![\"hk.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/hk.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAfter plagues real, financial and political, normal service has resumed. This tiny territory is punching well above its size and weight once more, only these days with a self-confidence it never had under its former masters. Hong Kong has never been busier. Nor has it ever…<\/p>\n
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Rumors of Hong Kong\u2019s demise have been greatly exaggerated. More than 10 years after its handover from Britain to China, this entrepreneurial, irrepressible and singular trading city is booming again.<\/p>\n
After plagues real, financial and political, normal service has resumed. This tiny territory is punching well above its size and weight once more, only these days with a self-confidence it never had under its former masters. Hong Kong has never been busier. Nor has it ever felt as comfortable with its status, as a part once again of its original motherland but separate, too, largely governing its own affairs and much better off for it. Almost 7 million people call a territory of 1100 sq km home, squeezing onto only 10% of the available land space. A flood of mainland and international visitors, meanwhile, crowds in to see what all the fuss is about. Multitudes seek standing or sitting room here, bringing with them smog, odor, clutter and clatter.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong means different things to different people. For some it is the view from the Peak by day or Hong Kong Island\u2019s skyline by night as the skyscrapers flush their neon rainbows, competing like tetchy cuttlefish to out-display each other. It can be about a lingering morning of tea and bite-sized dim sum, or a multidish Chinese banquet. Others \u2013 hikers, birders, climbers \u2013 say nothing beats the Hong Kong countryside for its beauty, facilities and accessibility.<\/p>\n
It is all these things, of course; a city of teeming streets and empty wilderness, dazzling modernity and traditional observances. Brash, buccaneering and westernized, yet conservatively minded and Chinese to its core, Hong Kong surprises, delights and confounds with its cheerful contradictions and energetic inconsistency.<\/p>\n
Weather
\nBoth Hong Kong and Macau have a subtropical climate characterized by hot, humid summers and cool, relatively dry winters.<\/p>\n
October, November and most of December are the best months to visit. Temperatures are moderate, the skies are clear and the sun shines. January and February are cloudy and cold but dry. It\u2019s warmer from March to May, but the humidity is high, and the fog and drizzle can make getting around difficult. The sweltering heat and humidity from June to August can make sightseeing a sweaty proposition, and it is also the rainy season. September is a grand month if you like drama; the threat of a typhoon seems to loom every other day.<\/p>\n
The very informative Hong Kong Observatory (2926 8200; www.hko.gov.hk; 134A Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui) issues weather reports on 1878 200 and on its website. The hotline for cyclone warnings is 2835 1473.<\/p>\n
When to go
\nHong Kong\u2019s subtropical climate can make it a punishing hot and humid destination during the summer months. June to mid-September is the hottest time when humidity soars. Summer is also typhoon season, when tropical storms sweep rain and high winds off the South China Sea.<\/p>\n
Even in late spring and early autumn, wandering Hong Kong\u2019s streets can be warm work. The best time to go climate-wise is in early spring (March and April) or late autumn (October and November), when the days are generally warm, fresh and (wind direction and mainland smoke stacks permitting) the air often clearer.<\/p>\n
Things can cool down a good deal in winter, when it can often be overcast (as opposed to merely smoggy) and temperatures may even feel chilly enough to don warmer layers.<\/p>\n
Costs
\nHong Kong is a relatively pricey destination. Accommodation is the biggest expense, followed by drinking in Hong Kong\u2019s bars. On a very tight budget you could survive on, say, $300 a day, but it would require a good deal of self-discipline. Better to budget something along the lines of $600 if you want to stay in the better class of guesthouse or cheaper midrange hotel and do more than just eat bowls of noodles. If you want to sample the finer hotels and restaurants, you\u2019ll be paying the equivalent of most leading world cities. The real bargain compared to the likes of London and even New York is the incredibly cheap taxi fares; in fact, transport generally is excellent value.<\/p>\n
Tipping
\nHong Kong isn\u2019t particularly conscious of tipping and there is no obligation to tip, say, taxi drivers; just round the fare up or you can throw in a dollar or two more. It\u2019s almost mandatory to tip hotel staff $10 to $20, and if you make use of the porters at the airport, $2 to $5 a suitcase is normally expected. The porters putting your bags on a push cart at Hong Kong or Kowloon Airport Express station do not expect a gratuity, though; it\u2019s all part of the service.<\/p>\n
Most hotels and many restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill. Check for hidden extras before you tip; some midrange hotels charge $3 to $5 for each local call when they are actually free throughout the territory, and some restaurants consistently get the bill wrong. If using the services of a hotel porter, it\u2019s customary to tip them at least $10.<\/p>\n
Economy
\nHong Kong finally began booming once again after a wretched, post handover slump that saw property prices and the stock market tank and everyone from rich to poor become uncharacteristically bearish. The talk was that Shanghai was the new Asian world city and Hong Kong was doomed to remain a mere backwater.
