Hong Kong
Hong Kong (chinois :香港), souvent désigné comme HK ou HKG, est de facto un Etat-cité et l'une des deux régions administratives spéciales (RAS) de la République populaire de Chine (RPC).
La ville est située sur la côte sud de la Chine, marque l'extrémité orientale de la fr, et est embrassé par la mer de Chine méridionale, au sud et l'océan Pacifique à l'est. Sur une superficie de 1.104 kilomètres carrés seulement, Hong Kong abrite une population de sept millions d'habitants, ce qui en fait l'une des villes les plus densément peuplées au monde.
Au cours de l'ère coloniale britannique, le territoire prônait une intervention minimale de l'État par les autorités britanniques et les immigrants protégés des différentes parties du monde. La culture résultante, souvent décrit comme « l'Orient qui rencontre l'Occident », conserve de nombreuses traditions chinoises, les différentes religions et groupes ethniques coexistent pacifiquement. Le cadre juridique britannique et le gouvernement de non-interventionnisme positif conduit la politique économique de Hong Kong à devenir l'un des principaux acteurs internationaux dans les centres financiers, ainsi que d'une plaque tournante pour le transport régional et une destination touristique célèbre.
Là ou l'Orient rencontre l'Occident
Autrefois un village de pêcheurs sur le bord de l'empire chinois, le territoire est changé à jamais quand il est devenu une colonie de la couronne de l'Empire britannique à la suite de la guerre de l'opium. La stabilité, la sécurité et la prévisibilité de la loi britannique et le gouvernement de Hong Kong a permis de s'épanouir en tant que centre de commerce international. Ce peuple a attiré de partout dans le monde à venir et rester à Hong Kong, et de présenter leur culture, leur religion et leur cuisine.
Environ 95% de la population de Hong Kong sont d'origine chinoise, et les 5% restants comprennent les Indiens, les Pakistanais, Népalais, et Vietnamiens, il y a aussi des Européens, des Américains, des Canadiens, des Japonais et des Coréens qui travaillent surtout dans la secteur commercial et financier de la ville ; on estimait à 252 500 aides domestiques provenant de l'Indonésie et des Philippines travaillant à Hong Kong en 2008.
Il y a une très grande degré de tolérance dans le territoire.
Regional hub
Logistics and trading have always been tightly bound to the history of Hong Kong since its foundation. Indeed, the original 19th century aim of establishing colonial Hong Kong was to build an entrepôt between the British Empire and the oriental Asian countries, primarily Mainland China. The birth of Hong Kong was a by-product of international trade, and the city's survival and growth remains inevitably bound with and influenced by its importance in international commerce.
Not long after the Second World War ended, Hong Kong prospered as a haven of political stability and legal certainty compared with its neighbours. The continued state of disagreement between mainland China and Taiwan made Hong Kong a necessary stepping stone for travel and trade between the two Chinese governments. Hong Kong's status as a trading port also drove its economical development to new heights, and the resulting prosperity was enjoyed not only by the city itself, but also the whole East Asian region.
The Rose Garden Project, announced in 1989, effected the construction of the new Hong Kong International Airport and its associated transport infrastructure. Regarded as an architectural magnificence of the 20th century and whose construction lasted for 8 years, the new Hong Kong International Airport, known locally as 'Chek Lap Kok Airport', opened on 6 July 1998. Its modern standard of construction laid a foundation stone for a new era of aviation in Hong Kong with much higher developing potential and handling ability compared with the previous Kai Tak Airport, which was infamous for its spectacular urban landings.
Nowadays travelling from and to Hong Kong is a piece of cake, whether from neighbouring regions or the opposite side of the globe. Hong Kong's airport is a primary transportation hub in Asia, served by variety of airlines; flight connections with Asian destinations are many and extremely frequent. It is also a major transit hub on the Kangaroo Routes between Australia and Europe, particularly the United Kingdom. These make Hong Kong the origin of several of the world's busiest passenger air routes, such as between Hong Kong and Sydney, London, Taipei, Tokyo and Beijing. Its accessibility and capacity gives the airport strategic importance in both regional and intercontinental travel.
