45 Fun Facts About Hong Kong

Hong Kong's name is usually translated as what?

Fragrant harbour: the name probably renders the local phrase heung gong, perhaps for the scent of incense factories or the harbour's sweet, semi-fresh water.

Which conflict led the Qing dynasty to cede Hong Kong Island to Britain in 1842?

The First Opium War: it followed China's seizure and destruction of some 1,400 tons of opium that British merchants held at Guangzhou in 1839.

For how many years did Britain lease Hong Kong's New Territories from China?

99: the lease ran out in 1997, and because land leases couldn't extend past that date, its approach pushed Britain into talks that returned all of Hong Kong.

After the 1997 handover, Hong Kong's last colonial governor sailed away aboard which ship?

HMY Britannia: the royal yacht was retired later that year, and the government decided a replacement would cost too much.

Which British royal read the farewell speech at the handover ceremony?

Prince Charles: when a newspaper later printed his private journal of the trip, he sued it for breach of confidence and copyright.

Who was the last Governor of Hong Kong?

Chris Patten: his electoral reforms so angered Beijing that its top official on Hong Kong, Lu Ping, branded him a 'sinner'.

Who became Hong Kong's first Chief Executive in 1997?

Tung Chee-hwa: the son of a shipping magnate, he resigned in March 2005, more than two years before his second term was due to end.

What is the principle under which Hong Kong keeps a separate government and economy from the mainland?

One country, two systems: Beijing has also offered the formula to Taiwan, whose leading politicians across parties have rejected it.

Which 1984 agreement set the terms of the handover?

The Sino-British Joint Declaration: signed in December 1984, it settled that all of Hong Kong would return to China, not only the leased New Territories.

Hong Kong's mini-constitution since 1997 is known as what?

The Basic Law: it names choosing the Chief Executive by universal suffrage as the 'ultimate aim', and Beijing's refusal of open nominations for 2017 set off huge street protests.

Japan attacked Hong Kong on 8 December 1941, the same morning as which other attack?

Pearl Harbor: the Hawaii strike fell on 7 December across the date line, and Hong Kong's surrender on Christmas Day 1941 is remembered as 'Black Christmas'.

Hong Kong borders which mainland Chinese city to the north?

Shenzhen: in 1979 it was a small border city of about 30,000 people, until becoming a special economic zone set off decades of breakneck growth.

What is Hong Kong's highest point?

Tai Mo Shan: at 957 metres it is the territory's highest peak, and in cold snaps crowds head up it hoping to see frost, a rare sight in subtropical Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's July 2003 mass march opposed which proposal?

Anti-subversion law: after the march the government withdrew the bill and shelved it indefinitely.

Which star of Hong Kong martial-arts films was born in San Francisco?

Bruce Lee: he grew up in Hong Kong as a child actor, then returned to the US in 1959 and made Seattle his home.

What is the name of Hong Kong's contactless smart payment system, launched in September 1997?

Octopus: it began as a fare card for trains, buses and ferries, and it now also pays at convenience stores, supermarkets and parking meters.

Hong Kong's hillside tram line, opened in 1888, is what kind of railway?

Funicular railway: before it opened, wealthy residents up the hill were carried along the steep paths in sedan chairs, which held back building there.

In 2021, Hong Kong Tramways set a Guinness World Record for the largest fleet of what?

Double-decker trams: the first trams of 1904 were single-deckers, and double-deckers arrived in 1912 because of rising passenger demand.

The Star Ferry's main route crosses Victoria Harbour between Central and which Kowloon district?

The Central to Tsim Sha Tsui crossing has run since the company's founding as the Kowloon Ferry Company in 1888; it took the Star name in 1898 from its boats.

Which Canadian star played Kai Tak airport after it closed?

Celine Dion: she played on the empty airport's apron, and the tip of its old runway has since become the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.

Kai Tak pilots lined up their final turn after spotting a hill painted with what pattern?

A checkerboard: the low, banking turn it cued made Kai Tak a favourite with plane spotters.

Hong Kong International Airport is built on which island?

Chek Lap Kok: engineers flattened the hilly island and neighbouring Lam Chau, then reclaimed the seabed around them to build the airport platform.

Which airline is Hong Kong's flag carrier?

