History UsefulNotes / HongKong

* The city becomes a battlefield for {{Kaiju}}s in ''Film/GodzillaVsKong''.

* The final book of ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'', "The Tower of Nero", features a minor character called Yan, who is stated to be from Hong Kong. However, not much about them is known other than their name and place of origin.

->The red field is both a festive color among the Chinese and an allusion to the flag of UsefulNotes/{{China}}; at the center is a white stylized [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhinia_blakeana Hong Kong orchid]] (''bauhinia blakeana'') with five petals, each containing a star, symbolizing the "one country two systems" policy, wherein China will implement socialist rule while at the same time allow capitalism.

->起來！不願做奴隸的人們！
->把我們的血肉，築成我們新的長城！
->中華民族到了最危險的時候，
->每個人被迫着發出最後的吼聲。
->起來！起來！起來！
->我們萬眾一心，
->冒着敵人的炮火，前進！
->冒着敵人的炮火，前進！
->前進！前進！進！

->hei2 loi4! bat1 jyun6 zou6 nou4 dai6 dik1 jan4 mun4!
->baa2 ngo5 mun4 dik1 hyut3 juk6 zuk1 sing4 ngo5 mun4 san1 dik1 coeng4 sing4!
->zung1 waa4 man4 zuk6 dou3 liu5 zeoi3 ngai4 him2 dik1 si4 hau6,
->mui5 go3 jan4 bei6 bik1 zyu3 faat3 ceot1 zeoi3 hau6 dik1 haau1 seng1.
->hei2 loi4! hei2 loi4! hei2 loi4!
->ngo5 mun4 maan6 zung3 jat1 sam1,
->mou6 zyu3 dik6 jan4 dik1 paau3 fo2, cin4 zeon3!
->mou6 zyu3 dik6 jan4 dik1 paau3 fo2, cin4 zeon3!
->cin4 zeon3! cin4 zeon3! zeon3!

->Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves!
->With our flesh and blood, let us build a new Great Wall!
->As China faces her greatest peril,
->From each one the urgent call to action comes forth.
->Arise! Arise! Arise!
->Millions of but one heart
->Braving the enemies' fire! March on!
->Braving the enemies' fire! March on!
->March on! March on! On!

* '''Politics:''' Since the handover in 1997, Hong Kong has existed within the Chinese state under the idea of "One country, two systems". This was part of the handover deal with the British, which aimed to guarantee that Hong Kong would retain many of its existing freedoms for at least 50 years after the handover, however no plans are explicitly stated for how Hong Kong will be handled after those 50 years are up (in 2047). Under this system, Hong Kong is governed by its own Legislative Council ([=LegCo=]) headed by a Chief Executive. The [=LegCo=] is, at least on paper, similar to a devolved government in the United Kingdom or a state government in the USA - responsible for administering affairs within the Hong Kong SAR, or at least, anything not reserved to Beijing. Hong Kong also retains a separate judiciary from mainland China, and is governed by its own separate constitution - the Basic Law. Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement should be applied when discussing how "democratic" or otherwise separate from the Communist government in Beijing these institutions actually are in reality. The system trundled along without much attention for the first ten or so years after the handover. But in TheNewTens and TheNewTwenties, an increasing amount of pro-democracy and anti-China sentiment has arisen, with large-scale demonstrations frequently occurring for extended periods of time. These have happened mostly in response to perceived power grabs by the mainland government or apparent erosion of the [=SAR's=] freedoms. The introduction of a new security law in 2020, which essentially criminalised criticism of the Chinese government, only served to complicate matters further, leading to criticisms that the CCP is trying to take back control of Hong Kong 27 years too early. Unfortunately, no easy solution appears to be on the horizon.

* '''Natural environment:''' The climate is hot and humid most of the year, but not hot and humid enough for a full-on rainforest--described by local sources to be "subtropical" to be more specific. The result is a sort of half-hearted jungle about twenty to forty feet high (10 meters or so) with creepers, thorns spikes and sharp-edged leaves: it is a nightmare to push through if you get off the many hiking trails. Local wildlife includes cobras and kraits, Burmese pythons, pangolins, macaques, water buffalo, boars, various kinds of deer, fifteen species of bat, mongooses and sundry lizards, rats. The Mai Po marshes are a famous reserve for migratory water birds. There was even a (small) crocodile once. They brought in an Australian crocodile hunter ([[Series/CrocodileHunter not that one]]) and it's now in the aforementioned Mai Po Wetlands park.

