Hong Kong Business Trip (April 2004)

Hong Kong Island is the heart of Hong Kong but is only 7% of Hong Kong proper; the bulk of the place is made up of the so called New Territories.

Central is the economic hub where the corporate headquarters abound along with high rents and many of the tallest buildings in the world.

The contemporary architecture of Hong Hong is a collection of buildings generating a cityscape of high-rise buildings that is a chaotic jumble.  

A great deal of the land along the present harbour front has been reclaimed from Victoria Harbour.  Most of the buildings are less than half a kilometre from the waterfront, and many are just a few blocks.  For example, many of the expressways along the harbour on Hong Kong were reclaimed from the sea, and the Western market used to be on the docks and it is a block inland now.

Map of Hong Kong

The plane on the way to Kowloon

International Financial Centre Tower in Hong Kong

Cityscape

The Train

On the way up

Train up to the Peak - angle view

Train up to the Peak - almost at the Top

Streets of Kowloon

Jonathan at a Bus Stop

Accommodation - YWCA 1

Accommodation - YWCA 2

Spratt with Hong Kong island behind

Spratt with Hong Kong Island and Star Ferry behind

Stunning views from the Top of the Mountain

History

The territory was settled by Han Chinese during the seventh century, A.D., evidenced by the discovery of an ancient tomb at Lei Cheung Uk in Kowloon. The first major migration from northern China to Hong Kong occurred during the Ching Dynasty (960-1279). The British East India Company made the first successful sea venture to China in 1699, and Hong Kong's trade with British merchants developed rapidly soon after. Despite Chinese laws prohibiting opium since 1799, the British pursued and monopolized its trade until 1834. Concerned about the rapid increase of opium in China, the Change Government sought to eradicate the drug trade. When Chinese officials seized and destroyed large quantities of opium, the British sent forces in 1840 to support demands for a commercial treaty or cession of an island for the safety of British nationals; this sparked the First Opium War. China lost the war; subsequently, Britain and other Western powers, including the United States, forcibly occupied "concessions" and gained special commercial privileges. Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1842 under the Treaty of Nanking.

Disputes over former treaties and the Chinese boarding of the British ship Arrow started the Second Opium War (also known as the Lorcha Arrow War), which lasted from 1856 co 1858. The Convention of Beijing, signed in 1860, formally ended the hostilities and granted the British a perpetual lease on the Kowloon Peninsula. The United Kingdom was concerned that Hong Kong could not be defended unless surrounding areas were also under British control; in 1898, it executed a 99-year lease of the New Territories, significantly expanding the size of the Hong Kong colony.

In the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, Hong Kong developed as a warehousing and distribution center for U.K. trade with southern China. After the end of World 'War II and the communist takeover it mainland China in 1949, hundreds of thousands of people emigrated from China to Hong Kong. This helped Hong Kong become an economic success and a manufacturing, commercial, and tourism center. High life expectancy, literacy, per capita income, and other socioeconomic measures attest to Hong Kong's achievements over the last four decades.

source: http://www.worldrover.com/history/hong_kong_history.html