Hong Kong is the most popular single city destination in Asia. A total of 15.5 million people visited Hong Kong in 2003, coming by land, sea and air. The Mainland and Taiwan are the major sources of visitors.
Hong Kong is a unique meeting place for East and West, blending Chinese heritage, British colonial influences, high-tech modernity and Cantonese gusto. It offers a diversity of travel experiences, from shopping to gourmet dining, countryside pursuits and unique cultural heritage, including a great variety of religious institutions and preserved buildings like temples, monasteries, walled villages, clan halls and colonial structures.

Location

Situated at the south-eastern tip of China, Hong Kong is ideally positioned at the centre of rapidly developing East Asia. With a total area of 1 104 square kilometers, it covers Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula just opposite, and the New Territories – the more rural section of Hong Kong, which also includes 262 outlying islands.

Population

Hong Kong's population was about 6.94 million in mid-2005. The population density was 6 420 people per square kilometer. Hong Kong had a large foreign population of about 517 560. The top three nationalities came from the Philippines (130 810), Indonesia (114 020) and Thailand (28 360).

Language

Chinese and English are the official languages. English is widely used in the Government and by the legal, professional and business sectors. There is no shortage of well- educated competent bilingual or even trilingual professionals who speak English, Cantonese and Putonghua. These are vital staff for any enterprise trading in Hong Kong or doing business with the Mainland and Taiwan.

Climate

Hong Kong's climate is sub-tropical, tending towards the temperate for nearly half the year. Temperatures can drop below 10 degrees Celsius in winter and exceed 31 degrees Celsius in summer. About 90 per cent of the rainfall occurs between April and September.

Leisure and Culture

Leisure and culture provide opportunities for the people of Hong Kong to enrich the quality of their lives. The Government nurtures an environment in which freedom of creativity, pluralistic development of the arts, sporting excellence and recreation for the community can thrive.
 
Cultural and Leisure Events

Hong Kong hosts a variety of cultural and leisure events, including the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, International Arts Festival, Thematic Arts Festival, the Hong Kong Flower Show and traditional festival celebration programmes.

Sporting Events

Major sporting events held in Hong Kong include the annual Rugby 7s, international horse races, International Lion Dance Championships, International Volleyball Challenge and international tennis, squash, golf, tenpin bowling, athletics, football and lawn bowls tournaments.

Performing Venues

Hong Kong has a number of performing venues ranging in size from the 12 500-seat Hong Kong Coliseum to the 2 000-seat Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall and 450-seat community arts centres.

Museums

Hong Kong's mix of traditions, both Chinese and Western, historical and modern, can best be seen in its rich cultural museums and galleries. Blessed by Hong Kong's cultural connections, they showcase some magnificent collections of Chinese antiquities as well as more modern objects of interest. There are stimulating interactive exhibits at the Hong Kong Science Museum and wide-screen Omnimax films and Sky Shows at the Hong Kong Space Museum. The Hong Kong Museum of Art houses some fine examples of ancient Chinese art. For those with a taste for beverages, exhibits recount the history and importance of tea in Chinese culture at the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware.

Country Parks

Country parks provide a valuable 'green belt' and are popular with hikers and nature lovers. There are 23 country parks and 15 special areas. Covering a total area of 41 582 hectares, they comprise scenic hills, woodlands, reservoirs, islands, indented coastlines, marshes and uplands. They are carefully protected for the purposes of nature conservation, outdoor recreation, countryside education, tourism and scientific studies. There are four marine parks and one marine reserve covering an area of 2 430 hectares. They comprise scenic coastal areas, seascapes and important biological habitats. 
 
International Wetland Park

The Mai Po Marshes, listed as a 'Wetland of International Importance Especially as a Waterfowl Habitat' under the Ramsar Convention, form one of the most important wildlife conservation sites in Hong Kong. About 1 500 hectares of mudflats, fish ponds, marshes and dwarf mangroves provide a rich habitat, particularly for migratory and resident birds. Some 300 species of birds have been observed in this area, and at least 110 of them are rarely seen elsewhere in Hong Kong.

Traditional Festivals

There are five major festivals in the Chinese calendar, with the Lunar New Year being the most important. Gifts and visits are exchanged among friends and relatives, and children receive 'lucky money'. During the Ching Ming Festival in spring, ancestral graves are visited. In early summer (fifth day of the fifth lunar month), the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated with dragon boat races and by eating cooked glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves. The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. Gifts of mooncakes, wine and fruit are exchanged, and adults and children go into parks and the countryside at night with colourful lanterns. Chung Yeung is on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, when many visit their ancestors' graves or hike up mountains in remembrance of an ancient Chinese family's escape from plague and death by fleeing to a mountain top.