Human habitation is speculated as early as the Paleolithic Age, which ended 14,000 years ago. Hong Kong, in Cantonese, means frangrant harbor, an apt term today if putridity can also be considered as frangrant. There are three parts to Hong Kong: the island of Hong Kong, the sprawling metropolis Kowloon, and everything else in the SAR. Seven million people live here. Interestingly enough, the fishing town of Shenzhen had in 1980 all of 25,000 people. Located on the China side of the border, only a short train ride away, Shenzhen now has more than twice the population of Hong Kong.
The modern history starts with assumption by the United Kingdom as a Crown Colony in 1842, following the First Opium War…in short, China did not want opium and the UK thought that was not acceptable. The Second Opium War resulted in the rest of the territory coming under British rule, with a 99-year lease signed in 1898. Opium was a weapon of mass stuporfication. One of the most amazing displays of political integrity was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher returning Hong Kong to China in 1997. Then came Sarah Palin, who on 23September09 addressed an investors’ conference, garnering a hefty fee. Okay, that was a bit of sarcasm, but I still wonder why the UK just gave in. After all, as Senator S.J. Hayakawa repeated, in the matter of the Panama Canal: we stole it fair and square. But we also rightfully returned it.
After an edgy first few years, China delivered on allowing Hong Kong almost total autonomy on form of government, fiscal matters, including currency, judiciary and all other matters, except for defense and foreign affairs…for 50 years. Oh, oh. Their capitalist economy has now been rated #1 as the freest in the world by the index of Economic Freedom…for the past 15 years. GDP/capita is $43,700. Unemployment was 5.4% in August.
I’ve been to Hong Kong on numerous occasions, but never even thought they had a flag. Well, in 1997, when returned to China, the Bauhinia, a five-petal crimson orchid, became this symbol.
The flag itself depicts a white flower, which is incorrect. The significance of five has to do with the 5 stars in the flag of China, and more arcanely, something to do with ying and yang.
I always have a Peking Duck meal on a stop here. Nearly two years ago, on Thanksgiving, Eddie Chiu took us for an outstanding PD meal. Tonight, it was raining, so I went to Celestial Court on the second floor and found what looked like an expensive PD...the whole duck. The Manager, Barry Lai, talked me into he preparing a plate, with the pancake, etc., which would not overwhelm me at an appropriate price. This was about the best PD I've ever had, and just the right quantity. Look up Barry if you are ever in or near the Sheraton. He is a most sensible and reasonable restuaranter.
Finally, I took this photo looking towards Hong Kong Island from my room. It has not stopped raining since I arrived 12 hours ago, thus the slightly foggy effect.
-
The Dow Jones Industrials surged 124 to 9789, while world markets, except for Sweden, were also all up. Gold is steady at $991/toz, while crude oil is at $67/barrel. September 29 a year ago saw the largest one day drop in DJI history, minus 778 (-6%, ending at 10, 365), with the second worst drop occurring a little more than two weeks later of -733 (close to an 8% decrease, because the DJI ended at 8578). Of course, the three biggest increases were also about a year ago: +936 (+11%) on October 13, +889 (11%) on October 28 and +553 (+7%) on November 13. Those were volatile times. Now, the market is boringly stabilized.
-
Ketsana, after causing major damage and lost of life (144 at current count) around Manila as a weak tropical storm, is now up to 105 MPH as a major typhoon and is just beginning to slam into Vietnam between Hue and Danang. There are two more disturbancies in the West Pacific, both strengthening, with Tropical Storm Parma to become a typhoon by Thursday night, heading in the general direction of the Philippines. This one, though, might just skirt up north and spare Manila.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment