
and MacPherson Stadium. Hong Kong's steep
terrain makes it ideal for hiking, with expansive views over the
territory, and its rugged coastline provides
many beaches for swimming.
Architecture
According to Emporis, there are 7,650
skyscrapers in Hong Kong, putting the city at the
top of world rankings. The high
density and tall
skyline of Hong Kong's
urban
area is due to a lack of available
sprawl space, with the average distance from
the harbour front to the steep hills of Hong Kong Island at , much
of it
reclaimed land.
This lack of space causing demand for dense, high-rise offices and
housing, has resulted in 36 of the world's 100 tallest residential
buildings being in Hong Kong, and more people living or working
above the 14th floor than anywhere else on Earth, making it the
world's most vertical city.
As a result of the lack of space and demand for construction, few
older buildings remain, and the city is instead becoming a centre
for
modern architecture.
The
International Commerce Centre
(ICC), at high, is the tallest building in Hong
Kong and also the third tallest in the world. The tallest building
prior to the ICC is Two International Finance
Centre
, at high. Other recognisable skyline features
include the HSBC Headquarters Building
, the triangular Central Plaza
with its pyramid-shaped spire, The Center
with its night-time multi-coloured neon light show,
and I. M.
Pei's
Bank
of China Tower with its sharp, angular
façade. According to the Emporis website, the
city skyline has the biggest visual impact of all world cities.
Notable
remaining historical assets include the Tsim Sha
Tsui Clock Tower
, the Central
Police Station, and the remains of Kowloon
Walled City
.
There are
many development plans in place, including the construction of
new
government buildings
, waterfront
redevelopment in Central, and a series of projects in West Kowloon. More high-rise
development is set to take place on the other side of Victoria
Harbour in Kowloon, as the 1998 closure of the nearby Kai Tak
Airport
lifted strict height restrictions.
Transport
Hong Kong has a highly developed transportation network. Over 90%
of daily travels (11 million) are on public transport, making it
the highest percentage in the world. Payment can be made using the
Octopus card, a stored value system
introduced by the MTR, which is now widely accepted on railways,
buses and ferries, and well as accepted for cash at other
outlets.
The city's
rapid transit system,
MTR, has 150 stations which serves 3.4 million
people a day.
Hong Kong Tramways
has served the city since 1904, covers the northern parts of Hong
Kong Island and is the only tram system in the world run
exclusively with
double deckers.
Double-decker buses were
introduced to Hong Kong in 1949, and are now almost exclusively
used; single-decker buses remain in use for routes with lower
demand or roads with lower load capacity. Most normal franchised
bus routes in Hong Kong operate until 1 a.m.
Public light buses serve most parts of Hong
Kong, particularly areas where standard bus lines cannot reach or
do not reach as frequently, quickly, or directly.
The
Star Ferry service, founded in 1888,
operates four lines across Victoria Harbour and provides scenic views of Hong Kong's skyline
for its 53,000 daily passengers. It acquired iconic status
following its use as a setting on
The World of Suzie Wong. Travel
writer Ryan Levitt considered the main Tsim Sha Tsui to Central
crossing one of the most picturesque in the world. Other ferry
services are provided by operators serving
outlying islands, new towns, Macau, and
cities in mainland China. Hong Kong is also famous for its
junks traversing the harbour, and small
kai-to ferries which serve remote coastal
settlements.
Hong Kong Island's steep, hilly terrain calls for some unusual ways
of getting up and down the slopes. It was initially served by
sedan chair, steeply ascending the side
of a mountain.
The Peak Tram
, the first public transport system in Hong Kong,
has provided vertical rail transport between Central and Victoria
Peak since 1888. In Central and Western district
, there is an extensive system of escalators and
moving pavements, including the
longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world, the Mid-Levels
escalator
.
Hong Kong
International Airport
is a leading air passenger gateway and logistics
hub in Asia and one of the world's busiest airports in terms of
international passenger and cargo movement, serving more than 47
million passengers and handling 3.74 million tonnes of cargo in
2007. It replaced the overcrowded Kai Tak
Airport in Kowloon in 1998, and has been rated as the
world's best airport in a number of surveys. Over 85
airlines operate at the two-terminal airport and it is the primary
hub of
Cathay Pacific,
Dragonair,
Air
Hong Kong,
Hong Kong Airlines
and
Hong Kong Express.
See also
Notes and references
Further reading
- Hongkong, meine Liebe - Ein spezieller Reiseführer.
Thorsten Boose, Silke Oettel. Shaker Media, 2009. ISBN
978-3-86858-255-0
- A History of Hong Kong (Third Edition). Frank Welsh. HarperCollins. 1 October
1998. 624 pages. ISBN 1-56836-002-9.
- Mathematical Modelling of Hong Kong Political and
Economical Development. Derek Lam. Guangzhou Academic Press.
18 February 1986. 23 pages.
- Hong Kong's History: State and Society Under Colonial Rule
(Asia's Transformations). Tak-Wing Ngo. Routledge. 1 August
1999. 205 pages. ISBN 0-415-20868-8.
- This is Hong Kong. Hong Kong Government – Brand Hong
Kong. April 2009. 49 pages. [1654]
- The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity.
Poshek Fu, David Deser. Cambridge University Press. 25
March 2002. 346 pages. ISBN 0-521-77602-3.
- A Modern History of Hong Kong. Steve Tsang. I.B.
Tauris. 14 May 2004. 356 pages. ISBN 1-86064-184-9.
- An Outline History of Hong Kong. Liu Shuyong. 291
pages. ISBN 7-119-01946-5.
- Forts and Pirates - A History of Hong Kong. Hong Kong
History Society. Hyperion Books. December 1990. ISBN
962-7489-01-8.
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