Hong Kong has the specials of all the big cities, excellent transportation, wonderful shopping centers, and exhibitions and so on. The best thing about being in Hong Kong is getting flummoxed and fired by the confluences and contradictions of a Chinese city with multi-Asian and Western element.

Located in the Far East, Hong Kong Island is 32km (20 miles) east of the mouth of Pearl River and 135km (84 miles) southeast of Canton. It is separated from the mainland by a good natural harbor.

Hong Kong is divided into four main areas - Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, the New Territories and the Outlying Islands. Kowloon and the New Territories are on a peninsula of the Chinese mainland, on the northern side of Victoria Harbor; Hong Kong Island is on the southern side of the harbor facing Kowloon; the Outlying Islands simply refers to any of the other 234 islands. The New Territories has a 20km (12mi) land border with China proper.

The city itself is centered on Victoria Harbor. The main business district is Central, on Hong Kong Island. East of Central lies the Admiralty commercial district; Wan Chai, known for restaurants and clubs; then Causeway Bay, a major shopping area. Towering above it all is the Peak, Hong Kong´s premier scenic outlook and residential district, which happily has plenty of public green space. In Kowloon, Tsim Sha Tsui (on the southern tip), Jordan and Yau Ma Tei are busy hotel and shopping areas, while Mong Kok is a bustling residential and shopping area.

Government

Special Administrative Region of the People´s Republic of China since 1997.

Head of Government: Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

Language

Chinese and English are the official languages while Cantonese most widely spoken.

Religion

Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist, with Christian and Muslim minorities, but there are also places of worship for most other religious groups.

Time Zone

GMT/UTC +8 (Hong Kong Standard Time)

Telephone Area Code: 852

Newspapers

The three dailies in Hong Kong include the South China Morning Post, The Hong Kong Standard and Eastern Express (except for Sunday). Also you can get business-related publications such as the Asian Wall Street Journal as well as foreign publications (Time, Newsweek, etc) at hotels and newsstands around town.