55 Interesting Facts about Hong Kong

Victoria Habour / Photo by Roger Wagner of Flickr

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Hong Kong is undoubtedly one of the busiest confluences between China and
the rest of the world for business travellers including myself. Apart from
meetings and conferences, it is also a top tourist destination in Asia with its
lure of shopping and plethora of dining options. However Asia's global city is
more than just meetings, food and shopping. It's geography and unique
blend of East and West presents a buffet of Chinese traditions and customs,
theme parks, local cuisine and verdant countryside to enthrall the visitor for
days. There's so much to do that I often wished had more time during visits.
Here are 55 facts I picked up during my visits to Hong Kong to help make
yours even more enjoyable and interesting. Might just amaze some locals as
well.

1) The Peak Tram became the first cable funicular in Asia in 1888 and
remains one of the steepest and oldest cable railroads in the world. An
average of over 11,000 people ride the Peak Tram every day or more than 4
million annually.
2) Approximately 3/4 of of Hong Kong is rural, comprising of 24 country
parks, scenic hills, woodlands, reservoirs and coastline easily accessible from
the city.
3) It is being promoting as the site for Chinese renminbi (RMB)
internationalisation with the issuing of Chinese government and RMBdenominated corporate bonds and RMB trade settlements.
4) The 'father of fibre optic communications' and winner of the 2009 Nobel
Prize in Physics is Professor Charles Kao from Hong Kong.

5) The Chinese New Year "Poon Choi" dish consisting of 10 different

ingredients cooked separately and assembled into a one-pot meal, popular
among Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong, is actually of Hakka origin.
6) The services industry accounts for 92.9 percent of Hong Kong's GDP with
41.4 percent of its labour force employed in wholesale and retail trade,
restaurants and hotels.
7) Feng Shui or Chinese geomancy plays a key role in shaping architecture,
business and lifestyles in Hong Kong, so much so that the government had to
compensate residents living around civil construction projects for disturbing
their feng shui.

8) The world's most expensive bottles of wine at USD232,692 per bottle were
sold at an auction in Hong Kong.

9) Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened in 2005, is the third Disney theme
park outside the US and the first in China.
10) Mongkok has the world's highest population density with an average of
130,000 people per square kilometre.
11) It has the world's most affordable Michelin star rates dishes at less than
USD2 per dish.
12) A unique brand of Cantonese popular music called Canton-pop originated
and spread from Hong Kong to the rest of Asia.

Ngong Ping 360 / Photo by VirtualSteve of Wikimedia Commons

13) The longest bi-cable aerial ride in Asia is Ngong Ping 360. This 25-minute
ride from Tung Chung offers stunning views of Lantau Island including the
Ngong Ping Village, Giant Buddha, Po Lin Monastery and Wisdom Path.
14) It boasts one of the world's highest per-capita concentrations of cafes
and restaurants at one restaurant for every 600 people.
15) Hong Kong magician Louis Yan set the Guiness World Record for 'The
largest magic lesson' by teaching 314 children, surpassing the previous
record by David Copperfield.

16) It has the most skyscrapers in the world, with 8,000 buildings having
more than 14 floors, almost double that of New York.
17) The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) won more than 25 awards and
accolades in 2012 from the international media and the travel industry.
18) It consumes triple the world average of tea at a total of 9.8 million
kilograms annual. This equates to an average of 1.4 kilograms of tea per
person in Hong Kong per year. The world's most expensive tea available in
Hong Kong is Iron Buddha at HKD20,000 per kilogram.

19) 'A Symphony of Lights' is recognised by Guinness World

Records as as the world's 'Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show'.
20) The British government colonised Hong Kong in 1841 during the first
Opium War (1839-43), establishing a free-enterprise economy and trading
centre in Asia, whose capitalist economy, political and social systems will be
maintained by China for at least 50 years after the handover in 1997.
21) Its population is predominantly Chinese and Cantonese remains the
common language of communication.
22) The number of mainland tourists to the territory has surged from 4.5
million in 2001 to 28 million in 2011, outnumbering visitors from all other
countries combined.

23) Street food in Hong Kong is a unique culinary experience with stalls
jutting out into pedestrian sidewalks offers skewers of cooked meat, offal,
vegetables and cut fresh fruits. Mongkok is one of the most popular street
food destinations with locals and visitors.
24) It was one of the stops in French writer Jules Verne's "Around the World in
80 Days" published in 1873.
25) The impact of shortage of land in Hong Kong has forced residents to
consider online burial plots as a way of commemorating their loves ones.
Traditional burial plots like those at the Chinese Christian Cemetery in
Pokfulam can cost more than HKD650,000 if available.

26) It has historically been the world's leading city with the maximum
number of Rolls-Royce luxury cars per capita. The largest single order of 14
Rolls-Royce Phantoms was by The Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong.
27) White truffles seemed to be prized in Hong Kong with USD129,000 paid
for 760g used in a 8-course truffle dinner in 2009.
28) It was regarded as the world's best destination for leisure visitors and
meetings in 2012. Hong Kong was voted the "Best FIT Destination of the
Year" in the China Travel & Meeting Industry Awards 2012 organised by travel
magazine Travel Weekly. It was also named the "Best City for MICE Events" in
the 2012 Industry Awards organised by CEI Asia Pacific magazine.