* NeonCity: In real life, Hong Kong is known for their abundant bright signage. This is often utilized in media featuring Hong Kong as part of the scenery.

** ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'': He goes to a secret [=MI6=] base that's been built inside the wrecked RMS Queen Elizabeth in the harbour.

* '''Hong Kong Island (Hong Kong Side):''' Home of towering postmodern glass skyscrapers around which black-eared kites soar as if auditioning for an ''Eagle Star'' commercial. Also present are double-decker trams, the Happy Valley racecourse and a number of parks. One such park is Ocean Park, which is by the smallish town of Aberdeen, home of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. Ocean Park includes a theme park, aviary, aquarium (with sharks!), seal and dolphin shows and pandas (which, in typical panda fashion, don't actually do much). The crowded streets, trams, eye-catching skyscrapers and the old prison/courthouse building and legislative Council building are popular backdrops for action movies and beat-em-up computer games: one of the ''StreetFighter'' series features the characters holding up a tram as they fight, some episodes of ''Tekken'' have the China Bank tower clearly visible in the background.

** {{Qipao}}: Notable in that numerous secondary schools have adopted ''cheongsam'' as the school uniform for their female students.

* Creator/TonyLeung

Formerly a British trading colony, now a Special Autonomous Region of the [[RedChina People's Republic of China]] since its handover in 1997.

!!Tropes associated with Hong Kong

* BilingualDialogue: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code-switching_in_Hong_Kong Code-switching]] is a phenomenon where two languages are mixed together in the same situation. In Hong Kong, though a majority of the population speaks Cantonese as their native tongue, many English words tend to be thrown in as well as a result of code-switching.
* CramSchool: Cram schools are known as "tutorial schools" and are often employed as a tactic for students to pass their classes. An interesting aspect of these schools is that some of their teachers are promoted like celebrities: they employ stylists, fashion designers, and photographers to make them look fashionable, and they then put their likenesses on giant billboard and newspaper advertisements with cool titles such as "King of Tutors", "Godfather of Science", and "Queen of English".
* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: Hong Kong often described as a city straight out of a cyberpunk novel (complete with plenty of neon lights, one of the busiest districts in the world, winding alleys side by side with plenty of skyscrapers to the point of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_with_the_most_skyscrapers topping the list of cities with the most skyscrapers]], and a thriving night life). It used to (and still occasionly does) have air quality issues that result in copious amounts of smog. In addition, it does have a monsoon season. It's also hit by typhoons every single year.
* FlowerMotifs: The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhinia_%C3%97_blakeana bauhinia, or Hong Kong orchid]].
* GreasySpoon: The ''chachaanteng'' (茶餐廳, lit. "tea restaurant") is the Hong Kong equivalent of one, often serving [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff/{{Food}} Canto-Western fusion cuisine]].
* LandOfOneCity: Hong Kong isn't ''quite'' a state, but it's self-governed enough of a political entity to be considered as such... in theory. In practice, YMMV.
* MerchantCity: Probably the biggest factor in its growth is it sitting right next to China at a time when the latter was closed to Western investment.
* NeonCity: In real life, Hong Kong is known for their abundant bright signage.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuanyang_%28drink%29 Yuanyang tea]]" is made of seven parts Hong Kong-style milk tea and three parts brewed coffee; HK milk tea is itself one part milk to six parts strong brewed tea; this comes out to 1 part milk, 3 parts coffee and 6 parts strong tea when it's all mixed together. When you absolutely MustHaveCaffeine (and sugar and fat), this is not a bad way to go.
* SkyscraperCity: Due to its mountainous terrain, Hong Kong is considered the tallest city in the world, having more skyscrapers than New York, and ''the most in the world'' at 355.

