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Following its defeat in the Second Opium War, in October 1860, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign the Convention of Peking. This convention included, among other provisions, the cession to the British Empire of District No. 1 of Kowloon, which corresponds to the present-day Yau Tsim Mong District and Stonecutter’s Island. British Kowloon, also known as Old Kowloon, was separated from what came to be known as New Kowloon, which remained in the possession of the Qing Dynasty,

When one thinks of Hong Kong, the first image that comes to mind is that of a concrete jungle. With over 550 skyscrapers taller than 150 meters, it is true that Hong Kong stands head and shoulders above its closest competitor, its nearby neighbor Shenzhen, in terms of the number of skyscrapers. However, it may come as a surprise that most of Hong Kong is not buried under concrete but still consists of pristine mountains and forests. Indeed, as of 2026, 40% of Hong Kong’s tota

With about 80 attacks recorded worldwide each year, shark attacks are a rare occurrence, all things considered. Fatal outcomes are even rarer, averaging around 5 fatalities per year. In Hong Kong, the most recent recorded attack, which turned out to be fatal, occurred on June 13, 1995, when a 45-year-old woman was attacked by what was believed to be a tiger shark at Clearwater Bay First Beach. If 1995 was a particularly deadly year, it was not the first time Hong Kong recorde

It is a well-known fact that Hong Kong is a very small territory. But how small is it, really? If you live in Europe, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg—a well-known tax haven and banking hub similar to Hong Kong—would serve as a good point of reference. Indeed, Hong Kong has a total area of 2,755 square kilometers (1,063.7 square miles), while the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg covers 2,586 square kilometers (998.6 square miles). However, although both territories are similar in size,

In 1855, the construction of Government House on present-day Upper Albert Road in Central was completed. With the exception of a four-year hiatus during the Japanese Occupation, Government House served as the official residence of the governors of Hong Kong until the handover in 1997. A little-known fact, however, is that Government House was not the only official residence of the governor of Hong Kong. In fact, alongside Government House, there have been two other official r

Any tourist visiting Hong Kong will, at some point, find themselves in Statue Square, the square located directly across the street from the HSBC Main Building, one of Hong Kong’s most iconic landmarks. Although the square is now surrounded by lackluster modern buildings, it was once bordered by exquisite Victorian, Edwardian, and Art Deco masterpieces. The present-day HSBC Main Building was constructed on the site of Wardley House, which was demolished to make way for the Se

As of 2026, Hong Kong boasts a total of 569 skyscrapers taller than 150 metres (492 feet), making it by far the city with the highest number of skyscrapers in the world. Its closest contender, Shenzhen, which is also located directly across the northern border of Hong Kong, "only" has 468 skyscrapers exceeding 150 metres. In fact, Hong Kong and Shenzhen together have a combined total of 1,037 skyscrapers taller than 150 metres. This exceeds the number of such buildings in the

Walking down Queen’s Road Central, at the junction with Pedder Street, you’ll most likely have walked past Central Building, and you probably haven’t paid it much attention. If the building itself is of little interest, the land on which it was built holds great historical significance. At this very location, the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Limited— the oldest registered company on the Hong Kong Companies Registry—constructed Hong Kong’s first luxury hotel, simply named the

If you ever visit Sham Shui Po, in the northwestern part of Kowloon, you will be surrounded by tall buildings wherever you go. So much so that Sham Shui Po is the second most densely populated district in Hong Kong, with 47,000 inhabitants per square kilometer (122,000 inhabitants per square mile). Yet, Sham Shui Po, in Cantonese, literally means Deep Water Pier — a name that doesn’t reflect the district’s current topography, as Sham Shui Po’s coastline totals a mere 522 mete

Anyone who’s ever been to Hong Kong Disneyland Resort by MTR is familiar with Sunny Bay Station on the Tung Chung Line. Paradoxically, even though there is a Sunny Bay Station, there is no part of Hong Kong known as Sunny Bay. Indeed, if you look at a map of Hong Kong, you will not find any mention of Sunny Bay anywhere on the territory. However, directly west of Sunny Bay Station lies the bay after which the station was named—namely 陰澳灣 (Yam O Wan), which, literally translat

