HISTORY

As early as 4000BC, the nomadic hunters and fisher tribes moved from bay to bay along the coast of South China Sea. By the time of the Han dynasty (200BC-220 AD) the imperial rule had stretched into this area--this was proved by the discovery of the tomb of a senior Han warrior. The indigenous lived in the land alone for hundreds of years until the Cantonese-speaking people moved in from inland China, and called themselves "Punti", which means "local". Many of the indigenous were looked down upon by the newcomers, and were persecuted and pushed out to the sea. Thus, they became boat dwellers and have been to this day. When the Mongols swept China in 1277, the young emperor of the Song dynasty escaped to this remote fringe of the empire. The Mongol battleships defeated the imperial fleet at the Pearl River near Hong Kong, and the young emperor drowned, ending the Song dynasty. The peninsula north of Hong Kong island is called Kowlong, which means "nine dragons". There are 8 peaks surrounding the peninsula, and the drowned emperor is considered the ninth of these dragons. In memory of the Song dynasty, Kowlong was named for the sake of the little emperor and the prosperity of the region. Jesuit priests arrived in 1582; the Dutch, Portuguese, British and French arrived around 1685. While the West was craving for Chinese products of silks, porcelains, tea and various spices, the Chinese for most part disdained western goods. In order to balance the trade deficit, the British discovered one commodity the Chinese would buy: Opium. British ships brought in the drug by thousands of chests from India, and the addiction swept China in 18th century like wildfire, from coolies to high-ranking officials, all embraced this narcotic. The imports of the drug increased in early 19th century, and other countries rushed in to dig this gold mine of China. In 1839, a mandarin official named Lin Zexu, who had great integrity; sent an order from Beijing to destroy the Opium. 20,000 chests of this "foreign mud" were burned in one day in public view.

In protest, the British sent the Royal Navy to attach Guangzhou, Shanghai and other cities. This became known as the first Opium War. To exchange the withdrawal of British ships from the Chinese ports, Qing Dynasty ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain in 1842, which was considered by modern day Chinese as national humiliation, and losing face. The Qing dynasty viewed Hong Kong as a useless and uninhabitable remote island, but to the Britain trading fleet, it was considered a deep, sheltered harbor with a strategic location at the mouth of Pearl River. The name "Hong Kong" means "Fragrant harbor" in Chinese.

The British acquired Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 by winning the Second Opium War against China. In June 1898, Britain increased the territory by annexing around south of the Shenzhen River and its 235 islands, (called the New Territory) and signing a 99-year lease. The name Hong Kong now represents the combined area of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territory. In December 1941, Japanese troop swept down from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, after two-week long fierce battle, British troop ran out of ammunition and surrendered on Christmas Day. This began the four years of Japanese occupation. European citizens were incarcerated on Stanley prison on Hong Kong Island.

After the WWII, Hong Kong transformed itself into a financial service center, a manufacturing kingdom. The child labor and low wages were rampaging and bringing the island back to the dark age of the Dickensian, with 16-hour days and unbearable working conditions. Nevertheless, many were stricken out of poverty and into prosperity, and it eventually turned Hong Kong into one of world's great economic success stories.

Hong Kong was returned to the hands of Chinese Government in 1997. The communist Chinese practices "One country, two systems" to keep the islands in democracy and remaining in its capitalist system.

CULTURE

Hong Kong's education system is based on the British model. Students ages from 5 to 15 are in the first level, the second level are vocational or go on to university, in this case, the world renown Hong Kong University is the students' first choice. "Canton-Pop" is the popular local music; it mixed western rock with Chinese melodies. There are also 150 local films produced each year, some turn out to be of excellent quality. These films are mainly in Mandarin Kung Fu and some were able to enter the international film markets and be enjoyed by the westerners. Annual Hong Kong Film Awards provides the territory's "Oscars" and encourage high standard films to be recognized.

Most islanders live in flats, and do not invite people home, they preferred entertaining their guest in the nearby restaurants. Exchanging of business cards is a custom for meeting new friends; it should be handed out in two hands accompanied by slight lowering the head. Handing out a card by one hand is interpreted as rudeness. Bringing a gift while seeing a relative or friend is also a common practice, but it is important not to open the gift immediately or in front of the giver, if this is done, it not only looks greedy but also embarrasses the hosts, and may cause them to "lose face". Having "face" is important in this society, whether in the political theaters, corporate business or personal social life. The Chinese concept of face is equivalent to integrity and respect. Living in a mansion or owning a new high-end car could mean, "gain face". Behaving improperly in social situations or being treated unequally means otherwise. Treating people with respect and showing consideration would help people gain face; it also means that you are good at making friends.

OUR MISSION

Buddhism, Taoism, ancestor and ancient hero worship are the main religions in Hong Kong. The majority of the population do not consider themselves religious or having a religion. There are 600 temples in the area, many are public owned, most are small, but there are also enormous ones, such as Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas.

Most people in the island are concentrating on their worldly pursuit. In reality, the "get rich" mentality is even more popular in Hong Kong then in the western countries. This is due to the fierce competition in a crowded society, being rich could be the only way to stand out. There is a popular saying, "Look down on a poor, but not a prostitute"; it represents some people are seeking wealth regardless of their moral stands.

Come and join our summer mission to Hong Kong (7 million people) - the only free and democratic territory of communist China. It will be our major steppingstone of reaching out to the southern coastal provinces in the future.

Inflation: Major industries: Major trading partners: Source: Lonely planet 

Official name of country: People's Republic of China
Area: 9,596,960 sq km (mainland)
Population: 1.2 billion (mainland) Yikes! 
Capital city: Paris (pop 13 million)
People: Han Chinese (93%), plus Mongol, Zhuang, Manchu and Uighur minorities
Language: Putonghua (Beijing Mandarin dialect), Cantonese
Religion: Officially atheist; Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism (no stats available); Muslim, Christian
Government: Communist republic
Head of State: Jiang Zemin
GDP: US$1.0 trillion 
GDP per head: US$860 
Growth rate: 7.8%
Inflation: 2.8% 
Major industries: Iron, steel, coal, machinery, textiles 
Major trading partners: USA, Japan, Germany, South Korea

Source: Lonely Planet & China