* SuddenlySignificantCity: Hong Kong has a rather colourful past, going from a humble fishing village to a British Colonial territory and eventually a densely populated city that is not only known as a shopper's paradise but also happens to be one of the world's leading international financial centres, being home to the SEHK (Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited), which is Asia's third-largest stock exchange.
* {{Terraform}}[=/=]TerrainSculpting: Due to the lack of flat land in Hong Kong, most of the flat land used for urban development has to be reclaimed from the sea. Most prominently, in pre-Handover maps of Hong Kong, the island of Chek Lap Kok just north of Lantau Island (the big one in the southwest) was quite small, but in post-Handover maps, it's grown much more in size and has a straight edge on the north side that seems too straight to be natural... and that's because it ''isn't'' natural and was constructed as the runway for the Hong Kong International Airport (opened 1998), which is located on the island.

* MegaCity: A variant--while relatively small in comparison to other examples, it occupies a tiny conclave of Chinese-owned territory in colonial Hong Kong, measuring a scant six-acre area in which it could legally be built. Because of its tiny border, the city expanded ''upwards'' rather than outwards, and its architecture was ''very'' dense.

** ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'' : He goes to a secret [=MI6=] base that's been built inside the wrecked RMS Queen Elizabeth in the harbour.

* As one can probably gather from the subtitle, ''VisualNovel/ASummersEndHongKong1986'' takes place in Hong Kong in 1986. The VisualNovel is described by the creators as "a new media homage to Hong Kong’s golden age of entertainment," making several references to Hong Kong's music scene and cinema of the time. The story also takes place one year after [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-British_Joint_Declaration the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed,]] and the handover is a looming presence of uncertainty that comes up throughout the game several times.

* '''Culture:''' A lot of people still hold a variety of traditional Chinese religious and mystical beliefs loosely linked to Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, so one may regularly see people burning incense, paper effigies of luxury goods and bundles of "Hell Money" for their departed relatives, shrines to various local gods are often in evidence (Kuan Yin, goddess of mercy and Kuan-Ti god of war and upholder of justice are popular, so is the sea goddess A-Ma in fishing villages). Many people worry about the Feng Shui of their buildings etc. Politically, Hong Kong is often characterized as being relatively classical liberal or libertarian (i.e. small and non-interventionist government), and this is true for the international sectors of the economy. The domestic economy, however, is quite heavily cartelized by a small number of [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections well-connected]] government-favored [[MegaCorp corporations]] (see Joe Studwell's ''Asian Godfathers'' for more), thus making Hong Kong a ''mixed economy'' with significant levels of mercantilist/corporatist statism. Within society, you may find a lot of people who have mixed loyalties supporting Chinese vs British teams and people if they come head-to-head (e.g. Olympics) because of the cultural differences between the PRC and SAR, and the extremely amicable history with the UK. Hong Kong has three official languages: Guangdonghua (Cantonese), Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese) and English. Most people speak Cantonese, although people are also learning the official language language of China, Putonghua (Mandarin). You can generally get by in English.
* '''Crime:''' There is a fair deal of drug abuse and protection racketeering overseen by the famous [[{{TheTriadsAndTheTongs}} Triads]] (called Tongs in some Western fiction) such as the Wo Group and the 14K society. Most of these groups are in uneasy truce with each other most of the time, so if you happen to see large posses of young men with knives squaring off in the street, look around for the cameras: [[YouJustRuinedTheShot it's more likely to be a movie scene than a real gang war]]. Mostly the Triads won't stand for physical harm coming to foreign tourists as it's bad for business, so if you visit Hong Kong you won't get mugged. You probably will get scandalously overcharged, but that's another story. Hong Kong is also known for its stringent gun control, and there hasn't been a civilian shooting for many years. Any sort of firearm releasing kinetic energy of over 2 Joules are banned, and troops of armed cops are known to storm citizen residences when they have evidence of modified/smuggled guns. There is a local lottery - Mark Six. Gambling is also legal in a limited sense. The Jockey Club is in charge of the famous horse races, the Mark Six and is the only legal source for football gambling. Consequently, it is very rich, and can afford to run numerous charities and medical clinics.

