Did you know ... Hong Kong

Here are some facts about Hong Kong:

Hong Kong is full of greenery, flowers and ponds
stocked with fish tucked between commercial
buildings that can be 100 stories tall.

• After 100 years of British rule, Hong Kong in 1997 became part of mainland China, when 3.8 million people lived there. Since then its population has nearly doubled to 7 million residents. 
• During World War II, Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese for three years, from 1942-1945. 
• The highest building is 118 stories, or 490 meters. The first 102 stories are occupied by businesses and the top 16 by the Ritz-Carlton. It is the fourth-highest building in the world. Hong Kong’s second-highest is 88 stories. Remember: The number 8 is a lucky number in China. 
• Hong Kong has the world’s longest outdoor escalator. The Central-Mid-levels escalator has at least eight sections and comes down to sea level in the mornings and goes up toward the top of the mountain after the morning rush hour. Along it are luxury high rises but most residents with cars and parking facilities still drive to work. 
• A tram line built in 1888 still takes tourists to Victoria Peak, which is 400 feet above sea level, for a 360-degree view of Hong Kong and Kowloon. 
• Water taxis and ferry boats are plentiful and inexpensive. 
• Cars, buses and subways travel between the islands though underwater tunnels. 
• The last typhoon to cause major damage to Hong Kong was in the 1970s. 
• Hong Kong has old, decrepit buildings (six or seven stories with no elevators) next to luxury apartments that can cost as much as $1 million for a 1,100-square-foot space. 
• If you purchase a condo, you do not own it. It reverts back to the government after 60 or 70 years. 
• Fifty-eight percent of Hong Kong residents live in public housing, for which they now pay a small amount. A couple of decades ago they lived rent-free. 
• Minimum wage is $4 an hour and is mostly paid to migrant workers, mainly from Indonesia or the Philippines. 
• People who are not born in Hong Kong have to have permits to live here. 
• Traveling to the mainland, which is only two hours away by train, requires identity cards. 
• People in Hong Kong speak the Cantonese dialect but must also learn Mandarin. 
• Residents claim their form of government is capitalist, although they are ruled from Beijing by a communist administration. 
• Hong Kong, the financial center of Asia, also thrives on tourism, while manufacturing has moved to mainland China.