Hong Kong History of Hong Kong Museum
A guide to the History of Hong Kong! Visit Get-Packing.com for Hong Kong History and read up-to-date information, reviews and articles on Hong Kong art and museums...
An important trade link in the export of silk and tea from China to Europe; the British annexed Hong Kong after the Opium wars in 1841. As the importance of the colony grew internationally, further wars with China as the British and French acquired more territory in the area eventually ended with the Convention of Peking in 1859 when the Chinese ceded Kowloon. In 1898, Britain acquired a 99-year lease on the New Territories and outlying islands as a buffer zone to protect their interests, and allow for growth.
As the trade in opium, silk and tea began to slow in the 20th century, Hong Kong began to become a major manufacturing centre where low cost employment, and willingness to invest overcame the limitations placed on Hong Kong by its lack of natural resources. And during the 1930s, as China was invaded by the Japanese, many wealthy capitalists fled to the island bringing their business with them and contributing to the rapid growth of Hong Kong as a major commercial centre.
In 1984, after several decades of uneasy peace with China following the 1949 communist revolution, preparations for the return of Chinese sovereignty to the colony began, and the transfer of power from self-rule to control from Beijing in 1997 was smooth.
On the surface visitors to Hong Kong now notice little difference in the city from the old days to the new, and most customs including the firing of the noonday gun from outside the old governors Mansion on Victoria Harbour take place as they always did.
With its "One Nation, Two Systems" slogan regarding the government of Hong Kong, the Chinese government has guaranteed that it will keep the existing economic and social systems in place until at least 2047, but the truth is, that for as long as Hong Kong continues to make vast amounts of money, it will stay the same as it always has, and remain one of the most fascinating and free places in all of South East Asia.
|
