Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Property surveyor Leung Chun-ying begins a five-year term as the fourth Hong Kong
SAR chief executive after beating former civil-service head Henry Tang in a scandal-
plagued election.
2012
Tens of thousands take to the streets to protest a new national education curriculum
that they fear will brainwash students with communist propaganda.
2014
Archaeological finds at an MTR site in East Kowloon show that Hong Kong's history in
the Sung dynasty may have been far richer than had been popularly believed.
2014
A massive crowd (180,000 according to organisers; 99,500, to police) turn out for the
25th anniversary of the 4 June candlelight vigil that marks the Tiān'ānmén demon-
stration in 1989.
2014
The chief executive states that the city may limit tourist arrivals as an influx of
Chinese visitors stirs discontent.
The name Hong Kong came from the Cantonese
heung gawng
('fragrant har-
bour' or 'incense harbour'), which was inspired by the scent of sandalwood
incense piled at what is now Aberdeen, on the western edge of the island. In
the very long scale of history, Hong Kong as we know it today has existed for
a mere blink of an eye. But there was a lot going on in the region before that
wintry morning in 1841 when a contingent of British marines clambered
ashore and planted the Union Jack on the western part of Hong Kong Island,
claiming it for the British Crown.
Early Inhabitants
Hong Kong has supported human life since at least the Middle Neolithic Period (c
4000-2500 BC). Artefacts uncovered at almost 100 archaeological sites in the territory sug-
gest that the inhabitants of these settlements shared similar cultural characteristics to the
people who lived in the Pearl River delta. The remnants of Bronze Age habitations (c
1500-220 BC) unearthed on Lamma and Lantau Islands, among other places - as well as
