Visually stunning Hong Kong offers a warp-speed ‘shop till you drop' lifestyle combined with enclaves of Chinese tradition. It is a popular destination for Asian and Chinese tourists, as well as a major stopover destination for continental travellers. Self-branded as ‘Asia's World City', it is also one of the world's major financial and trading centres. Hong Kong's 260 outlying islands, few of which are inhabited, provide a tranquil alternative to its frenetic energy elsewhere. The two main parts, Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, are an eclectic mix of modern skyscrapers, colonial buildings and traditional temples.

Hong Kong and China
On 1 July 1997, Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region of China in an arrangement lasting 50 years. Under the ‘one country, two systems' policy, Hong Kong maintains its own political, social and economic systems. English remains an official language and Hong Kong's border with China still exists.

Hong Kong's colonial past
Hong Kong was part of China before coming under British administration as a result of the 19th-century Opium Wars. When peace terms were drawn up in 1841, Hong Kong Island was ceded by China to Britain. It remained under British control (apart from a four-year period under Japanese occupation during WWII) until the 1997 handover.

Much has changed since 1841 when then foreign secretary Lord Palmerston described Hong Kong as ‘nothing but a barren island without a house upon it'.