Photos Of Hong Kong
Hong Kong is renowned for its expansive skyline and natural setting, its identity as a cosmopolitan centre where the East meets the West is reflected in its cuisine, cinema, music and traditions. With a population of 7 million people but land area of 1,108 km2, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The city’s population is 95% Chinese and 5% people of other ethnicities.
About 40% of Hong Kong’s land area is reserved as nature reserves and country parks, with less than 25% of the territory’s landmass developed. Hong Kong’s long, irregular and curvaceous coastline also affords the territory with many bays, rivers and beaches.
Hong Kong has made much effort to promote a green environment, despite its reputation of being intensely urbanized. Awareness of the environment is growing as Hong Kong suffers from increasing pollution compounded by its geography and tall buildings.
The Climate
Hong Kong has a humid subtropical climate and is situated just south of the Tropic of Cancer. The most pleasant seasons are spring, although changeable, and autumn, which is generally sunny and dry. The city averages 1 948 hours of sunshine annually, with the highest recorded temperature of 36.1 °C and the lowest recorded at 0 °C.
Summers
Summer is hot and humid with occasional showers and thunderstorms, and warm air coming from the southwest. The summer months are also the time when typhoons are most likely to occur, resulting in flooding or landslides sometimes.
Winters
Winter weather usually starts sunny and becomes cloudier towards February, with the occasional cold front bringing strong, cooling winds from the north.
The Economy
Hong Kong is seen as one of leading financial centers of the world and they have the Hong Kong dollar as their currency. Hong Kong imports most of its food and raw materials because it has little arable land and few natural resources. The exports of Hong Kong consist mostly of re-exports of products made outside of the territory. At the end of 2007, there were 3.46 million people employed full-time, with the unemployment rate averaging 4.1%.
The Architecture
Hong Kong has 7650 skyscrapers, making it one of the cities with the greatest number of skyscrapers in the world. The city has been rated as having the best skyline in the world. The lack of available sprawl space in the urban area results in the high density and tall skyline of the city. This lack of space causing demand for dense, high-rise offices and housing, has resulted in 36 of the world’s 100 tallest residential buildings being in Hong Kong. It has more people living or working above the 14th floor than anywhere else on Earth, making it the world’s most vertical city. The International Commerce Centre is 484m high and is the highest building in Hong Kong at this stage.
Getting to Hong Kong
Visitors from South Africa can go to BestFlights.co.za to book flights to Hong Kong
Transport in Hong Kong
Hong Kong has a highly developed public and private transport network. With more than 11 million daily travels on public transport, the city has the highest percentage of use of public transport in the world.
The Octopus card, a stored value smart card payment system, can be used to pay for fares on almost all railways, buses and ferries, and also for parking and purchases at convenience stores, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants.
Hong Kong Island’s Northern parts are covered by a tramway system and is the only tram system in the world that runs exclusively with double deckers. Routes with lower demand or roads with lower carrying capacity make use of single-decker buses. {Public light buses run the length and breadth of Hong Kong.}
For a panoramic view of Hong Kong’s skyline, the Star Ferry services operates four lines across Victoria Harbour for its 53 000 daily passengers.
To get up and down Hong Kong’s steep and hilly terrain, people make use of The Peak Tram.
Hong Kong International Airport served around 47 million passengers and handled around 3.7 million tons of cargo in 2007 alone, making it one of the world’s busiest airports.