After a quick google search, you’d find that Hong Kong is a special administrative region from China.
A quick rundown of its strange history.
1842 – Treaty of Nanjing; China gives HK to the British after the First Opium War, making it a British Crown Colony.
1860 – Britain wins the second Opium Wars; HK is leased to Britain for 99 years after 1898, and HK is to be sovereign for fifty years following (the situation currently)
1941-1945 – Japan occupies HK during the Second World War
Now, there’s a host of political and economic issues throughout HK’s history I’ve skimmed over, but the focus of this blog post is to give you a peek into the one place away from home that feels so familiar.
Blame The Brits
Again, while I don’t plan on delving into every detail into HK’s history, the British influence on HK is a fundamental part of everyday life. For example: double decker buses, trams, (HK has a wonderful transportation system!) quaint British street and city names (like Queen’s Road Central), and delicious western-chinese fusion food (think milk tea, egg tarts!). And, for the most part, you can pretty much get around with just English, especially if you stick to the touristy locations. Each time I walk around the city, I love when I catch glimpses of British influences on the streets I’d never noticed before.
It’s Quirks
Hong Kong, aside from its separate government, island, flag, and Olympics team, Hong Kong has another unifying factor: the language. I hadn’t begun to find the Cantonese language beautiful until more recently, when I began learning Mandarin. 
While I also find Mandarin to be a beautiful and unique language, I began to appreciate the complexity of Cantonese, a dialect/language that is spoken in Hong Kong and other parts of Southern China. It’s written traditionally, which means that there are more brush strokes, and there are nine tones, as compared to Mandarin’s four. Characterized by a market-free economy, Hong Kong has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. While it does not come without its pitfalls (huge economic gap), it also means that Hong Kong has wonderful malls and amazing buffet restaurants. Above all, Hong Kong has amazing scenery. Enjoy the beautiful city with a ferry ride across Victoria Harbour, or visit Sky 100 for an aerial view of the city.
Though I assume most of you will not have the chance to visit HK, I hope I’ve given you a peek into this unique island.
Note: this blog was inspired by Quana’s blog: Why you should visit Malaysia; if you haven’t checked it out yet I would definitely recommend it!!!
Hi! I was really excited when I read this title as it’s a question I’ve gotten a lot before and the answer is definitely more than a little complicated. I actually used to live in Hong Kong so reading your post made me pretty nostalgic, the MTR and bus systems in Hong Kong were so convenient (especially green mini buses once you get used to them) and it’s the reason why I sometimes still spell words like “colour” and “favourite” the British way. I did want to touch on something you mentioned though, which is the gap of living standards in Hong Kong. It’s a very small place compared to the amount of people living there and you can honestly see some of the wealthiest people in the world along with some of the poorest. Especially with political tensions rising, there are a lot of socio-economic issues to dissect when it comes to Hong Kong. It’s definitely a place I hope people invest more interest in though and I hope to go back once I’m able to do so!