The city is also quite well-known as ''the'' shopping destination for Southeast Asian tourists, sharing the spot with UsefulNotes/{{Singapore}}. This is due to the variety of goods available, from the most high-end electronic goods to the cheapest Chinese knockoff t-shirt. The big stores selling brand-name goods usually hold sales during holiday seasons to capitalize on this, slashing prices down up to 50%. Another thing it is famous for is its cuisine, from fine dining to street food. Particularly iconic Hong Kong food includes dim sum, egg tart with "silk stocking" milk tea[[note]] Named after it's pantyhose like filter[[/note]], Put chai ko (red bean pudding cake), curry fish balls and cart noodles.

* {{Terraform}}: Due to the lack of flat land in Hong Kong, most of the flat land used for urban development has to be reclaimed from the sea.

* One of the supporting characters in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' is the [[NationsAsPeople personification]] of Hong Kong, a teenager who is characterized as a businesslike and fashionable gourmet with a mischievous streak.

[[folder:Tropes associated with Hong Kong]]

* StereotypesOfChinesePeople: They often apply to Hong Kong just as much as it does to Mainlanders.

[[/folder]]

!!Tropes associated with Hong Kong
* GreasySpoon: The ''chachaanteng'' (茶餐廳, lit. "tea restaurant") is the Hong Kong equivalent of one, often serving [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff/Food Canto-Western fusion cuisine]].

* MerchantCity
* NeonCity

%%!!


%%!!Tropes associated with Hong Kong
%%* ViceCity

* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'' is about an undercover cop investigating the Triads in Hong Kong. The game takes place over several different parts of Hong Kong.

* The second expansion for ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns'' takes place in Hong Kong, with a rebuilt Kowloon Walled City having a central role in the plot.
* [[https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1362182787139137537 From what has been shown in promotional material]], ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon 3}}''[='=]s HubLevel, Splatsville, is modeled heavily after Hong Kong, with extensive use of mixed-use high-rise buildings that have shutter-doored businesses on the ground floor and apartments on subsequent floors as well as neon signs as part of the architectural style. The area shown in the first trailer is based on Kowloon Walled City, with the passenger jet flying low over the city being a reference to how the real-life Walled City was located near Kai Tak Airport and had similar flights passing by all the time.

[[folder:Other Creators]]

!!Hong Kong in fiction

[[folder:Anime]]
* The first ''Anime/GenoCyber'' is set mostly in Hong Kong... and thanks to the awakening of Genocyber, the entire city gets wiped out of existence. Whoops.
* One of the supporting characters in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' is the [[NationsAsPeople personification]] of Hong Kong, a teenager who is characterized as a businesslike and fashionable gourmet with a mischievous streak.

[[folder:Film]]
For locally-produced films, see the page HongKongFilms.
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Batman breaks into a skyscraper in Hong Kong to "extradite" a CorruptCorporateExecutive. This was filmed at the International Finance Centre II.
* The city becomes a battlefield for {{Kaiju}}s in ''Film/GodzillaVsKong''.
* The 1995 French film ''Guardian Angels'' stars Creator/GerardDepardieu as a French cabaret owner who must go to Hong Kong to protect the son of a gangster friend of his who stole $15 million to the Triads and got killed.
* Film/JamesBond went there three times:
** ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'': He gets "[[FakingTheDeath killed]]" in Hong Kong at the start of the film.
** ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'' : He goes to a secret [=MI6=] base that's been built inside the wrecked RMS Queen Elizabeth in the harbour.
** ''Film/DieAnotherDay'': Bond is brought there by [=MI6=] after being freed from captivity in UsefulNotes/NorthKorea. He escapes and goes to a hotel. The Chinese secret agent running the hotel initially thinks Bond is up to something to retake the city on behalf of the UK, while he's really just after a terrorist.
* ''Film/RushHour 2'' starts with Carter visiting Lee in Hong Kong on vacation before they get pulled into a case when the United States Consulate General is bombed.
* ''Film/{{Skyscraper}}'' stars Creator/DwayneJohnson as a security consultant in a newly-unveiled building in Hong Kong called The Pearl, which is stated to be the new tallest building in the world.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
Local broadcasting company TVB is known for its many prolific dramas, spanning genres from legal, crime, to medical dramas, all which are produced locally and featuring local actors. Below are a few notable shows, a few of which have their own TV Tropes pages.
* ''Series/AFistWithinFourWalls'' (城寨英雄): Martial arts drama set in the Kowloon Walled City.
* ''Series/LegalMavericks'' (踩過界): Blind lawyer with heightened senses engages in vigilante work. Suspiciously similar to a Western show.
* ''Series/LineWalker'' (使徒行者): Crime thriller following the lives of undercover police agents who must live a double life in secrecy while investigating a major triad organisation.
* ''Series/TigerCubs'' (飛虎): Police procedural focused on the Special Duties Unit, the elite tactical unit of the Hong Kong Police Force.
* ''Series/TriumphInTheSkies'' (衝上雲霄): Drama focused on the interpersonal and work lives of pilots working for the fictional Solar Airways, based on Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific.

