Introduction
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.
