Hong Kong : a cultural history

Hong Kong is the epitome of the modern city and a crossroads between eastern and western cultures. Today the city is most famously characterized by its breathtaking skyscraper skyline, dominating its fragrant harbor. The hundred-year-old Star Ferry, which continues to ply the seven-minute route between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, enhances the nocturnal magic of this unique maritime city, composed of China\u27s southernmost peninsula and an archipelago of over two hundred islands. Hong Kong has always been something of an anomaly, and an outpost of empire, whether British or Chinese. Once described as a barren island, the former fishing community has been transformed by its own economic miracle into one of Asia\u27s World Cities, taking in its stride the territory\u27s 1997 return to Chinese sovereignty. Beneath the surface of Hong Kong\u27s clichéd self-image as Pearl of the Orient and Shopping Paradise, Michael Ingham reveals a city rich in history, myth, and cultural diversity