[[folder:Literature]]
* The final book of ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'', "The Tower of Nero", features a minor character called Yan, who is stated to be from Hong Kong. However, not much about them is known other than their name and place of origin.

[[folder:Web Video]]
* [=RiceGum=]'s [=YouTube=] video "Why I Left The Clout House (im sorry)" is an infamous travel vlog taking him through Hong Kong and features him mocking the locals (e.g. suggesting the residents eat cat and dog meat--in spite of their consumption being banned since 1950--and looking for brothels) as well as putting the [[InterchangeableAsianCultures Japanese flag]] on his commentary upon his arrival, which outraged ''many'' people in Hong Kong, who largely regarded the video to be an act of blatant racism.
* ''WebVideo/WeirdSchoolRulesInHongKong'' {{satir|e}}izes how ridiculous some of the rules of local schools are, and by extension, [[HighSchool secondary school]] life in Hong Kong.
[[/folder]]

* [[https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1362182787139137537 From what has been shown in promotional material]], ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon 3}}''[='=]s HubLevel, Splatsville, is modeled heavily after Hong Kong, with extensive use of mixed-use high-rise buildings that have shutter-doored businesses on the ground floor and apartments on subsequent floors as well as neon signs as part of the architectural style.

Other useful points:

* Hong Kong Island (Hong Kong Side): Home of towering postmodern glass skyscrapers around which black-eared kites soar as if auditioning for an ''Eagle Star'' commercial. Also present are double-decker trams, the Happy Valley racecourse and a number of parks. One such park is Ocean Park, which is by the smallish town of Aberdeen, home of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. Ocean Park includes a theme park, aviary, aquarium (with sharks!), seal and dolphin shows and pandas (which, in typical panda fashion, don't actually do much). The crowded streets, trams, eye-catching skyscrapers and the old prison/courthouse building and legislative Council building are popular backdrops for action movies and beat-em-up computer games: one of the ''StreetFighter'' series features the characters holding up a tram as they fight, some episodes of ''Tekken'' have the China Bank tower clearly visible in the background.

* The Kowloon Peninsula (Kowloon Side), a short trip across the Victoria Harbour (actually a strait separating Hong Kong Side from the mainland). The crossing can be made by the Star Ferry, the Mass Transit Railway, or one of three road tunnels. The harbour itself is one of the busiest areas of water in the world, but is narrowing as more and more land is reclaimed. (The wreck of the ''Queen Elizabeth'' was never really a secret service base and has long since been removed, in case any Bond fans were wondering.) Kowloon is home to many street markets, often open long after dark, hence their nickname "night markets". The most famous one is the one at Temple Street. There are also hotels, residential neighbourhoods and declining industrial areas, as well as a seriously huge container port. Also the terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, and home to the former Kai-tak Airport, where planes flew above densely-populated residential area on a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PCOcyt7BPI daily basis]].

