Hong Kong is depicted as a “Barren Rock” for more than 150 years ago. It has become a top–notch business center, financial and trading center.

Although, the region has no big time natural resources, well except for its famous deep – water ports in the globe. A well – educated, diligent and compliant people of almost 3.58 million with entrepreneurial talent, is the bedrock of the region’s creativity and productivity.
Hong Kong turned into SAR – Special Administrative Region under the People’s Republic of China after 150 years of British colonization on 1st of July 1997. Hong Kong SAR has the benefit of a high level of autonomy apart from foreign affairs and defense.

The significant range of businesses in the region is because of the fact that the English language is one of their official national languages. Another significant reason is that its taxes are among the lowest all throughout the globe. The good thing about Hong Kong government is that they will only tax the following: company profits, property rental income and salaries. In Hong Kong, there’s no sales tax or VAT and capital gains tax. However, some restaurants do sometimes add an extra 10% surcharge on the customer’s bill. During such cases, tipping is not anymore expected.

Hong Kong SAR – region that belongs to the Peoples’ Republic of China – has the following: the Kowloon Peninsula, New Territories, and some 236 islands that are scattered in the South China Sea.

The New Territories region is separated by the Shenzhen River from mainland China.
The name Hong Kong means “fragrant harbour” because in the olden times, fragrant vegetation was once bountiful in the region but today, Hong Kong is now developed into a residential and fishing zone.

Surprisingly, with Hong Kong SAR territory of 1,102 sq km (425 sq m) not more than 25% of it is developed. Mostly, the remaining land area has been held in reserve as Hong Kong’s country parks. Hong Kong highest peak is the famed Tai Mo Shan which is about 3,142 ft high (957 meters).

Hong Kong is believed to be a year – round destination for everybody who desires to visit the region. It has a mild climate from the month of September to February. Then during the month of May to middle of September their weather is humid and warm.

Its winter season is cool and dry around December – March and it is fairly humid, hot and rainy during their spring season to summer. The month of July holds the record of highest average temperature. During their autumn season, the weather is typically dry, warm and sunny. The region sporadically experiences those harsh typhoons and rainstorms.

80% of Hong Kong’s rain falls between the months of May and September but August usually experiences the most rain falls.

Average annual rainfall                       2,214.3 mm
Highest recorded temperature          36.1°C on August 19, 1900 and on August 18, 1990
Lowest recorded temperature           0.0°C on January 18, 1893
Highest wind speed                            259 km / h recorded at Hong Kong Observatory
                                                                 284 km / h recorded at Tate’s Cairn during Typhoon
                                                                 Wanda last September 1, 1962

The climate of the region is sub – tropical. Its temperatures can be so varied that it will just drop down below 10?C in winter and during summer it would exceed to as high as 31?C.

Look to the patterns of Hong Kong’s ultra – modern buildings, the flavors of the famous Cantonese fare, the names of streets and places, the people’s pastimes and lifestyles. A closer scrutiny would reveal Chinese traditions, values and history that always linger beneath the façade of westernization.

The population in Hong Kong in the mid - 2005 was approximately 6.94 million. It has a population density of 6,420 people / sq km.

The region has a huge foreign population approximately 517,560. The top three foreign nationals in Hong Kong came from the Philippines with 130, 810, the country Indonesia with 114, 020 and also Thailand with 28,360. Most of these nationals came to Hong Kong to work as an Overseas Foreign Worker (OFW).

Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin) and English languages are the two official languages that are widely use in Hong Kong. English is extensively used in Hong Kong’s Government and its business, legal and professional sectors. There is no scarcity of bilingual or even trilingual professionals who can speak Putonghua, Cantonese, and English.

The Chinese junk is the conventional Chinese sailing rig that has 2 – 4 sails on bamboo masts. The very first Chinese junk were built about 960 AD and used as war ships and trading vessels all through out the memoirs of China.

Food is the fundamental part of any culture. And more so with the Chinese culture that always celebrates the dining out bonding with family and friends. In the region, congee and dim sum take the center stage with tea that is always close at bay.

