Chinese Pearl from the British Crown

The official name ofthis place now - the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong,though the word Hong Kong comes from the southern dialect that has noofficial status. The today authorities of China like the Beijingdialect more, and therefore prefer this place to be called Xianggang.To understand its particular role in the geography and history of China , it is enough to have a look at the map. Several rivers, amongthem full-flowing Beijiang, flow into the South China Sea, forming along and wide bay Zhujiangkou. The bay ends with two peninsulasjutting out far into the sea - the western one is called Macau, andthe eastern – Kowloon. Kowloon is the edge of a new autonomousregion of China. Then it spreads to Hong Kong Island and many smallislands. The attractiveness of these places for explorers of the pastis more than obvious: it is here where their months-long journeysfrom Europe ended. Till relativelyrecently Macao belonged to the Portuguese and Hong Kong – to theUK. However, the pioneers of those lands (China) were also hePortuguese, who arrived here in the beginning of XVI century - theAge of Discovery. Local inhabitants had no thoughts abouttransoceanic trade and active smuggling - inhospitable, sparselypopulated islands, with scattered here and there fishing villages,appeared in front of the explorers. Europeans quicklyappreciated the dignity of this place. Profitable trade with Chinesegoods began here. Bythe end of XIX century, authorities of China began to sweat becauseof the arrogance of Europeans running their businesses here, and in1840 the first English-Chinese war broke out (it is called the OpiumWar: a pretext for the outbreak of hostilities was the order of theGovernment Commissioner Lin Zexu to destroy stockpiles of opium belonging to the British), whichfinished in 1842 with the signing of a peace treaty, according towhich Hong Kong passed into "eternal possession" of GreatBritain, in other words it turned into its colony. At the borderbetween China and British territory a rather strange settlement hasappeared - something like a fortress with a nameKowloon Walled City. By the end of1980s there lived more than 50000 people on the land with sizes100mx200m. Neither Chinese authorities nor British ones didn't willto accept them as citizens. In 1997 the United Kingdom finally gaveback the colony to China, giving to the population a possibility toget British citizenship and move where they want.

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