* The New Territories: These are the areas north of Kowloon which the British leased from China for 99 years. The lease ran out in 1997, at which point it would not have been practical to hang on to Hong Kong and Kowloon, so the Chinese got the whole lot back. This is a marked contrast to UsefulNotes/TheMenOfDowningStreet's attitude to British Sovereignty elsewhere, hence the famous rhyming couplet: "You fought a war in the Falklands, in that you were so strong. On the other hand, how kind of you to give away Hong Kong". The New Territories include the various New Towns built to relieve urban congestion downtown. They also include much of the "wild" part of the SAR, infested with: poisonous snakes, pythons, harmless snakes, huge but harmless spiders, semi-wild cattle and water buffalo, semi-wild monkeys and wild boar, which allow for "wilderness" scenes even in such a small and urbanized country. (It should be noted that a significant portion of Hong Kong is protected nature preserve.) Also present are many scattered villages, some still retaining old-fashioned tribal features such as village walls and most looking surprisingly poor.
* The Outlying Islands. A cluster of various islands of various sizes. The largest is Lantau. It is home to various beaches, a number of small towns, Hong Kong's small [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland park]] and a giant statue of the Buddha. There are a number of monasteries, mostly Chinese or Tibetan Buddhist, but one Trappist (you don't hear a lot from them for obvious reasons). The famous Shaolin monks have a Kung Fu school but no monastery to current knowledge. Off the coasts of this island, one may see the Chinese White Dolphin, a species that has almost no skin pigmentation as an adult and as a result always looks white or pink. They are lively and will jump high, so tourists enjoy watching them. Also home of the Hong Kong International Airport.

