All Posts

Hong Kong’s latest series of banknotes, the 2018 series, saw the issuance of no fewer than 15 new banknotes across five denominations. However, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the central banking institution of Hong Kong, only issues one type of banknote. This peculiarity stems from the fact that the Hong Kong government, through the Monetary Authority, has licensed three commercial banks to issue their own banknotes. Standard Chartered Bank has been issuing banknotes in Ho

If you ever go hiking on one of Hong Kong’s 579 mountains, being attacked by a tiger shouldn’t be one of your concerns. Monkeys may steal your snacks, wild boars may charge at you, and you might get bitten by a snake. The chances of spotting a tiger, however, are almost none. But that wasn’t always the case. In 1915, an English policeman and an Indian constable were attacked and killed by a tiger in Sheung Shui, in the New Territories, on the border with Mainland China. In 19

Hidden behind the modern skyscrapers of Tsim Sha Tsui, a silent witness to Hong Kong’s long-gone past still stands as tall as its ancient bricks and stones allow. Snugly fit between the Mariner’s Club, Salisbury Road, and Chatham Road South, it still guards a small park, whose sole innocuous entrance on a dead-end street is all too easily overlooked.

The streets of Hong Kong are packed with history. Anyone with a modicum of interest in the city's history knows that some streets literally tell the story of the city. In Kowloon, for instance, Boundary Street and Reclamation Street mark the former political and geographic borders, respectively, of the Peninsula of Kowloon. Likewise, on Hong Kong Island, there is a street in Sheung Wan that bears an interesting name: Possession Street. But what was taken possession of here? T

Anyone who’s traveled to Hong Kong after 1998 will have noticed that strange-looking airplane from a bygone era, hanging from the ceiling of Terminal 1 of Chek Lap Kok International Airport, above Gate A. This airplane is a flying replica of the "Spirit of Sha Tin" (originally named "Wanda"), a Farman Mark II biplane designed by French aviation pioneer Henry Farman. In the late 1910s, Belgian test pilot and instructor Charles Van den Born arrived in Hong Kong by steamer with