The name Hong Kong comes from the word "Heung Kong" which means "harum port. In the Canton dialect known as" Heung Gong "which means a port of fragrant". As for Kowloon means "Nine Dragons". But Hong Kong's nickname as a rogue kingdom also does not slip. Because at the time the merchants from the Portuguese came in the 16th century. Hong Kong is a collection of fishing and agricultural villages.Because its inhabitants are rare, the bays and small islands along its long and winding beaches become a nesting place of pirate pirates cruise along south china beach. Therefore not many residents dare to reside there.
The area of Hong Kong is thought to have begun inhabited by humans since the Neolithic era, but it was only widely known when Hong Kong was handed over to Great Britain after the Opium War in the 19th century. Earlier, in 1513, Portuguese sailor Jorge Álvares, became the first European to visit Hong Kong.
In the 1860 Peking Convention after the Second Opium War, the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutter's Island were handed over to the United Kingdom while the New Territories, including Lantau Island, were leased to Britain for 99 years from 1 July 1898 and ended June 30, 1997.
Opium War
The first British Army docked Guangzhou (Canton) in the 16th century. They trade opium starting in 1773. At that time the use of opium in Chinese society is quite wide. Britain brings in opium from India.
In 1800, the Chinese Emperor Tao Kwang banned opium trade and in 1839 the government seized and wiped out opium in Guangzhou and the British Canton. The British government responded by declaring war-known as Opium I War (1839-1842). The war was won by the British.
The Chinese ruler, Qing Dynasty, was willing to sign a peace treaty with Britain on 29 August 1842 on the British warship HMS Cornwallis in Nanjing / Nangking-Nanjing Treaty (Treaty of Nanjing). Contents of agreement: first, China must pay a tribute of 21 million dollars to the UK in compensation; secondly, China had to reopen commercial doors to the western world, by opening ports in Guangzhou, Jinmen, Fuzhou, Ningbo and Shanghai; thirdly, China must surrender the territory of Hong Kong and its surrounding islands to England as its colonies.
Nevertheless, China continues its efforts to stop the opium trade resulting in the Opium II War. In that war China again suffered defeat.
Under British rule, Hong Kong is built on the foundations of Democracy and Liberalism, while China is the epicenter of Socialism and Communism in Asia.
After about 156 years of British rule, Hong Kong was returned to China on July 1, 1997. Under the capitalist system, Hong Kong has grown into an international financial, trading, shipping, logistics and tourism center in the Asia Pacific region.
Ahead of Hong Kong's return to China, Deng Xiaoping, then China's leader, promised to apply the concept of "one country two systems". The concept gives autonomy to the Hong Kong government such as the legal system, currency, customs, immigration, road rules that continue to run on the left path, except for matters concerning national defense and diplomatic relations that are still handled by the central government in Beijing. In other words, the concept guarantees Hong Kong to stay on top of the capitalist system, and China remains in a socialist system.
Beijing has consistently implemented a one-state system of two systems so that political stability is maintained. Beijing's relationship with Hong Kong is dynamic and the investment climate both domestically and abroad is increasing.
Hong Kong is now a center of international finance, trade, logistics, tourism and shipping