General Notes:
* Urban Environment: As the areas of Hong Kong are small and the hills make parts unsuitable for building, most people live in tower blocks. Corridors are tiled and some individual flats have steel security gates (the new private residential buildings have none, unless you install one yourself), as a result coming home to a Hong Kong flat is like the opening sequence of ''Series/{{Porridge}}'': echoing footfalls, jingling keys and clanging metal bars. Smaller villages have little three-storey buildings which are a lot nicer. The juxtaposition of rich and poor is amazing: a multi-million-dollar mansion may be just up the road from a huddle of corrugated iron squatter huts that look as if they are held together with snot and toothpaste. The Peninsular Hotel, the poshest place in town (Film/JamesBond slept there in ''Film/DieAnotherDay'', almost certainly with someone else) is literally just across the road from Chunking Mansions, Kowloon's most notorious slum. Some of the older residential buildings have shacks built on their roofs which are inhabited by poorer families. Due to the lack of urban planning in the earlier days, a lot of juxtapositions like these tend to happen. For example, a cramped street in Yau Ma Tei has a Jockey Club betting station, a Hong Kong style cafe, a lightning shop and a coffin shop right next to each other, all under very old, 7-8 storey residential buildings. On Temple Street, while one section does sell Buddhist religions records and it is famous for palm-readers and fortune tellers, a significant part of it also sells sex toys. Right in front of a public library, which in turn is next to the death certificate registration center, and there's a brothel quite nearby too.
* Natural environment: The climate is hot and humid most of the year, but not hot and humid enough for a full-on rainforest. The result is a sort of half-hearted jungle about twenty to forty feet high (10 meters or so) with creepers, thorns spikes and sharp-edged leaves: it is a nightmare to push through if you get off the many hiking trails. Local wildlife includes cobras and kraits, Burmese pythons, pangolins, macaques, water buffalo, boars, various kinds of deer, fifteen species of bat, mongooses and sundry lizards, rats. The Mai Po marshes are a famous reserve for migratory water birds. There was even a (small) crocodile once. They brought in an Australian crocodile hunter ([[Series/CrocodileHunter not that one]]) and it's now in the aforementioned Mai Po Wetlands park.
* Transport: As most people live in tower blocks and there are few parking places, many families have no cars so public transport is very important. It includes the trams on Hong Kong side, a tram-train light rail system called the LRT in parts of the New Territories, and a huge number of double-decker buses and minibuses plying their trade all over the SAR. The MTR is an underground rail network whose speed, cleanliness and reliability would shame the [[UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground London Tube]], the UsefulNotes/NewYorkSubway or UsefulNotes/LeMetropolitain. The company recently took over the Kowloon-Canton Railway and so now handles the above-ground trains also. Rickshaws are a thing of the past now: the last few in town stand forlorn by the Star Ferry pier, for sale to anyone who wants one as a curiosity. Indeed, transportation is very convenient in general - there are a lot of buses and light buses (coming in green and red varieties - the former has fixed stops and the latter doesn't).
* Culture: A lot of people still hold a variety of traditional Chinese religious and mystical beliefs loosely linked to Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, so one may regularly see people burning incense, paper effigies of luxury goods and bundles of "Hell Money" for their departed relatives, shrines to various local gods are often in evidence (Kuan Yin, goddess of mercy and Kuan-Ti god of war and upholder of justice are popular, so is the sea goddess A-Ma in fishing villages). Many people worry about the Feng Shui of their buildings etc. Politically, Hong Kong is often characterized as being relatively classical liberal or libertarian (i.e. small and non-interventionist government), and this is true for the international sectors of the economy. The domestic economy, however, is quite heavily cartelized by a small number of [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections well-connected]] government-favored [[MegaCorp corporations]] (see Joe Studwell's ''Asian Godfathers'' for more), thus making Hong Kong a ''mixed economy'' with significant levels of mercantilist/corporatist statism. Within society, you may find a lot of people who have mixed loyalties supporting Chinese vs British teams and people if they come head-to-head (e.g. Olympics) because of the cultural differences between the PRC and SAR, and the extremely amicable history with the UK. Hong Kong has three official languages: Guangdonghua (Cantonese), Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese) and English. Most people speak Cantonese, although people are also learning the official language language of China, Putonghua (Mandarin). You can generally get by in English.
* Crime: There is a fair deal of drug abuse and protection racketeering overseen by the famous [[{{TheTriadsAndTheTongs}} Triads]] (called Tongs in some Western fiction) such as the Wo Group and the 14K society. Most of these groups are in uneasy truce with each other most of the time, so if you happen to see large posses of young men with knives squaring off in the street, look around for the cameras: [[YouJustRuinedTheShot it's more likely to be a movie scene than a real gang war]]. Mostly the Triads won't stand for physical harm coming to foreign tourists as it's bad for business, so if you visit Hong Kong you won't get mugged. You probably will get scandalously overcharged, but that's another story. Hong Kong is also known for its stringent gun control, and there hasn't been a civilian shooting for many years. Any sort of firearm releasing kinetic energy of over 2 Joules are banned, and troops of armed cops are known to storm citizen residences when they have evidence of modified/smuggled guns. There is a local lottery - Mark Six. Gambling is also legal in a limited sense. The Jockey Club is in charge of the famous horse races, the Mark Six and is the only legal source for football gambling. Consequently, it is very rich, and can afford to run numerous charities and medical clinics.
* Military: Before Hong Kong was returned to China, the citizens could join the UK forces. However, Hong Kong citizens cannot join the People's Liberation Army because there aren't laws that deal with recruitment. There have been talk in recent years about letting Hong Kong citizens join, as around 2.5% of the population has expressed interest in joining. However, until the lawmakers of Hong Kong amends the constitution, the only military force in Hong Kong will still be mainland soldiers stationed in Hong Kong. There are paramilitary counter-terrorism forces such as the PTU (Police Tactical Unit) and the SDU (Special Duties Unit) that comprises the elites of the Hong Kong Police Force. Using mainly western weapons, i.e. [=MP5=], [=AR15=], [=MGS90=], the original SDU members were trained by the SAS. Personnel are selected from the PTU, and the requirements/training are extremely rigorous. As a result, the SDU has never failed a single mission.
* Politics: Since the handover in 1997, Hong Kong has existed within the Chinese state under the idea of "One country, two systems". This was part of the handover deal with the British, which aimed to guarantee that Hong Kong would retain many of its existing freedoms for at least 50 years after the handover, however no plans are explicitly stated for how Hong Kong will be handled after those 50 years are up (in 2047). Under this system, Hong Kong is governed by its own Legislative Council ([=LegCo=]) headed by a Chief Executive. The [=LegCo=] is, at least on paper, similar to a devolved government in the United Kingdom or a state government in the USA - responsible for administering affairs within the Hong Kong SAR, or at least, anything not reserved to Beijing. Hong Kong also retains a separate judiciary from mainland China, and is governed by its own separate constitution - the Basic Law. Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement should be applied when discussing how "democratic" or otherwise separate from the Communist government in Beijing these institutions actually are in reality. The system trundled along without much attention for the first ten or so years after the handover. But in TheNewTens and TheNewTwenties, an increasing amount of pro-democracy and anti-China sentiment has arisen, with large-scale demonstrations frequently occurring for extended periods of time. These have happened mostly in response to perceived power grabs by the mainland government or apparent erosion of the [=SAR's=] freedoms. The introduction of a new security law in 2020, which essentially criminalised criticism of the Chinese government, only served to complicate matters further, leading to criticisms that the CCP is trying to take back control of Hong Kong 27 years too early. Unfortunately no easy solution appears to be on the horizon.

