Sunday, May 4, 2008

Hong Kong Facts

Just a few details about Hong Kong:



1. The area consists of Hong Kong island, Kowloon and The New Territories and some islands in the area. The area was leashed by the British for 99 year and that rule ended in 1997, at which point it was handed back to China with special concessions in terms of government for 50 years.

2. The currrency is dollar and cents like ours but it's the Hong Kong dollar, valued at about $7. something for every USD.

3. The drive on the left side of the street.

4. They speak cantonese and some speak english as well.

5. You can get by with english only in this town.

6. The air is much cleaner than Shanghai

7. There is much traffic and the roads are narrow.

8. When I lived here, pre 1997, merchandise in the store was in english (and chinese, don't remember), now it's difficult to find anything that is bilingual, it's all cantonese.

9. Early building/planning was poor so the buildings are crowded together, streets narrow, just a general feeling of congestion. There is little in the way of architecture that would represent the region.

10. There is an incredible subway system and walkways to get people around.



11. Hong Kong is known to be the most densely populated city in the world.

12. Hong Kong is a co-host city for the Olympics this year - for the equestrian events.



13. I lived here from 1974 - 1983, from 1983 - 1989 I was here over the summer breaks only. My brother and his family, dad, and aunt's family still live here.

2 comments:

smariek said...

How interesting, I didn't know it was the most densely populated city. I was going to guess at Tokyo for that.

Jonathan said...

what a place. very nicely done. i appreciate the little detail section. it is very neat and i seem to be learning something each and every day. keep going and don't forget to rest on your vacation.