Hong Kong is actually attached to mainland China and its 1092 sq km are divided into four areas - Kowloon, Hong Kong island, the New Territories and the Outlying islands (243 of them!).
So for those of you like myself who have a poor knowledge of the history of Hong Kong, here's the lowdown:
After over 150 years of being a British colony, Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 (this bit I did know), but Hong Kong remains an independent economy and will do so for the next 50 years. European trading with China stretches back more than 400 years, but European demand for silk and chinese tea grew in the 18th century. China, being quite self-sufficient, was not really interested, that was, until the British (apparently with their inexhaustible Bengal poppy supply) started running opium into the country. Although China had long known opium, addiction spread like crazy. After having enough of this trade, the Chinese government decided to stamp it out, provoking the British, and two 'Opium Wars' ensued: one in 1841 and another in 1860 (the latter included the French). The British gained Hong Kong island and Kowloon. Finally in 1898 a 99-year lease was granted to the Brits for the New Territories.
Understandably, even though Hong Kong seems quite western, there is fierce pride that the people are no longer under British rule and 90% of the population are ethnic Chinese. The few westerners we have seen have mainly been tourists. * Mush
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