Introduction to Hong Kong

                     
                
        Overview of Hong Kong
                

Culture and Tradition of Hong Kong

The culture of Hong Kong is an exclusive blend of the East and the West. Due to demography, Chinese is the majority group which takes up 94% of the population. The rest are the small minority from foreign countries. As a result, the country cultures are usually influenced by the Chinese practice when it mainly focuses on the values of family solidarity, courtesy, and dignity. Also, their traditions are also slightly influenced by other nearby provinces like Guangdong, Fujian, and Teochiu.


Due to its belief from China, people in Hong Kong are inclined to ancient superstitious beliefs despite the world's constant modernization. Their beliefs were influenced through Feng Shui. Everything they do, there will surely be some elements of Feng Shui. One of the example, the Bank of China Tower was officially opened on 8 August 1988 (8/8/88), a rare union of prosperous numbers. Also, august is always a busy month for weddings. Also, Hong Kong people make great use of what little free time their hectic life. Usually they spent quality time on leisure, activities such as eating, shopping for fashion and sports.Infusion between lifestyle with superstition

Religion in Hong Kong

Hong Kong population is 6.787 million, with an annual growth rate of about 1.25%. It religion group are mainly the Buddhism and Taoism. The number of active Buddhist in Hong Kong estimated at around 700,000, through the figure probably includes a good number of Taoists as well. Hong Kong has about 600 temples, monasteries and shrines, most of which are Buddhist or Taoists. One of the famous temple attractions is the Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, Giant Buddha.

My thoughts : I personally visited the place myself. It was a very cool site. In order to reach the site itself, I have to take the cable car up to the Po Lin Monastery to see the Giant Buddha itself. Below the ticket I purchase during the trip which stated 27 March 2009.

Other religion

Many other faiths are practiced in Hong Kong apart from traditional Chinese ones. There are an estimated 536,000 Christians, about 55 % of whom are protestant and 45 % catholic. Hong Kong is also home to approximately 80,000 Muslims. More than half are Chinese with the rest either locally born non-chinese or believers from Pakistan. The oldest Jamia Masjid on Shelley Street, over in Kowloon Stands the Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre, a white marble structure that has become a Tsim Sha Tsui landmark since opening in 1984.

Lastly, there are approximately 15,000 Hindus and 8000 Sikhs in Hong Kong. The Jewish communities, which can trace its roots back to the time of the British arrival, about year 1500.

Food culture

Hong Kong is one of the great centres for international cuisine. In regard on food culture, they have the best Chinese cuisine in the world. However, due to their multi culture in Hong Kong. Indian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Singapore/Malaysian and Thai country cuisine which also known as international cuisine, can also be found in Hong Kong, which makes it unique.

However, due to the major population of Chinese, their main focus regional variations influences on food include Cantonese, Northern Chinese, Chiu Chow ,Shanghai, Sichuan and Hakka cuisine which are consisted the Chinese cuisine that really interest me a lot.

Cantonese cuisine

It comes from Guangdong Province in southern China.The cooking style is based on parboiling, steaming and quick stir-frying to retain natural juices and flavours. One of the “must try” dishes when you talks about Cantonese cuisine, it is Dim Sum. Dim Sum includes dishes based on meat, seafood, vegetables, as well as desserts and fruit.                  

                                                           

Dim Sum

Also, one of the cruelest cuisines goes to Cantonese cuisine when they consume dog and cat. However, this influence cooking method was not allowed in Hong Kong, whereas in china, this animal consumption is very common.                     

  Animal Consumption

Northern Chinese Cuisine

Cuisine from Beijing and the north –central provinces hails from the wheat basket in the chilly north of China. Steamed bread, dumpling and noodles figure more frequently than rice. The food in north in China can be identified by the extensive use of oils coupled with ingredient such as vinegar, garlic, spring onions, bean pastes and dark soy sauces. One of the famous cuisines that thought of Northern Chinese is the Peking duck, served with pancakes, plum sauce and shreds of spring onions.