Cathay Pacific: when the pandemic hit, it shut down its own regional airline, Cathay Dragon, the former Dragonair, in October 2020.

Which Hong Kong landmark gave its name to a long-running RTHK drama about ordinary families?

Lion Rock: in 2002, with the economy in a slump, the financial secretary closed his budget speech with lyrics from the drama's theme song.

As of 2025, what is Hong Kong's tallest building?

International Commerce Centre: in 2009, while it was still being built, six workers died when their platform fell down a lift shaft inside the tower.

As of 2025, Hong Kong has more of what than any other city?

Skyscrapers: counting towers over 150 metres it leads the world, because steep hills and the sea leave little flat land to build on.

Kowloon Walled City was famous for being what?

One of the most densely populated places on Earth: the government tore it down in 1993 and 1994 and built a public park in its place.

Why did Kowloon Walled City end up ungoverned for decades?

Britain and China both avoided control: the New Territories lease had excluded the enclave, so neither side ran it.

Which Hong Kong area did a 1904 law reserve for non-Chinese residents?

Victoria Peak: officials said the rule would help stop plague spreading, and Chinese residents needed special government approval to live there.

Which Martin Scorsese film remade the Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs, moving its moles to Boston?

The Departed: Brad Pitt spent years developing it but decided he was too old for a lead role, so he produced it instead.

The Big Buddha at Ngong Ping is on which island?

The Tian Tan Buddha sits on Lantau, Hong Kong's largest island; the 34-metre bronze statue was completed in 1993 beside Po Lin Monastery.

Which attraction bent a walkway for feng shui?

Disneyland: its designers also left the resort's hotels without a fourth floor, because 'four' is pronounced like the word for 'death'.

Which three commercial banks issue Hong Kong's banknotes?

HSBC, Bank of China and Standard Chartered: to issue notes, each must first pay US dollars into the government's Exchange Fund at a fixed rate.

What is the predominant spoken language of Hong Kong?

Cantonese: yet English was Hong Kong's only official language until 1974, when demonstrations and petitions won Chinese equal status.

What does 'cha chaan teng' literally mean?

Tea restaurant: these diners sprang up in the 1950s and 60s as rising wages let working people afford Western-style food once kept for the elite.

Which martial-arts film was released less than a month after its star died in Hong Kong in 1973?

Enter the Dragon: its star died at 32 without seeing its global success, and the film went on to gross an estimated $400 million worldwide.

Cantopop's popularity peaked in the 1990s under which quartet of singers?

The Four Heavenly Kings, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai, dominated Cantopop and Asian charts through the 1990s.

As of 2025, which organisation is Hong Kong's largest taxpayer?

The Jockey Club: it holds Hong Kong's only licences for betting on horse racing, football and the Mark Six lottery, and gives billions a year to charity.

Hong Kong's two horse racing tracks are at Sha Tin and where?

Happy Valley: in 1918 a temporary grandstand there collapsed on race day and set off a fire that killed at least 590 people.

What do Hong Kongers traditionally eat during Tuen Ng, the dragon boat festival?

Rice dumplings: one popular legend says villagers threw rice into the river so fish would leave the drowned poet Qu Yuan's body alone.

Hong Kong's 2019 protests were sparked by a proposed bill allowing what?

Extradition of fugitives to mainland China: the bill followed the case of a Hong Kong man accused of killing his girlfriend in Taiwan, whom the city had no way to send back.

The 2014 protests over pre-screening of Chief Executive candidates became known as what?

The Umbrella Revolution: in June 2015 lawmakers voted down the Beijing-backed election plan the protesters had opposed, 28 votes to 8.

Hong Kong was the first of which group of economies to industrialise in the 1950s?

The Four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) industrialised rapidly after the 1950s; Hong Kong's GDP grew 180-fold between 1961 and 1997.

By the late 2010s, Hong Kong led the world in which statistic for its people?

Highest life expectancy: among places of over 50,000 people, UN and World Bank figures rank it first, and with very few births it is ageing fast.

In the 1510s, a European explorer sailed into Chinese waters near Hong Kong; where did he come from?

Portugal: Jorge Álvares raised a stone marker on an island the Portuguese called Tamão, but after a deadly battle with China's navy in 1521 they fled.