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General Information
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Above: Central
district on Hong Kong Island seen from across the Victoria
harbor in Tsim
Sha Tsui during the
Symphony
of Lights laser show. |
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Located at the southeast coast of China, the size of Hong Kong
is about 400 square miles (~1,000 sq km) but it is growing! No,
not from the shrinking of the ocean caused by El Nino, nor from
conquering neighboring cities, but from the reclamation of land.
The new airport
is one good example.
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 Hong
Kong has about 6.9 million people, give or take 500 thousand -
all depending on how many tourists are here! When you are in places
like Mongkok
or Causeway
Bay, you would think that the whole population of Hong Kong
is there. (Left: a pedestrian
crossing in Central
district.)
(note:
HK had 25 million visitors in year 2006, and let's say that on
the average each stays 1 week.)
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 Hong
Kong is made up of the Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Pennisula,
and the New Territories, with Hong Kong Island being the smallest
of the three but where the central business district is located
(aptly named Central).
Now if you look up an atlas, you may see Victoria shown as the
capital or key city. Good luck in finding it! You are too late
- by perhaps 100 years. There is no Victoria any more. There is
just a Victoria
Harbor separating Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, a Victoria
Peak, and a Victoria
Park - among the various Victorias left .
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| The south side of the
Hong Kong island is known for its beaches
and is where some of the wealthy live. Repulse
Bay is probably the most famous beach there (its Chinese name
means shallow water bay). And Stanley
also has a spot in the hall of fame when it comes to tourist areas.
 The
New Territories are the countryside of Hong Kong (or at least
they used to be), where there are still villages little known
to tourists. But you have to know where you are going before you
can find them.
Click
here for some key Hong Kong statistics and data.
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Above: a bird's eye view of Shatin
in the New Territories. Shatin used to be a village but is now a
sizable town complete with a mall and many large residential complexes. |
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