Peking Duck

Chui Chow Cuisine

The Chui Chow people hail from the area around the seaport of Shantou in northwest Guangdong province. Although part of that province, Chui Chow cuisine is distinctive enough to be identified as a regional form of cooking all its own. Shark Fin Soup is one of the premium dishes that can be found in Chiu Chow cuisine.

Shark Fin Soup

Shanghainese Cuisine

Hairy Crab

The cuisine of the shanghai area contains more oils and is generally richer, sweeter and more strongly flavoured than other Chinese styles of cooking. Stewing, frying and braising are the principal cooking techniques. A specialty is the dishes of cold meats served with various sauces.  Hairy crab which is an autumn dish that can be found in shanghainese cuisine.






Si Chuan Cuisine

China’s west-central provinces of Sichuan and Hunan are known for their fiery food but, in reality, the heat is nothing compared with that of, say, Thai food. Chilies are widely used in this style of cooking. Si chuan food aims for a perfect blend of five key flavours: sweet, sour, salt, pepper and also hot. Two famous dishes that I want to recommend is the “stewed bean curd with minced pork and chili” and “fried fish in sweet-and-sour sauce”.


Stewed Beancurd with minced pork

Fried Fish in sweet-and-sour sauce

Hakka Cuisine

Hakka cuisine, this form of cooking style from the Hakka people originally came from Guangdong and Fujian in southeastern China. The style uses dried and preserved ingredients. Pork is by far the most common meat in the style. One of the famous dishes is the salted baked chicken.


Salted Baked Chicken 

Traditions of Hong Kong

Etiquette of Table manner

Do	Don’t
Usually very noisy and social	Keeping quiet was not advice
Best to wait for some signal from the host before digging in	Not allowed to say only when host say so
Separate chopsticks or even spoons with each dish is encouraged	Leaving chopsticks sticking vertically into the bowl is not allowed, sign of death
Pour everyone a drink, and even if the person's cup is filled, pour a few drops in.	Do not pour your own drink first. Instead, make a toast about business or friendship.
Cover your mouth with one hand while using the toothpick with the other	Never use your toothpick with covering your mouth
Toasting are usually encourage with the words” yun seng”	Long-winded speeches and less than-amusing anecdotes are not advice as usually befall Western banquets

Eating meals and working hours

They usually have five times a day for meals: Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and a late-night snack. Usually afternoon tea and late night snacks are not considered meals, though; that is just filling up space. A proper meal must comprise rich and other dishes as garnishes.

Government Office working hours are normally 08:30 to 17:30, bank hours are from 09:00 to 17:00. Staggered hours are not common but this depends on the company. Retail shops are open until 18:30 in business districts and until 21:00 in other commercial areas.

 

Indigenous people in Hong Kong

Han Chinese

It makes up the majority of Hong Kong, most being from Guangdong from the 1930s to the 1980s. There are also the indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories. Han Chinese groups in Hong Kong, such as the Hakka, the Hoklo (Hokkien), the Shanghainese, or the Teochew, in particular those who are Hong Kong born or raised, often assimilate into the mainstream Cantonese identity of Hong Kong.

Cantonese people represent the largest group in Hong Kong. Beside the Cantonese, people of other Han Chinese groups also reside in Hong Kong. However, the Cantonese remains the largest group even amongst other Han Chinese groups in Hong Kong. As such, Hong Kong culture is highly Cantonese-influenced. Together with the fact that Cantonese is most commonly used as the language of both everyday and formal conversations, as well as its use in the media and education other.

Languages and Mode of Education of Hong Kong

Languages of Hong Kong

English and Chinese are the two official languages that are being used in Hong Kong now. However, Hong Kong speaks Cantonese, a Chinese spoken variant originating from Guangdong province due to its majority of the population but Cantonese is still classified as a dialect, a minority, than to an official language. Also, there are also different foreigner living in Hong Kong, however their language are still stated as minority language but it is nothing wrong to see people speaking their own language as  Hong Kong is an officially bilingual, trilingual and a multicultural country.




