Culture - Hong Kong

History

Fisherman Village

Hong Kong was an unknown fisherman village where no one would appreciate the potential of this beautiful place composed of hundreds of islands until the British took over in 1841. British occupied Hong Kong til 1997 when Hong Kong is officially returned to China, and thus the “One Country, Two Systems” was established and will last for 50 years.

A huge varieties of seafoods are sold everywhere near the piers.

Tai O is one of the few fisherman villages still in existence in Hong Kong. Most of the houses are stilt houses because they are more convenient for the fishing lifestyle in the past.

You may also find a handful of really old buildings in Tai O that probably has a hundred years of history.

Financial Center

An influx of refugees migrated to Hong Kong from China due to the Second Sino-Japanese War happened around 1937-1945. As the Communist Party was growing after World War II, China was basically cut off from the West, and Hong Kong was used as the “White Gloves” to establish diplomatic relationships between China and the West. Naturally, it became one of the most important financial centers in the world as the West set foot in the East.

Nightview

Unsurprisingly with the natural harbor and overpriced skyscrapers, Hong Kong in my opinion has the best night view in the world (I know I have to be biased as a Hongkonger).

Contraband and Counterfeits

Hong Kong as a major overpass of export and import between China and the West, it is convenient for smugglers to resell goods and even counterfeits with a steep discount in the hidden streets in Hong Kong. Surprisingly, these hidden streets in Hong Kong are rather bright and apparent that even attract tourists to stop by and make purchases (Don’t get me wrong, not all of them are selling smuggled or counterfeit goods). Ladies’ Market at Tung Choi Street in Mong Kok is one of the places that you could go to if you are looking for cheap goods.

Obviously, you could buy an extremely durable luggage for $25 USD in the Ladies’ Market.

Public Housing

Because of the advancement of city development, financial reputations, and the fear of Communism, more people started moving to Hong Kong from China. As the population grew, more housing were needed but no one could afford the expensive price tag, thus the emergence of public housing.

Lion Rock is a famous mountain surrounded by public housing, and its popularity among the working class even has spurred a song about this mountain and its symbolism. The name of the song is Below the Lion Rock (獅子山下).

Fading Heritage

Dried Foods

With the highly accessible ocean nearby and its ideal temperature for agriculture, it is natural for people to turn what is abundant in the ocean into something that they could preserve make money off of. Dried foods then become an obvious option. However, its heritage has been fading due to the city development, polluted environment, and expensive land.

Dried seafood is prominent in small villages like Tai O and islands like Cheung Chau.

Hardware Store

As development and construction were blooming in the 20th century, there were lots of hardware stores where you could buy building materials, tools, and electronic supplies. Yet, their existence started to fade due to the fact that development has been slowing down and the advancement of better and longer-lasting materials.

Sau Maai Lou (收買佬)

In addition to the popularity of its financial reputations, Hong Kong ironically has the worst economic inequality gap in the world. As the population starts to age, those poor being laid off from their jobs (Company usually lays off people aged 65 years or over) would require a way to generate income to survive. With the abundance of goods in Hong Kong, it is natural for people to become a junkman (Sau Maai Lou) in order to make money from second-hand or recycled goods.

An elderly selling second-hand or recycled goods.

Siu Faan (小販)

Being an illegal food vendor on the street (Siu Faan) was one of the promising ways to make money and survive in the 20th century as it only requires produces and a cart that could contain the necessary kitchen tools to serve customers. My personal favorite is the vendor that serves hot wok-fried yam that is cooked by the heat of hot marbles because it is amazingly delicious. Unfortunately, its heritage is fading due to the stricter regulation that does not cherish the heritage and history of these vendors in this well-developed city.

Si Dor (士多)

When I was young and poor, I always go to the small grocery store across the street to buy my favorite ice cream not only because of its taste but also it is much cheaper than buying it from the popular 7-Eleven (Sometimes you could find rare items or foods in these stores). The existence of these accessible and cheap grocery stores has served and helped many poor people during tough times. As more capitalists buying up lands and stores and at the same time renting out with an expensive price tag, many of them were closed throughout tough times such as financial crisis or covid.