Currency & money matters
The Hong Kong dollar (港幣 or HKD) is the territory's official currency. In Chinese, one dollar is known formally as the yuen (元) and colloquially as the men (蚊) in Cantonese. You can safely assume that the '$' sign used in the territory refers to HKD unless it includes other initials (e.g. US$ to stand for US Dollar). The HKD is also widely accepted in Macau in lieu of their home currency at a 1:1 rate.
Currency exchange desks are available at the airport, as well as at most banks. Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Chinese Renminbi, Euro, Indian Rupee, Japanese Yen, Macau Pataca, Malaysian Ringgit, New Zealand Dollar, Singaporean Dollar, South African Rand, South Korean Won, Swiss Franc, Taiwanese Dollar, Thai Baht, Pound Sterling & US Dollar are all widely exchanged.
| Currency | Equivalent of HKD 1 | Equivalent in HKD |
|---|---|---|
 Australian Dollar
|
AUD 0.12242 | HKD 8.16849 |
 Canadian Dollar
|
CAD 0.13028 | HKD 7.67552 |
 Swiss Franc
|
CHF 0.119658 | HKD 8.35715 |
 Renminbi
|
CNY 0.815998 | HKD 1.22549 |
 Euro
|
EUR 0.09879 | HKD 10.1224 |
 Pound Sterling
|
GBP 0.08280 | HKD 12.0779 |
 Indian Rupee
|
INR 6.44689 | HKD 0.15511 |
 Japanese Yen
|
JPY 10.0553 | HKD 0.09945 |
 South Korean Won
|
KRW 145.006 | HKD 0.00689626 |
 Macau Pataca
|
MOP 1.03000 | HKD 0.970874 |
 Malaysian Ringgit
|
MYR 0.396655 | HKD 2.52108 |
 New Zealand Dollar
|
NZD 0.15888 | HKD 6.29408 |
 Singaporean Dollar
|
SGD 0.163270 | HKD 6.12482 |
 Thai Baht
|
THB 4.06593 | HKD 0.245946 |
 Taiwanese Dollar
|
TWD 3.85064 | HKD 0.259697 |
 US Dollar
|
USD 0.12885 | HKD 7.76106 |
 South African Rand
|
ZAR 1.02268 | HKD 0.97782 |
Automated Teller Machines (ATM's) are common in urban areas. They usually accept VISA, MasterCard, and to certain degree UnionPay. Maestro and Cirrus cards are widely accepted as well. They dispense $100, $500 or rarely $1000 notes depending on the request. Credit card use is common in most shops for major purchases. Most retailers accept VISA and MasterCard, and some accept American Express as well. Maestro debit cards however are not widely accepted by retailers. Signs with the logo of different credit cards are usually displayed at the door to indicate which cards are accepted.
Octopus card
The Octopus card (八達通, "baat daat tung" in Cantonese) provides instant electronic access to Hong Kong's public transport system. As the world's first contactless smart debit card, it can be tapped onto a reader to transfer fare from the passenger to the carrier. It is similar to Singapore's eZ-Link card, London Underground's Oyster card and Japan Railway's IC card. In addition to being used for all forms of public transport (except most of the red-top minibuses and taxis), Octopus is accepted for payment in almost all convenience stores, restaurant chains like McDonald's and Cafe de Coral, many vending machines, all roadside parking and some car parks.
Notes
Parts of the Local information pages were adapted from relevant pages from Wikitravel, which are based on work by Claus Hansen, Martin Cox, Samuel Chan, Edison Chua and Bill Ellett, Wikitravel user(s) Globe-trotter, Timeo and Sumone10154, and anonymous editors, released under cc-by-sa 3.0 licence.