!! Hong Kong in fiction:

[[folder: Anime]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
Local broadcasting company TVB is known for its many prolific dramas, spanning genres from legal, crime, to medical dramas, all which are produced locally and featuring local actors. Below are a few notable shows, a few of which have their own tv tropes pages.

* ''Series/A Fist Within Four Walls''(城寨英雄): Martial arts drama set in the Kowloon Walled City.
* ''Series/LegalMavericks''(踩過界): Blind lawyer with heightened senses engages in vigilante work. Suspiciously similar to a Western show.
* ''Series/LineWalker'' (使徒行者): Crime thriller following the lives of undercover police agents who must live a double life in secrecy while investigating a major triad organisation.
* ''Series/TigerCubs'' (飛虎): Police procedural focused on the Special Duties Unit, the elite tactical unit of the Hong Kong Police Force.
* ''Series/TriumphInTheSkies''(衝上雲霄): Drama focused on the interpersonal and work lives of pilots working for the fictional Solar Airways, based on Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film]]
!!Locally produced films:

See HongKongFilms.

!!Other films set in Hong Kong:

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Visual Novels]]

* ''VideoGame/HongKongNinja'' is a BeatEmUp action game set in Hong Kong (like the title implies) and a homage to old-school kung fu films. One of the boss battles even looks like it was filmed in the old Creator/ShawBrothers studio lot, with a powerful OldMaster wearing a ''tangzhuang''as said boss.

The city is highly notable for its film industry, especially in the {{martial arts|movie}} area; giving us Creator/BruceLee, Creator/ChowYunFat, Creator/DonnieYen, and Creator/JackieChan, among many others. For example, the film ''Film/TheDeparted'' is directly inspired by the ''Film/InfernalAffairs'' trilogy. HeroicBloodshed films (especially those made by Creator/JohnWoo) also heavily influenced worldwide action cinema.

* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' HK

** The 3rd game in the ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Alpha]]'' series places Gen's stage next to Victoria Harbour. As the series is a prequel to ''Street Fighter II'', Kai Tak airport and its dramatic jet airliner landings in the midst of the city itself are still things which you can see in the background to his stage.
* The 2nd expansion for ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns'' takes place in Hong Kong, with a rebuilt Kowloon Walled City having a central role in the plot.

* The Kowloon Peninsula (Kowloon Side), a short trip across the Victoria Harbour (actually a strait separating Hong Kong Side from the mainland). The crossing can be made by the Star Ferry, the Mass Transit Railway, or one of three road tunnels. The harbour itself is one of the busiest areas of water in the world, but is narrowing as more and more land is reclaimed. (The wreck of the ''Queen Elizabeth'' was never really a secret service base and has long since been removed, in case any Bond fans were wondering.) Kowloon is home to many street markets, often open long after dark, hence their nickname "night markets". The most famous one is the one at Temple Street. There are also hotels, residential neighbourhoods and declining industrial areas, as well as a seriously huge container port. Also the terminus of the Kowloon-Canton Railway, and home to the former Kai-tak Airport, where planes flew above densely-populated residential area on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PCOcyt7BPI daily basis]].
** Technically the container port belongs to the New Territories, but it is separated from the rest by hills, while only a plain (city now) away from the Kowloon Peninsular.

* '''Area:''' 1,110.18 km (428.64 sq mi)

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Batman breaking into a building in Hong Kong to "extradite" a CorruptCorporateExecutive. This was filmed at the International Finance Centre II.