The way to shop in Hong Kong is to negotiate your way to the paramount price possible.  Bargaining may be a long process but don’t give up too quickly or else the Hong Kong market peddlers would have it. Do not worry if you can’t reach an agreement, odds are there’s a competitor who can meet with your reasonable price.

Hong Kong’s beautiful blend of traditions – Western and Chinese, modern and historical can be obviously seen through their galleries and museums that never fail to highlight the different things that are close to the heart of its own people. Besides those traditional museums, Hong Kong also offers some interesting attractions like the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware – it showcases the fine art of drinking tea; there’s the Hong Kong Racing Museum which tells the guests and visitors everything about Hong Kong’s all time favorite pastimes, there is also the Law Uk Folk Museum that offers the tourists a glimpse of the ancient Chinese way of life.

These museums and galleries showcase Hong Kong’s cultural connections, those grand collections of ancient Chinese antiquities and those modern objects as well.

Hong Kong has over 600 enthralling monasteries, temples and shrines. More than 400 of these fascinating temples belong to the Buddhist faith. Others are Taoist. Several of these temples about 60 of them are dedicated to Tin Hau, the protector of seafarers.

Feng shui is one of the traditional Chinese customs that are still very influential among the Chinese people of today as well as to the neighboring places. Feng shui is a collection of guidelines that is designed in order to establish balance and harmony in one’s environment, due to the placement of objects and with the arranging of its spaces. Feng shui is based on the traditional Taoism beliefs that the external equilibrium is achieved by faithfully following the set principles of feng shui and it will then have some bearing on one’s personal relationship, well – being and success in all angles of life.

The #6 is considered lucky because it is related with blessings so as with the #8 which is considered as a positive number in their culture as the number 8 sounds like “prosperity” in Mandarin word. The #9 is deemed favorable because it also sounds like “sufficient” in Chinese.

Unfavorable numbers in Chinese are the following: 24 and 4 due to the fact that these numbers sounded like words with meaning “easy to die” and “death” in Cantonese language. So with # 73 & #84 these numbers sounded like “funeral” & “having accidents”.

Red is an auspicious color in Chinese culture. According to their tradition, many common colors have negative association like for example black on yellow which is only acceptable for the dead. Silver, pink and gold are customary and so therefore, it is very popular for gift wrapping and envelopes.

Chinese martial arts are where arts imitate life because of its gentle movements coupled with grace in strength. Its movements are derived from nature – the flight of the birds, the flow of water, the swift strike of the snake, or the slow prowling steps of an animal predator. However, Chinese martial arts are used not only for fighting or for healing injuries that are incurred during a fight but Chinese martial arts is a form of exercise, where the person’s internal energy is on focused in order to improved the person’s health. Martial arts in Chinese are diverse – there are tai chi, kung fu and Oi gong just to name a few principles.

Tai chi chuan which is more popularly known as the tai chi is usually used to assist health and long life because of its slow – motion movements can help in improving the balance, muscle tone and ease up tension.

Oi gong also uses good postures, meditation and breathing techniques in order to aid physical health.

The kung fu techniques were made popular by Hong Kong’s popular sons – by the late Bruce Lee in the West. Jackie Chan has become successful with the kung fu film genre as well.

Reflexology involves the pressure points located on the soles of the feet. Reflexology is also considered as a type of massage. The concept of reflexology is the there are different zones on the feet that would correspond with the parts of the human body and so those blocked energies in the internal organs can be released by rousing the exact pressure zones on the soles of the feet. Try once and you will be addicted to it.

The conventional Chinese stage performances are those operas stories taken from the Chinese literature like Dream of the Red Mansion and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, are usually played during special occasions and festivals.

Those famous Cantonese operas are still performing like the Rejuvenation of the Red Plum Flower and The Purple Hairpin.

Since Hong Kong has been a British colony, it also offers many of those modern theatres that present those Western orchestral, operas and stage performances. And with the blend of the western and eastern culture is truly what Hong Kong is all about.