Mode of Education

Hong Kong is highly educated society, with literacy rate of about 93%.The education system is based on the British Model. From primary to secondary to tertiary level, education is free and compulsory for nine years (generally from ages six to 15). At secondary level, student begin to specialize; some go to university or college preparatory programs, while others select vocational education combined with apprenticeships. At tertiary level, education is competitive but, with the advent of so many new universities, not as fierce as it once was. Just over 20% of the eligible age group now has the chance to secure a university placement in degree or non-degree courses-more than double the figure in 1990.

Types of Leisure Programmes

Festival, Sport and Arts events in Hong Kong

January	Chinese New Year	Hong Kong Fringe Club City Festival	International Chinese New Year Parade
February	Spring Lantern Festival	Hong Kong Marathon	Hong Kong Art Festival
March	Hong Kong Invitational Seven-A-Side Rugby Tournament
April	Ching Ming	Hong Kong international Film Festival	Birthday Of Tin Hau	Cheung Chau Bun Festival
May	Birthday Of Lord Buddha
June	Dragon Boat Festival	Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races
July
August	Maidens’ Festival	Hungry Ghost Festival	Hong Kong International Arts Carnival
September	Mid-Autumn Festival
October	Cheung Yeung
November	Hong Kong Open Golf Championship

Some Highlights

Hong Kong Fringe Club City Festival

The alternative fringe club sponsors three weeks of performance between late January and early February by an eclectic mix of up-and-coming local and overseas artists and performers

Hong Kong Invitational Seven-A-Side Rugby Tournament

The Rugby Fest, Hong Kong premier sporting event, is held over three days around late march/early April at Hong Kong stadium and attracts team from over the world.

Birthday Of Tin Hau

A festival in honour of the patroness of fisher folk and one of the territory’s most popular goddesses, it is held around late April/early May.

Hong Kong International Film Festival

 This is  a 16 days extranvaganze with screening of more than 200 films from around the world.

Cheung Chau Bun Festival

Taking place around late April/early May, this is an unusual festival that is observed uniquely on Cheung Chau

Maidens’ Festival

A minor holiday, also known as seven sisters day, which is held on the seventh day of the seventh moon .It is a day reserved for girls and young lovers.

Cheung Yeung

Celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month ( mid – to late October ), and based on a story from the Han dynasty ( 206 BC-AD 200 ), where an oracle advised a man to take his family to a high place to escape a plague. When he returned the man found every living thing had died. Many people still head for the hills on this day and also visit the graves of ancestors.

Recreations

Ocean Park ( Theme Park )

Ocean Park, southeast of Aberdeen town centre is a fully fledged amusement and educational theme park and something of a marine park.  I personally visited the place and like it a lot as it is not just fun but an eye opener for me and also tourists who visit there.

The Peak ( SightSeeing )

The highest point on the island, Hong Kong, if you are a person who loves sightseeing, it is the best place to be when you are able to take the peak tram up to the hill. The scenery will definitely fill your excitement.

Stanley market  ( Shopping )

The main attraction in Stanley village is the mostly covered market filled with bric-a-bric, cheap clothing and junk that filled the alleys and lanes southwest of Stanley Village road. It is best to go during the week. Weekend the market is bursting at the seams with both tourist and local alike.



Spot the “Disney”

“Disney” in the modern society of Hong Kong

-Ocean Park

-Hong Kong Disneyland

-Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival

-Hong Kong Shopping Festival

Ocean Park

Ocean Park has been themed themselves like an educational animal and marine life theme park where the whole concept of the theme itself are made up of animals and marine lifes.

The Ride

I personally visited Ocean Park in 2009. I personally visited the place and like it a lot as it is not just fun but an eye opener for me and also tourists who visit there. The rides are all theme in a way that people who visited the place which learn something about animals or the marine life.

One of the rides was "The Eagle", a fun and exciting ride that I took. I was imaging myself like an Eagle when I took the ride. It is a form of education to me when I personally can image how an eagle would react and also knowing it behaviour. It is something that I really did take away from this ride.


