We've been busy these last two weeks with work, adventures, and visitors, so I haven't had a chance to post very much, but I thought I'd take the opportunity today to post a link to a quick Hong Kong history for those that aren't familiar with it:
http://www.geoexpat.com/about-hong-kong/information/hong-kong-short-history/
And for those of you who can't click through to this link, here is the text of the story from geoexpat.com.
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Before British merchants and forces arrived during the 19th century, there was no geographical unit known as Hong Kong. The land and islands that are now within the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) had been important for pearl farming, and for guarding the approaches to one of the world’s great trading cities, Guangzhou (or Canton as it was long known in the west); there were farmers, fishermen and pirates among a populace that sometimes sided with rebellious forces, leading to gross mistreatment by the newly ascendant Qing dynasty in 1662.
It was British envoys who saw potential in the area they called Hong Kong, as a defensible harbour and base for trading with China, and made cession of Hong Kong Island a key part of a peace treaty signed after China and Britain battled over matters arising from the opium trade. The treaty was signed in 1842; 18 years later, China ceded Kowloon and nearby Stonecutters Island to Britain. In 1898, after more fighting, China agreed to a 99-year lease for additional islands, and a swathe of mainland north of Kowloon – the “New Territories”. Britain wanted the land partly to guard against perceived threats from Russia, France, Germany and the United States, which were all grabbing territory in east Asia.
When the lease ended at midnight on 30 June 1997, Hong Kong Island and Kowloon were returned as well as the New Territories. Hong Kong had by then undergone an astonishing transformation, which was certainly not envisaged by Britain’s Foreign Secretary in the early 1840s, Lord Palmerston – who famously described Hong Kong Island as “a barren island, which will never be a mart of trade”.
TRADED - AND MADE - IN HONG KONG
Trade became Hong Kong’s forte from virtually day one. Opium loomed large in the early years, when other goods included Chinese tea and silks. After the Second World War, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s when there were massive hardships under the mainland’s communist rule, there was a huge influx of people from China. Shanghai businessmen arrived among them; and the mix of a vibrant, low cost labour force, coupled with relatively laissez faire government and savvy business acumen helped spur a manufacturing boom. A host of typically cheap items were exported; the world bought goods that were “Made in Hong Kong”.
With the death of Mao Zedong in 1976 and the rise of Deng Xiaoping two years later, China abandoned the policies of suppressing business talent, and embarked on the still ongoing, gigantic economic transformation. City streets once lined with small houses and dowdy Soviet style apartment blocks, and crammed with rivers of cyclists in uniform blue suits, were swept away by a tide of gleaming glass and steel, with thoroughfares where Mercedes and abundant taxis grind to a halt in traffic snarls.
Hong Kong helped kick-start China’s transformation, pouring in money and talent. Spurred by lower costs and laxer laws, factories shifted across the border; “Made in Hong Kong” might now be little more than a label affixed here, as mainland made goods are briefly brought in, then exported overseas with value added, and perhaps some taxes side-stepped.
A WORLD CITY WAVERS
Though Hong Kong is now under Chinese sovereignty, with a “special degree of autonomy”, it has entered a period of uncertainty. Even the government seems unsure what Hong Kong is, starting a campaign to brand Hong Kong as “Asia’s world city”, without clearly defining what this means, or apparently recognising that Hong Kong was already a city that surely ranked among the world’s greats: for GDP alone, Hong Kong eclipsed many a fair-sized country.
A couple of decades ago, Hong Kong was a gung-ho, can-do place (there’s even a restaurant calling itself “Can Do”). Now, the can-do attitude seems to have taken hold on the mainland, and seeped away from much of Hong Kong. Hong Kong has been known – with some justification - as the city “where east meets west” and “the Pearl of the Orient”. Hong Kong remains special; in business its competitive advantages include rule of law and free press. But time will tell whether, someday (soon?), Hong Kong’s most appropriate slogan might read, “Hong Kong: just another Chinese city.”
The classic images of Hong Kong – skyscrapers, teeming streets festooned with neon signs, bustling malls and busy harbour – perhaps suggest there’s little more to this place than Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. That’s quite wrong: Hong Kong boasts remarkable variety for a small place. While parts of Hong Kong are among the most densely populated districts in the world, around 40 percent of Hong Kong’s land area is designated as country park.
You can easily experience the great contrasts within Hong Kong simply by taking a short journey on Hong Kong Island. Ride up the Peak Tram, for instance, and you depart dense city, travel up wooded slopes, and arrive near a hilltop where you can look out over the city on one side, and stroll down a verdant valley cradling a small reservoir on the other.
And though Hong Kong has lost some of its pizzazz lately, this remains a vibrant place, with far more energy than you’ll find in many a major city.
HONG KONG CITY: HK ISLAND AND KOWLOOK
Think of Hong Kong city and you’ll probably think of northern Hong Kong Island, especially Central. It’s here you find the tallest skyscrapers, with the Stock Exchange, gleaming bank headquarters and other towers in Hong Kong’s financial heart.
The business district has spread eastwards, to embrace parts of Wanchai, but Wanchai retains its character, with wet markets in narrow streets, and bars hailing from the Suzy Wong era. East of Wanchai is Causeway Bay, a shoppers’ mecca, beyond which are more urban areas that merge into each other.
To the north, across the harbour, is Tsim Sha Tsui at the tip of the Kowloon peninsula. Packed with hotels, this is a major public face of Hong Kong. Here are classic Hong Kong streets packed with shops and overhung with neon signs; many shops cater for tourists, with silks, cloisonné, roughly done oil paintings that often feature sailing junks (can you spot a real one?).
North of Tsim Sha Tsui are districts like Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po, where people are squeezed into apartment blocks that fill the spaces between streets lined with shops and restaurants focused on dealing with regular Hong Kong people. Here, perhaps, you can best find Hong Kong’s human heart.
BEYOND THE CITY
Even outside the main city you can find urban areas. There are satellite towns in the New Territories north of Kowloon; they are important residential districts but aren’t too rewarding for visitors.
Villages tend to be far more pleasant for visiting during day-trips. Some are highly developed, almost becoming small modern towns – like Stanley on the south coast of Hong Kong Island. Some villages lying away from roads and railways are still very rural in character, though most of the original inhabitants have moved out – perhaps leaving a handful of elderly residents, or city commuters who have rented and renovated sturdy old houses.
Islands, too, tend to have a more rural character, the main exceptions being the Tung Chung new town on north Lantau Island, and Discovery Bay on Lantau’s east coast. While commuters help keep islands like Lantau, Cheung Chau, and Lamma vibrant, other islands are mostly quiet, or even abandoned by residents. Here, on a quiet headland, you may find echoes of days long gone, as you sit on a “barren island” and gaze out over the South China Sea, and the approaches to the Pearl River, and Guangzhou.
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