Hong Kong Trivia
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45 free Hong Kong trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
Hong Kong packs 7.5 million people, more skyscrapers than any city on Earth and the world's longest life expectancy into 1,100 square kilometres of hills and harbour. This Hong Kong trivia quiz covers the whole territory: how a fishing coast became a British colony after the First Opium War, the 99-year lease that ran out in 1997, the midnight handover, one country, two systems, and the shape of the place today, from Hong Kong Island and Kowloon to Lantau and the New Territories. It also gets into the things visitors and locals actually argue about: the Star Ferry and the Peak Tram, the Octopus card, the double-decker trams, Kai Tak's terrifying approach, Kowloon Walled City, egg tarts, silk-stocking milk tea and cha chaan tengs, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and the Four Heavenly Kings, horse racing at Happy Valley and the Sevens. Fifty questions run from easy for anyone who has been to Hong Kong to expert for people who know their governors from their chief executives. Every answer is checked against documented reference sources rather than travel listicles, so it works for a pub quiz, a classroom or a pre-trip warm-up.
30 of 45 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Hong Kong's name is usually translated as what?
Fragrant harbour
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.
Q 02Which conflict led the Qing dynasty to cede Hong Kong Island to Britain in 1842?
The First Opium War
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.
Q 03For how many years did Britain lease Hong Kong's New Territories from China?
99
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.
Q 04After the 1997 handover, Hong Kong's last colonial governor sailed away aboard which ship?
HMY Britannia
HMY Britannia: the royal yacht was retired later that year, and the government decided a replacement would cost too much.
Q 05Which British royal read the farewell speech at the handover ceremony?
Prince Charles
Prince Charles: when a newspaper later printed his private journal of the trip, he sued it for breach of confidence and copyright.
Q 06Who was the last Governor of Hong Kong?
Chris Patten
Chris Patten: his electoral reforms so angered Beijing that its top official on Hong Kong, Lu Ping, branded him a 'sinner'.
Q 07Who became Hong Kong's first Chief Executive in 1997?
Tung Chee-hwa
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.
Q 08What is the principle under which Hong Kong keeps a separate government and economy from the mainland?
One country, two systems
One country, two systems: Beijing has also offered the formula to Taiwan, whose leading politicians across parties have rejected it.
Q 09Which 1984 agreement set the terms of the handover?
The Sino-British Joint Declaration
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.
Q 10Hong Kong's mini-constitution since 1997 is known as what?
The Basic Law
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.
Q 11Japan attacked Hong Kong on 8 December 1941, the same morning as which other attack?
Pearl Harbor
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'.
Q 12Hong Kong borders which mainland Chinese city to the north?
Shenzhen
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.
Q 13What is Hong Kong's highest point?
Tai Mo Shan
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.
Q 21Kai Tak pilots lined up their final turn after spotting a hill painted with what pattern?
A checkerboard
A checkerboard: the low, banking turn it cued made Kai Tak a favourite with plane spotters.
Q 22Hong Kong International Airport is built on which island?
Chek Lap Kok
Chek Lap Kok: engineers flattened the hilly island and neighbouring Lam Chau, then reclaimed the seabed around them to build the airport platform.
Q 23Which airline is Hong Kong's flag carrier?
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific: when the pandemic hit, it shut down its own regional airline, Cathay Dragon, the former Dragonair, in October 2020.
Q 14Hong Kong's July 2003 mass march opposed which proposal?
Anti-subversion law
Anti-subversion law: after the march the government withdrew the bill and shelved it indefinitely.
Q 15Which star of Hong Kong martial-arts films was born in San Francisco?
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee: he grew up in Hong Kong as a child actor, then returned to the US in 1959 and made Seattle his home.
Q 16What is the name of Hong Kong's contactless smart payment system, launched in September 1997?
Octopus
Octopus: it began as a fare card for trains, buses and ferries, and it now also pays at convenience stores, supermarkets and parking meters.
Q 17Hong Kong's hillside tram line, opened in 1888, is what kind of railway?
Funicular 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.
Q 18In 2021, Hong Kong Tramways set a Guinness World Record for the largest fleet of what?
Double-decker trams
Double-decker trams: the first trams of 1904 were single-deckers, and double-deckers arrived in 1912 because of rising passenger demand.
Q 19The Star Ferry's main route crosses Victoria Harbour between Central and which Kowloon district?
Tsim Sha Tsui
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.
Q 20Which Canadian star played Kai Tak airport after it closed?
Celine Dion
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.
Q 24Which Hong Kong landmark gave its name to a long-running RTHK drama about ordinary families?
Lion Rock
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.
Q 25As of 2025, what is Hong Kong's tallest building?
International Commerce Centre
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.
Q 26As of 2025, Hong Kong has more of what than any other city?
Skyscrapers
Skyscrapers: counting towers over 150 metres it leads the world, because steep hills and the sea leave little flat land to build on.
Q 27Kowloon Walled City was famous for being what?
One of the most densely populated places on Earth
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.
Q 28Why did Kowloon Walled City end up ungoverned for decades?
Britain and China both avoided control
Britain and China both avoided control: the New Territories lease had excluded the enclave, so neither side ran it.
Q 29Which Hong Kong area did a 1904 law reserve for non-Chinese residents?
Victoria Peak
Victoria Peak: officials said the rule would help stop plague spreading, and Chinese residents needed special government approval to live there.
Q 30Which Martin Scorsese film remade the Hong Kong police thriller Infernal Affairs, moving its moles to Boston?
The Departed
The Departed: Brad Pitt spent years developing it but decided he was too old for a lead role, so he produced it instead.