Hong Kong

Neighborhoods

Hong Kong Island is what is typically considered Hong Kong, with crowds pursuing business and pleasure among skyscrapers and elegant department stores and restaurants. The island's Central District, on the north side, is the hub of the Hong Kong good life. To the east of Central is an entertainment district called Wanchai. Further on is Causeway Bay, another area of hotels, restaurants, department stores, and boutiques. The south of Hong Kong Island is mostly residential, with high-rise luxury apartment buildings. Near Aberdeen, also in the south, are two aquatic centers, Ocean Park and Water World.

The theme established by Hong Kong Island's Central District is continued in Kowloon's Tsim Sha Tsui district. The area also boasts a number of museums, the Hong Kong Coliseum, and the Jamia Masjid Islamic Center.

City Fact Comparison
Indicator	Hong Kong	Cairo	Rome	Beijing
	(China)	(Egypt)	(Italy)	(China)
Population of urban area¹	6,097,000	10,772,000	2,688,000	12,033,000
Date the city was founded	1898	AD 969	753 BC	723 BC
Daily costs to visit the city²
Hotel (single occupancy)	$180	$193	$172	$129
Meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner)	$92	$56	$59	$62
Incidentals (laundry, dry cleaning, etc.)	$23	$14	$15	$16
Total daily costs (hotel, meals, incidentals)	$295	$173	$246	$207
Major Newspapers³
Number of newspapers serving the city	87	13	20	11
Largest newspaper	Oriental Daily News	Akhbar El Yom/Al Akhbar	La Repubblica	Renmin Ribao
Circulation of largest newspaper	600,000	1,159,339	754,930	3,000,000
Date largest newspaper was established	1969	1944	1976	1948
¹United Nations population estimates for the year 2000.
²The maximum amount the U.S. Government reimburses its employees for business travel. The lodging portion of the allowance is based on the cost for a single room at a moderately-priced hotel. The meal portion is based on the costs of an average breakfast, lunch, and dinner including taxes, service charges, and customary tips. Incidental travel expenses include such things as laundry and dry cleaning.
³David Maddux, ed. Editor&Publisher International Year Book. New York: The Editor&Publisher Company, 1999.

In the New Territories north of the Kowloon hills, one encounters small to

Aberdeen Harbor, Hong Kong. ()

medium-sized rural settlements. Towns and villages in the low-lying areas are generally inhabited by Cantonese; settlements in the valleys and foothills are usually populated by the Hakka people. Among the latter are some traditional fortress-like walled villages, such as Kut Hing Wei. The Temple of 10,000 Buddhas is one of several beautiful temples in the New Territories. Much of Kowloon and the New Territories are comprised of crowded shanty towns.

In contrast to both the luxury of Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui and the squalor of the shanties, the outlying islands offer scenic natural beauty. Lantau Island, larger than Hong Kong but with 20,000 people, is rustic enough to be the site of the impressive Buddhist monastery of Po Lin, as well as a Trappist monastery. Lantau's beaches offer an impression of the beauty of the beaches on many of the other of Hong Kong's 230-plus islands.

Hong Kong also has a small and shrinking population of Tanka, fisher-folk who live on boats in fishing towns, such as Aberdeen, Shau Kei Wan, and Cheung Chau.