Places of Interest - China

Hong Kong island:

The Victoria Peak, popularly known as The Peak of Mount Austin, is located in the western part of the densely populated Hong Kong island and forms the highest point on the island with a height of 552 meters. You can reach this summit by taking the traditional "peak tram" which is actually a cable car. But you can also walk because there is a freely accessible park around the top that offers a good view of the central part of Hong Kong, the port and the surrounding islands. For this reason, the mountain has become a huge attraction with seven million visitors annually, making it the best-visited attraction in Hong Kong. The enormous flow of tourists has led to the creation of two large shopping and leisure centers on the 'Peak', the Peak Tower and the Peak Galleria, which are located next to each other on the Victoria Gap.  

Other attractions on "Hong Kong" island is the busy "Hollywood Road" and "Lan Kwai Fong" which can both be found in the "Central" district. On the south side of the most popular island you will find one of the city's most famous beaches - "Repulse Bay". The picturesque fishing harbor, "Aberdeen" is not far away with its junks and floating restaurants. The theme park "Ocean World" and the inlets (and market) of Stanley are also closeby.

Knowloon:

On the north side of "Hong Kong" island, accessible by a small ferry crossing, is the touristy island of "Knowloon" which literally means - against dragons. There is a promenade on the south side where you have a beautiful view of the "skyline" of "Hong Kong" island; here are also the clock tower, the busy pier, the stately modern buildings of the cultural center and the "space" theater. Finally, here is also close to the "Avenue of Stars" with, as the name implies, honor to the Hong Kong film industry and its star-actors. In "Knowloon" there are also the art museum, the historical museum and the "Knowloon walled city park".

Lantau:

Lantau is the largest island in Hong Kong, even bigger than the famous "Hong Kong" island. It is an hour's sailing by ferry from "Central". The ferry stops at several small islands and arrives at the port of "Lantau", "Silvermine Bay" (Mui Wo). Many local Hong Kong residents come to this island on weekends and then climb the 943 meter high "Lantau Peak" and visit the monastery "Po Lin" which literally means "precious lotus". Here is the well-known 34 meters high (seated) Buddha statue. You can also visit an old fishing village (Tai O) that is mainly built on stilts.

The archipelago, which we now call "Hong Kong", has been populated for about 5,000 years. Later the area was populated by Han Chinese who came from North China during the Song Dynasty between the years 970 and 1279. Hong Kong, however, occupied a rather modest position for a long time in the Chinese Empire. The British East India Company (British East India Company) contacted China for the first time in 1699, after which trade between the two countries got under way. In 1821, Hong Kong became the port where the British from Bengal introduced the opium. The diplomatic contacts between Great Britain and China were rigid. When the Chinese tried to curb the opium trade and wanted to destroy a large party, the British gave rise to a war. After the first Opium War In 1842 the Chinese empire was forced to transfer Hong Kong to the British East India Company. Then no more than 7,000 people lived there. Hong Kong was then a British Crown colony for a long time. In 1860 the second opium war broke out and now the English took possession of Knowloon. By treaty in 1898 the "New Territories" were added to the British territory for a period of 99 years. On December 8, 1941 Japanese soldiers invaded Hong Kong. This was the beginning of an almost four-year Japanese occupation. The battle for Hong Kong ended on December 25, when the British and Canadian troops surrendered. There was a great shortage in food during the occupation. The population of 1.6 million in 1941 shrank to about 600,000 in 1945. After 1945 the population of Hong Kong grew strongly due to mostly "communist" refugees from China. Economically, the crown colony grew rapidly due to its favorable location in relation to China and Southeast Asia, and especially Japan. 

On 1 July 1997, the United Kingdom transferred Hong Kong (back) to China. Hong Kong became a Special Governmental Region in which the same laws apply in fifty years as in communist China. This is called the idea of "one country, two systems". The Chinese government, despite the dissatisfaction of many Hong Kong citizens that they suddenly belonged to China, helped the ailing economy to mostly allow domestic tourists into the city. In spite of this, the dissatisfaction among the ordinary Hong Kong residents continued. When leader “Tung” lost the confidence of Beijing, he resigned in March 2005, according to his own statements because of his health. In June 2005, his successor Donald Tsang was installed, but to this day, thousands residents are demonstrating on the streets "on the alert" for more interference from Beijing.