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Tours in Hong Kong |
This former British imperial enclave (situated at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta, on the southwestern coast of China) has undergone a sustained period of reflection and change since the hand-over from British colonial to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
Hong Kong's role as the gateway to China is more uncertain than ever, with the Bamboo Curtain a distant memory, World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession opening the entire mainland to foreign economic penetration and China enjoying unrestrained growth while Hong Kong emerges cautiously from long-term recession.
Hong Kong has also become far more Chinese than ever before, with many expats departed and a Beijing-facing government presiding over the Filipinos, Indians, Malays, Indonesians, Nepalese and other minorities that make up the city's rich ethnic patchwork.
Nevertheless, the Hong Kongers resist assimilation, enviously spying the rampant capitalism across the border while jealously guarding their separate freedoms and identity. The call for greater democracy is growing louder, while controversial laws establishing a new goods and service tax and a ban on smoking in public places occasion much debate, as does the protracted and costly construction of new legislative headquarters.
With the political reasons for its creation fast receding into history, Hong Kong's geographical oddity comes into focus. The few square kilometres of territory conceded to the British now top the UN list for urban population density.
Hong Kong Island itself is the core of the old imperial possession, with Kowloon just across the harbour forming the other half of the main conurbation. Further north are the New Territories, leased from China in 1898, which form a slightly more rural hinterland. And around this main focus are the large islands of Lamma and Lantau and the smaller Outlying Islands that complete the patchwork.
This assortment of pinnacles and paddies sits in range of the South China Sea's typhoon alley. In winter and early spring, the climate can be mild and fresh but, in May, the ever-present humidity skyrockets and summer is both hot and frequently wet. Typhoons hit during summer and early autumn and, even without them, ferocious rainstorms fall intermittently. Hong Kong is not the ideal summer holiday destination.
The city's economy, which suffered since the Asian economic crisis of 1997, has recovered and is showing renewed vitality. The tourism industry is leading the way. Strong international marketing enabled tourism to recover vigorously from the 2003 SARS outbreak, and Hong Kong welcomed 23 million visitors during 2005, a year-on-year rise of 7.1%.
A large proportion of these extra visitors came from mainland China, though Hong Kong is looking over its shoulder at resurgent neighbour Macau, whose unprecedented tourism makeover presents a genuine threat to Hong Kong's regional supremacy.
In the proverbial scale of Cantonese values, money comes first. And Hong Kong still has plenty of that. Hong Kong has a more determined sense of its separate identity than ever before, although it remains a thrustingly commercial city, whose dedication to fast money has never been greater.
However, its economic future lies, undoubtedly, in aligning itself closely with the Pan-Pearl River Delta cities, who are working together to create an economic power zone in southern China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Away from the business of making money, and its traditional fine dining, great shopping and world-class hotels, Hong Kong has its unsung natural beauties, in the shape of looming mountains, secluded islets, white beaches, hiking trails and island landscapes.
The Special Administrative Region (SAR) government branded the entire city as ‘Asia's World City' in 2003. Visitors can judge how true that is but, unquestionably, Hong Kong remains unique.
Hong Kong's role as the gateway to China is more uncertain than ever, with the Bamboo Curtain a distant memory, World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession opening the entire mainland to foreign economic penetration and China enjoying unrestrained growth while Hong Kong emerges cautiously from long-term recession.
Hong Kong has also become far more Chinese than ever before, with many expats departed and a Beijing-facing government presiding over the Filipinos, Indians, Malays, Indonesians, Nepalese and other minorities that make up the city's rich ethnic patchwork.
Nevertheless, the Hong Kongers resist assimilation, enviously spying the rampant capitalism across the border while jealously guarding their separate freedoms and identity. The call for greater democracy is growing louder, while controversial laws establishing a new goods and service tax and a ban on smoking in public places occasion much debate, as does the protracted and costly construction of new legislative headquarters.
With the political reasons for its creation fast receding into history, Hong Kong's geographical oddity comes into focus. The few square kilometres of territory conceded to the British now top the UN list for urban population density.
Hong Kong Island itself is the core of the old imperial possession, with Kowloon just across the harbour forming the other half of the main conurbation. Further north are the New Territories, leased from China in 1898, which form a slightly more rural hinterland. And around this main focus are the large islands of Lamma and Lantau and the smaller Outlying Islands that complete the patchwork.
This assortment of pinnacles and paddies sits in range of the South China Sea's typhoon alley. In winter and early spring, the climate can be mild and fresh but, in May, the ever-present humidity skyrockets and summer is both hot and frequently wet. Typhoons hit during summer and early autumn and, even without them, ferocious rainstorms fall intermittently. Hong Kong is not the ideal summer holiday destination.
The city's economy, which suffered since the Asian economic crisis of 1997, has recovered and is showing renewed vitality. The tourism industry is leading the way. Strong international marketing enabled tourism to recover vigorously from the 2003 SARS outbreak, and Hong Kong welcomed 23 million visitors during 2005, a year-on-year rise of 7.1%.
A large proportion of these extra visitors came from mainland China, though Hong Kong is looking over its shoulder at resurgent neighbour Macau, whose unprecedented tourism makeover presents a genuine threat to Hong Kong's regional supremacy.
In the proverbial scale of Cantonese values, money comes first. And Hong Kong still has plenty of that. Hong Kong has a more determined sense of its separate identity than ever before, although it remains a thrustingly commercial city, whose dedication to fast money has never been greater.
However, its economic future lies, undoubtedly, in aligning itself closely with the Pan-Pearl River Delta cities, who are working together to create an economic power zone in southern China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Away from the business of making money, and its traditional fine dining, great shopping and world-class hotels, Hong Kong has its unsung natural beauties, in the shape of looming mountains, secluded islets, white beaches, hiking trails and island landscapes.
The Special Administrative Region (SAR) government branded the entire city as ‘Asia's World City' in 2003. Visitors can judge how true that is but, unquestionably, Hong Kong remains unique.
View Our Airport Guides for Hong Kong:
Hong Kong International Airport