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29) "Cha Chan Teng" or milk tea (literally translated from the Cantonese
language) is an entirely Hong Kong food culture phenomenon that developed
in the 1950s when western food cooked were served in Chinese eateries.
30) It has the highest IQ average at 107.
31) Dancing is serious business especially among Hong Kong's rich ladies
who are willing to pay for the best teachers in order to rule the city's glitzy
charity ball circuit. It was reported in 2006 that one such individual paid
HKD62 million for salsa dance lessons.
32) The world's largest fleet of ferries provide the most popular and
convenient way to travel between Hong Kong, Macau and other neighbouring
Chinese cities.

Geopark's Hexagonal rock columns / Photo by longzijun of Flickr

33) Its 5,000 hectare Hong Kong Global Geopark of China is listed as part of
UNESCO's Global Geoparks Network and lauded as a unique "geopark in the
city" as it is location just an hour bus or car ride away from the city centre.

34) It is considered to be the largest metropolis for luxury goods and status
symbols in Asia.
35) Hong Kong's Chow Tai Fook Jewellery paid a record price of USD35.5
million for the 19th largest uncut diamond of 507-carat from Petra Diamonds.
36) It is the top retail destination attracting 84 percent of the luxury brands
surveyed by Global real estate advisory firm CBRE in 2011.

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37) Dim sum or yum cha [], which originated with the Cantonese in
southern China, is now a staple of Chinese dining culture, especially in Hong
Kong where many restaurants start serving dim sum as early as 5am.
38) In 2011 alone, 41.92 million visitors arrived in Hong Kong and spend an
estimated USD33.7 billion.
39) A USD19 million "Mega Events Fund" was proposed by the Financial
Secretary to draw even more large-scale arts, cultural, sports and
entertainment events to Hong Kong in 2013.
40) It is actually composed of more than 200 islands.
41) A Hong Kong icon are the late socialites Mr Chau Kai-bong and his wife
Brenda, famous for their pink and gold Rolls Royce and golden toilet.

42) It ended New York's 11-year reign as the home of the world's most
expensive district for retailers as luxury-brand companies like Salvatore
Ferragamo, Gucci, Chanel, Aigner, Christian Dior and Marc Jacobs competed
for space to set up flagship stores selling their goods to mainland Chinese
tourists. In 2012, the average annual rents at Causeway Bay was HKD2,630
per square foot.
43) It is home to Kung Fu or martial arts movies and legends Bruce Lee and
Jacky Chan.
44) There are currently 83 historic buildings under conservation and
revitalisation. The Museum of Tea Ware was the old Flagstaff House and the
Savannah College of Art and Design campus was the former North Kowloon
Magistracy. The old Woo Cheong Pawn Shop in Wan Chai has been
transformed into The Pawn restaurant and pub and the old Tai O Police
station in Lantau has been converted into the Tai O Heritage Hotel.
45) It has been voted the "Best Business City in the World" and "Best
Business City in Northeast Asia" for four and five consecutive years
respectively in the annual readers' poll organised by Business Traveller Asia
Pacific magazine. It was also voted the "Favourite Business City in the World"

by mainland Chinese travellers in the 2012 Business Traveller China Awards.

Hong Kong Rugby Sevens / Photo by MR.. Chung of Flickr

46) Held in March, the Hong Kong Sevens is the world's biggest and the city's
best known annual rugby event, attracting up to 28 teams vying for
USD150,000 of prize money in front of 40,000 spectators and fans from
around the world.
47) For a relatively small population, Hong Kong managed to present 42
competitors at the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games as a nation
independent of China and winning 1 bronze medal in women's cycling by
Sarah Lee Wai Sze.
48) Its Tai O dragon boat water parade, Tai Hang fire dragon dance, Cheung
Chau Jiao Festival (Bun Festival) and Yu Lan Ghost Festival of the Hong Kong
Chiu Chow Community are inscribed on the Representative List of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Tsing Ma Bridge / Photo by Minghong of Wikimedia Commons

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49) The Tsing Ma Bridge, with a main span of 1,377 metres, is the longest

suspension bridge with both rail and road traffic in the world, 100m longer
than San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. It received its name from the areas
at both of its ends, Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. This famous landmark and scenic
spot has a visitor centre and viewing platform located next to the Bridge's
Tsing Yi end.
50) Its personal income tax or salary tax starts at 2% and goes up to 17% for
income above HKD 120,000.
51) The number on your car's license plate is a social status symbol in Hong
Kong with famous personalities like Run Run Shaw with number 6 and Albert
Yeung with number 8. In 2007, the number 18 license plate was purchased at
an auction for HKD16.5 million.
52) It is the premier stock market for Chinese firms seeking to list abroad. In
2011 mainland Chinese companies constituted about 43% of the firms listed
on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and accounted for about 56% of the
Exchange's market capitalisation.

Hong Kong Tram / Photo by Canadian Pacific of Flickr

53) Hong Kong Tramways operates the world's largest fleet of double-deck
tramcars, carrying an average of 230,000 passengers every day.
54) It is the world's most expensive place to buy a home where HKD1.5

million buys only 500 square feet. 1 bedroom apartments in Tsim Sha Tsui are
sold for almost HKD25 million. Even outlying locations like Yuen Long have
homes selling for HKD11 million. The clear winner is the Peak where HKD350
million will only buy you a 4,600 square foot villa.
55) Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) one of the world's top 10 busiest
international passenger airports. In 2011, it received more than 53.9 million
passengers, about 3.9 million tonnes of cargo, 1,000 aircraft movements and
over 100 airlines link HKIA with about 170 destinations worldwide every day.