Tag Archives: Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Macau, part 2

After a long time of preparation for my holiday’s I will visit Hong Kong and Macau for my 2nd time. This time I will stay for 3 weeks in Hong Kong and 1 week in Macau to get in touch with people and see more of the culture and history of this beautiful place. There are a few day walks to explore around HK such as Devils Peak or old HK with some historic houses dating back to colonial times. Or see a concert of one of the great and famous artists in HK would be awesome. In Macau is one famous beach at Taipa Island I want to see, even though the night sky line of the amusements in Macau. There is so much to discover and see, may 4 weeks are not enough time again. I look forward for this amazing trip, and see all my friends too.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the two Special administrative Regions of the Peoples Republic of China, the second is Macau. It is located on Chinas South coast, enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and the South China Sea. The district of Hong Kong, are the 18 political areas by which Hong Kong is geographically divided. Each district has a district council, which has formerly known as district board. The districts were established in the 1980’s, when Hong Kong was under British rule.

 

History

In the 1860’s residents with the same dialects where grouped together, for social structures which were more important than district structures. Merchants often traveled together as guilds and sold common goods across different areas. The concept of boundary separation only become important around 1870’s, when cultural conflicts increased between colonies, Chinese and the British. One of the first legal attempt to control districts came in 1888 under the European District Reservation Ordinance, which reserved areas exclusively to Europeans. The first Town Planning Ordinance did not appear until 1939.

The district administration Scheme was introduced in 1982 with the establishment of a district board.

From July 1997 to 31 December 1999, the provisional district boards replaced the former district boards. The provisional district boards were in turn replaced in 1st January 2000, with 18 district councils

The whole populations in 2006 were estimated at 6.864.346 people.

During the first half of the 20th century, Hong Kong was a free port, serving as a Entrepot of the British empire. The British introduced an education system base on their own model, while the local Chinese population had little contact with the European community of wealthy tai-pans settled near Victoria Park.

since 1997 on July 1st the transfer of sovereignty from United Kingdom to the PRC occurred, official ending a 156 years of British colonial rule. Hong Kong became Chinas first special administrative area. In 2009 Hong Kong hosted the 5th Asian games, in which 9 national teams competed. It was the first and largest international multi sport event ever held in the territory.

 

Geography and climate

Hong Kong is located on Chinas coast beside the Pearl River Delta. It is surrounded by the South China Sea, and borders to Guangdong and Shenzhen. The territory are consists of Hong Kong, Kowloon Peninsula and over 200 off shore Islands, the largest one is Lantau Island. Hong Kong has a hilly and mountainous terrain, which is ideal for hiking and outdoor activities. The highest elevation in the territory is Mt. Tai Mo Shan, which is 957m above sea level. Approximately 80% of the city smog originates from other parts of the Pearl River Delta.

The most temperature seasons are spring, which can be changeable, and autumn, which is usually sunny and dry. Hong Kong has a average of 1948h of sunshine per year, while the highest ever recorded temperature at Hong Kong are 36.1 °C and 0.0 °C.

 

Culture

 

Hong Kong is described as a place East meet West, reflecting the cultural mix of the territory’s Chinese roots with influences from its time of the British colony times. Hong Kong balances a modernized way of life with traditional roots and practice. Concepts like feng shui are taken very serious.

Hong Kong is recognized as global centre of trade, and it calls itself an entertainment hub. Several Hollywood performers have their roots in Hong Kong, such as Jackie Chan, and Bruce Lee. A statue of Bruce Lee is displayed on the Avenue of Stars.

The Hong Kong government supports cultural institutions such as the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, HK Museum of Art, HK Museum of Science, all those Museums are FOC on weekends and bank holiday weekends for public, HK Academy of Performing Arts, and the HK Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Transport

 

Hong Kong’s transport network is highly developed. Payment can be made using the Octopus card, a stored value system introduced by the MTR, which is meanwhile widely accepted by railways, buses, ferries and supermarkets and other outlets.

 

External link

Discover Hong Kong 

Walk Hong Kong 

MTR transport 

Octopus

 

I refer for more information to

Wikipedia