Today, Hong Kongers are warned of incoming storms, typhoons, and hurricanes by a numbered signal code ranging from T1, the standby signal, to T10, the hurricane signal. This system also includes signals such as T3, the strong wind signal, and T8 and T9, the gale or storm signals. However, if we today take this system for granted, it is important to recognize that it took the Hong Kong government decades to develop an efficient way to warn its inhabitants of approaching storms

When Commodore Gordon Bremer planted the Union Jack at Possession Point on January 26, 1841, the population of Hong Kong Island was approximately 7,450. By 2021, 180 years later, Hong Kong's population had grown to 7.4 million—an increase of about 1,000 times. In the first twenty years of the colony alone, from 1841 to 1861, Hong Kong's population increased from 7,450 to 119,320. This growth was partly driven by Chinese refugees fleeing the Taiping Rebellion and the Punti-Hak

As Hong Kong Island was ceded to the British Empire in 1842, following their victory in the First Opium War, it was natural that numerous places in Hong Kong were named after the ruling British monarch of the time: Queen Victoria. Hence, Victoria Harbour and Victoria Peak, for instance; or even the original name for the Central and Western District: the City of Victoria, or simply Victoria. Of course, similar to most other parts of the world that came under Queen Victoria's r

If you live in Hong Kong or near an important seaport, you may have spotted ships bearing the acronym OOCL, which stands for Orient Overseas Container Line, a container shipping and logistics company headquartered in Hong Kong. In 1970, its founder, Tung Chao-yung, better known as C.Y. Tung, acquired RMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest passenger ship built up to that time, in 1942—a title she held until she was destroyed by fire in Victoria Harbour in 1972. She was the sister sh

Hong Kong is a wealthy city. Saying so is quite the understatement. Recording a nominal GDP per capita of 53,606 US dollars, the city ranks 19th in the world, alongside countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Germany, and the United Kingdom; all of which are known for their high standards of living. In fact, in 2025, Hong Kong recorded a total nominal GDP of 3,331,800,000,000 Hong Kong dollars, which equates to 425 billion US dollars. Quite astonishingly, this fig

It is a well-known fact that Hong Kong became British as a direct result of the opium trade. After all, the wars that led to the cession of Hong Kong Island in 1841, and the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860, were named the First and Second Opium Wars, respectively, for a reason. As a matter of fact, just as the opium trade in the first half of the nineteenth century led to the cession of Hong Kong, that same opium trade in the second half of the nineteenth century is what turned Hon

At the end of 2023, Hong Kong had a population of 7,503,100 inhabitants, living on a total area of 2,755 square kilometers. This represents a population density of 2,723 inhabitants per square kilometer, or 6,733 inhabitants per square mile, if we take into account that 59.7% of Hong Kong’s territory is made up of water. However, even that figure of 6,733 inhabitants per square mile (17,439 inhabitants per square kilometer) is far from the reality faced by Hong Kong's populat

Cases of cities and regions founded during the colonial era and named after existing European cities and/or regions are numerous. New Zealand, for instance, refers to the Dutch province of Zeeland. Similarly, New Caledonia was named after Caledonia, the Latin name for Scotland; New Hampshire was named after the English county of Hampshire; and New South Wales was named after the British country of Wales. Consequently, it may seem logical that the area of Aberdeen, located on

As of the end of 2025, Hong Kong boasted a population of 7,510,800 inhabitants. To put that figure into an American context, the population of Hong Kong is most similar to that of the state of Arizona, which had a population of 7,600,000. However, the comparison ends here. Although the total populations of both territories are very similar, the living conditions are dramatically different. Arizona is a landlocked state, with its water area representing 0.3% of the total area.

The 1980s was an eventful decade in the banking industry of Hong Kong, marked by three banks with strong historic ties to Hong Kong undertaking symbolically significant moves. In the late 1970s, HSBC’s Third Generation headquarters was demolished to make way for HSBC’s latest and current headquarters. Though rather short in stature, the HSBC Main Building was a feat of engineering, packed with innovative ideas. Construction began in 1981 and took only four years; it was compl