The Dining Restaurant and Souvenir Store
Bay View Restaurant was one of the restaurant I visit in Ocean Park.You can indulge in the oceanic ambience at the Bay view Restaurant. Dine amidst a variety of sea jellies swimming in their aquariums. The open kitchen offers over 30 seasonal dishes, including a range of appetisers, entrees, and desserts for you to "create your own meal" by mixing and matching whatever you fancy. It is special to me when it is theme in a way of the whole concept of the Ocean Park itself when even the service staff wore like the theme of the bay view restaurant when they clothing are watery blue in colour to match with the marine land bay view restaurant theme.

                                    

Panda Exhibits Hall and Water Park

The Ocean Park is mainly focus on animals exhibits and one of the famous exhibits hall was the Panda, where attracted a lot of tourists to the world to see these panda as they are once the symbolic animal for  Beijing Olympic held on 2008.

                                     

Also, the ocean park also have water park around the park to fulfill the whole concept of the theme park itself where is caters to marine theme. Therefore, water park are not to be missed.

Souvenir Store

 The store sold a lot of animals toys such as fishes and also penguin. The whole place was filled with animals and mostly was catered to animal lovers.


The Environment

                                                 

Animal mascots were seemed in the place itself and also the environment of the whole theme park was filled with animated theme of animals and marine lifes.



Overall: I spot " Ocean Park" as a disney spot because it is themed as a educational theme park spot where people who love excitement, animal lovers and leisure families. This is a place where it has created as an attraction that has brought in a lot of crowd around the world since opening . Every part of the theme park itself has become a disneyization spot where they followed the whole theme park concept which is providing a educational trip for animals and marine lifes lovers. Hence, understanding its characteristic of these animals in a different manner. I analysis it through the facilities it has, the surrounding and even the crew staff in the ocean park and that is what I found from my research. I confirmed it as one of my "Disney " spot.

Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland has themed themselves as a place of fantasy world where it is themed in the western style of fairytale story featuring all disney production known as Walt Disney picture. 

   

                           

The Environment

The most obvious theme that it has come be seemed is the environment. Mascot were also seemed in this particular place. The whole environment of the building were structured in a way that it is some house of these cartoon characters like castles for Mickey.It is very fantasy in a way.

                                      

                                     

Also, there were parade held around the place to beef up the whole environment of the place. Like the Disney Parade featuring main characters like Mickey and Minnie mouse and etc.

                                      

The Disneyland train

 

                              
               

Even the train that link Disneyland to the main MRT line of Hong Kong was designed in a way that it suit the theme of Disneyland.






Dining and Accommodations

  

What was so special is this particular Chinese restaurant called the Crystal Lotus at Hong Kong DisneyLand Hotel itself. Feast on specially created Disney Dim Sum, like "Chicken Little" Steamed Lotus Seed Puree Bun, Little Green Men Pork and Vegetable Bun and Mickey's Seafood Glutinous Pancake.The dishes are created in the form of a theme and it is very famous among all
ages.

Also, the hotel itself has themed themselves on Disneyland concept when the room are designed in a way that it look like some fantasy castle that you would image to live in. Even the shampoo are designed based the concept of Disney.

                                     

Overall: I spot Hong Kong Disneyland as a Disney spot is because it is themed as a concept of cartoon characteristic.Everything related inside the Disneyland are filled with disney theme inside. It is a very popular around the region where people fly into Hong Kong just to visit this particular place. The variety of this place has make it very successful. One of the reason is because it caters to the tourist needs to source for fairytale experience that only can be experience in such places.

Food and Shopping Paradise

Hong Kong has known to be a shopping and eating paradise. There are world class dishes and over thousands of the merchandise where it is known as the shopping paradise. Namely two festival was created to meet this theme of " Shopping and Food Paradise ".

 

-Hong Kong Shopping Festival




- Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival


Overall : I have spot this two festival as also a disney spot as Hong Kong itself is a modern society. They are themed as " Shopping and Food Paradise ". When we talk about Hong Kong, we will always feature them as Shopping and Food Paradise. It is being disney in a way that their culture and lifestyles are being commodities into a symbol of their country. However, it could be a good way and a bad way.