Hong Kong’s history has been rather interesting. Archaeological findings in the area point to settlement by humans as early as 30000 years ago. The city largely remained a part of the Qin Dynasty under the Chinese rule until 1841. The Dynasty was defeated by the British Crown in January 1841 after the First Opium War, which led the Chinese Government into abandoning Hong Kong island. Thus, began the British administration in Hong Kong. Britain occupied the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after defeating China in the Second Opium War. When World War II broke out, most of the British troops were tied down to fighting the Germans in Europe resulting which Hong Kong was rendered nearly defenseless because of the unavailability of adequate resources. This led to the surrender of Hong Kong to the Japanese in December 1941. After the World War, the British made a quick move in regaining control over Hong Kong but had lost their power of invincibility which they possessed before the war. This meant the removal of all racist restrictions on the non-Europeans owning properties at prime real estate locations. Hong Kong spectacularly made a post-war recovery in about two to three months by lifting all the economic restrictions rendering it a free market once again.

The city saw a huge influx of Chinese business in 1949 who feared persecution by communist China. Unlike China’s restrictive economic policies, the British Government followed a rather hands-off approach which was reflected in Hong Kong’s flourishing business and rapidly growing economy. The negotiations between China and the British in 1984 declared that New Territories and the outlying islands were to become a part of China in 1997. Hong Kong, however, became a Special Administered Region of the People’s Republic of China in 1997 as it was considered highly impractical to separate the colony. Though in theory, Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy in most matters except for defense and foreign affairs, in practice, there is a push for universal suffrage and more democratic regime. Hong Kong has seen several protests by thousands of residents demanding denouncement of the Chinese Communist Party, full elections, and even complete independence from China. Hong Kong operates like a country having its own international dialing code, laws, police force, currency and border controls and is a member of important international organizations such as IOC, APEC, and WTO.

Hong Kong’s culture is largely influenced by its history and is a peculiar fusion of the East and the West. It has accepted Baptism from Western culture and has kept a few parts of the Chinese traditions. Most of the populace in Hong Kong is that of Cantonese, British, Jews, and Indians. The Cantonese people and their culture are in majority. Though the Chinse concepts of family, modesty, saving face, etc. have a strong foothold in Hong Kong’s culture, many locals have also adopted a Western way of lifestyle. Chinese and English remain as the official languages while Mandarin and Cantonese are the spoken languages of Hong Kong. It is the culinary capital of Asia and boasts of flavors combined using Chinese and Western cuisine.