\nIt took several unexpected body blows to create this gloomy mood \u2013 a 1997 run on Asian currencies, September 11 2001 and the deadly SARS epidemic that virtually shut the place down.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t keep the irrepressible and hard-working citizens of Hong Kong down forever, though. As China\u2019s epoch-making rise continues, entrepreneurial Hong Kong rides its surging wave. It is once again Asia\u2019s preeminent city state, taking a fat tithe from its mainland trade in goods and finance. Its container port is busier than ever and its booming stock market continues to underwrite a historic series of mainland public flotation, its unique status and clear rule of law attracting significant deals and, increasingly, investment from the mainland away from Shanghai\u2019s exchange.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong\u2019s Stock Exchange is the seventh largest in the world, with a market capitalization of about US$1.71 trillion. In 2006, the value of initial public offerings handled here was second highest in the world after London. The easing of travel restrictions from China to Hong Kong hasn\u2019t hurt either. Visitor numbers from the mainland have surged by half.<\/p>\n
The fact remains, however, that while Hong Kong proudly trumpets its laissez faire economic policies, considerable sections of the economy, including transport and power generation, are dominated by a handful of cartels and monopolistic franchises. Nonetheless, Hong Kong\u2019s economy is by far the freest in Asia, enjoying low taxes, a modern and efficient port and airport, excellent worldwide communications and strict anticorruption laws.<\/p>\n
Critics would say that while Hong Kong\u2019s annual per capita GDP of US$38,000 \u2013 the highest in Asia, ranking fifth worldwide (compared to $7600 in China) according to IMF figures \u2013 is less impressive than it looks. The distribution of such wealth is far from even. Hong Kong has more billionaires than most other countries, but many more people who struggle to meet much more than fairly basic levels of subsistence.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong has moved from labor- to capital-intensive industries in recent decades \u2013 service industries employ about 85% of Hong Kong\u2019s workforce and make up more than 88% of its GDP. Telecommunications, banking, insurance, tourism and retail sales have pushed manufacturing into the background, and almost all manual labor is now performed across the border in southern China. The shift from manufacturing to services has not been without problems.<\/p>\n
The change may have seen a dramatic increase in wages, but there has not been a corresponding expansion of the welfare state. On the other hand generous personal tax allowances mean only a little more than 40% of the working population of 3.54 million pays any salaries tax at all and a mere 0.3% pays the full 16%.
\nHong Kong has traditionally suffered from a labor shortage. Most of the manual work (domestic, construction etc) is performed by imported labor, chiefly from Southeast Asia. The labor shortage is most acute in the high-tech and financial fields, prompting the government to consider further relaxing restrictions on importing talent from the mainland, a move deeply unpopular with Hong Kong\u2019s working class.<\/p>\n
Sights<\/p>\n
Happy Valley Racecourse
\nHorseracing, worth more than US$1 billion annually, remains the most popular form of gambling in Hong Kong and it is one of the quintessential things to do while you’re in town. The punters pack into the stands and trackside and the atmosphere is electric<\/p>\n
Hong Kong Cultural Centre
\nThe odd, wavelike (and virtually windowless) building clad in pink ceramic tiles behind the clock tower and opposite Star House is the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, one of Hong Kong’s most distinctive – if not loved – landmarks. It opened in 1989 and was compared with everything from a cheaply tiled public toilet to a road-side petrol station.<\/p>\n
Ocean Park
\nOcean Park is an amusement park with a roller coaster and other stomach-turning rides. It is also a marine park, with dolphin and killer whale shows, seals and sea lions, a shark aquarium and aviaries featuring the ‘Amazing Birds’ theatre.<\/p>\n
Ping Kong
\nThis sleepy walled village in the hills south of Sheung Shui is seldom visited by outsiders. Like other walled villages still inhabited in Hong Kong, it is a mix of old and new, and has a lovely little Tin Hau temple in the centre. You can also go exploring around the farming area behind the village compound.<\/p>\n
History
\nHuman settlement in the area now known as Hong Kong dates back to the Paleolithic era, but the name Hong Kong (\u9999\u6e2f) didn’t appear on written record until the Treaty of Nanking of 1842. The area’s earliest recorded European visitor was Jorge \u00c1lvares, a Portuguese mariner who arrived in 1513.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In conjunction with its military campaign in World War II, 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.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong’s population recovered quickly as a wave of mainland migrants arrived for refuge from the ongoing Chinese Civil War. With the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China 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. The colony became the sole place of contact between mainland China and the Western world, as the Chinese communist government increasingly isolated itself from outside influence.<\/p>\n
As textile and manufacturing industries grew with the help of population growth and low cost of labor, Hong Kong rapidly industrialized, 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 program, 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 the mainland. The later decades of the 20th century saw the economy shift from textiles and manufacturing to mainly services-based, as the financial and banking sectors became increasingly dominant.<\/p>\n
With the lease of the New Territories due to expire within two decades the governments of the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of 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.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong’s economy was affected by the Asian financial crisis of 1997 that hit many East Asian markets, and the lethal H5N1 avian influenza also surfaced that year. 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.<\/p>\n