History of Hong Kong
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1950s in Hong Kong began after the Japanese rule ended in 1945 with sovereignty returning to the British. Hong Kong began as a coastal Island geographically located in southern China. The following is a Timeline of the history of Hong Kong. Imperial China Era Colonial Hong Kong In the Prehistory of Hong Kong, according to archaeological studies and many other resources human activity in Hong Kong dates back over five Millennia The History of Hong Kong in Imperial China began in 214 BC under the Qin Dynasty. The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began after the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young surrendered the territory of Hong Kong to Japan on 25 December Hong Kong began as a coastal Island geographically located in southern China. 1960s in Hong Kong continued with the development and expansion of manufacturing that began in the previous decade 1970s in Hong Kong underwent many changes that shaped its future 1980s in Hong Kong marks a period when the territory is known for its wealth and trademark lifestyle 1990s in Hong Kong marks a transitional period and the last decade of Colonial Hong Kong. The transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, often referred to as the Handover 2000s in Hong Kong began a new millennium under the People's Republic of China (PRC Seven years after the first flight of a heavier-than-air controlled aeroplane in 1903, planes were already flying in Hong Kong. The history of bus transport in Hong Kong began with the introduction of the first bus routes in Hong Kong in the 1920s. This article gives readers an insight on how the British colonial rule affected the technical standards in Hong Kong. Chinese civilization originated in various city-states along the Yellow River ( valley in the Neolithic era The history of the United Kingdom — British history — as an unified Sovereign state begins with the legistlative union between the kingdoms of England The Culture of Hong Kong can best be described as a foundation that began with China, and then leaned West for much of the 20th century under constructive Hong Kong's highly favorable geographical position and Entrepot trading opportunities are wealth-generating assets Education in Hong Kong has a similar system to that of the United Kingdom, in particular the English education system of Hong Kong was modernized by the The Geography of Hong Kong primarily consists of three main territories Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, and the New Territories Politics of Hong Kong takes place in a framework of a political system dominated by People's Republic of China, its own legislature the Chief Executive For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Sovereignty is the exclusive Right to control a Government, a country, a people or oneself See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands However, the Nationalist-Communist Civil War was renewed in mainland China. The Communist Party of China ( CPC) ( also known as the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of the Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term synonymous with the area that is under the jurisdiction It prompted a large influx of refugees from the mainland, causing a huge population surge. According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race The government struggled to accommodate these immigrants. Immigration refers to the movement of people among countries While the movement of people has existed throughout human history at various levels modern immigration implies long-term Unrest in China also prompted businesses to relocate their assets and capital from Shanghai to Hong Kong. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to In Business and Accounting, assets are everything owned by a person or company (all tangible and intangible property that can be converted into cash. Shanghai ( 上[[wikt 海|海]] is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest urban areas in the world with over 20 million Together with the cheap labour of the immigrants, the seeds of Hong Kong's economic miracle in the second half of the 20th century were sown. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on

Contents 1 Background 2 Demographics 2.1 Population 2.2 Rising Buildings 3 Culture 3.1 Lifestyle 3.2 Education 3.3 Entertainment 3.4 Law and Order 4 Economy 4.1 Transportation 4.2 Industrial 4.3 Hospital and Hospitality 4.4 Finance 5 References

Background

As the communists drew near to a victory in early 1949, there were fears that Hong Kong was going to be invaded by the communists. Causeway Bay or East Point is a heavily built-up area of Hong Kong, located on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, and covering parts of Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The British government was determined to keep Hong Kong as a capitalist outpost within a communist sphere of influence, though the memories of the Berlin Blockade and the perceived antagonism of communist governments was still fresh in their mind. Her Majesty's Government, or when the monarch is male His Majesty's Government, is the title used by the Government of the United Kingdom, based at Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where A sphere of influence ( SOI) is an area or region over which an organization or state exerts some kind of indirect cultural economic military or political domination The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 11 May 1949 was one of the first major international crises of the Cold war. The garrison was reinforced and plans of emergency evacuation to Australia were made. Garrison (various spellings (from the French garnison, itself from the verb garnir, "to equip" is the collective term for a body of Troops Emergency evacuation is the movement of people from a dangerous place due to the threat or occurrence of a disastrous event For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. However, the People's Liberation Army were ordered to stop advancing at the Shenzhen-Guangzhou border, and Hong Kong remained a British colony. The Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA ( was the Army deployed by the Chinese government during the Korean War. Shenzhen is a city of sub-provincial administrative status in southern China's Guangdong province situated immediately Guangzhou ( Jyutping: Gwong²zau¹; Yale: Gwóngjàu) is the Capital and a Sub-provincial city The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power.

Hong Kong was a valuable trade centre at the mouth of China, and hoped that by retaining this connection doing business with the new government in Beijing would be easier. Trade is the willing exchange of goods, services, or both Trade is also called Commerce. To give up Hong Kong to the communists without a fight would be seen as a national weakness in the face of the growing communist threat in Europe and Asia, especially the Emergency in Malaya. The Malayan Emergency was a State of emergency declared by the British colonial government of Malaya in 1948 and lifted in 1960 as well as an insurrection and Talks did come up at the British Parliament to trade Hong Kong back to China in case it could not maintain entrepôt trade^[1]. An entrepôt (from the French " Warehouse " is a Trading post where merchandise can be imported and Exported without The people were outraged, but was committed to turning Hong Kong into a manufacturing center.

Demographics

Population

After the war, the 1950s began with a large number of impoverished people without jobs and natural resources. The Emblem of Hong Kong, or the Regional Emblem of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is the Emblem which represents The problem was further compounded with a flood of refugees from mainland China^[2]. The People's Republic of China was establishing in 1949 under new communist party. Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Communist Party of China ( CPC) ( also known as the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of the As many as 100,000 people fled to Hong Kong each month under the new regime. By the mid 1950s Hong Kong had increased its population to a staggering 2. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive 2 million. By 1956 Hong Kong's population density became one of the highest in the world^[3]. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Rising Buildings

In 1953 the Shek Kip Mei fire left 53,000 homeless. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Shek Kip Mei ( Chinese 石硤尾 originally known as Kap Shek Mi, is an area in New Kowloon, the North Eastern Kowloon Peninsula of Hong Governor Alexander Grantham drew an emergency housing program that introduced the "multi story building" capable of housing 2,500 people in a fire-flood-proof structure. Sir Alexander William George Herder Grantham, GCMG, (葛亮洪 1899&ndash1978 was a British colonial administrator who governed Hong Kong. The idea was to house as many and as fast as possible to deal with the homeless shelter crisis. Every floor in the building included a communial room, washing and toilet facility. Each person was granted 24 square meters of space^[4]. The high rise buildings would become the trend, since it saves space expanding vertically.

Culture

Lifestyle

At the end of the Japanese occupation, the government held a monopoly on the purchase and distribution of food and raw materials including rice and cotton yarn. Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China 's Cantonese culture. This article is about the fiber product For the type of joke see Shaggy dog story. Price controls by the government were not eliminated until 1953. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The period can best be summarized by low resources, and an endless increase in population. Many mainlanders would cross the border to Hong Kong and establish illegal huts on roof tops and edge of mountains^[5]. A Hut is a small and crude shelter usually used for Dwelling. The integration of different groups from China and original tenants of Hong Kong would also create a society in which everyone had to wrestle with the overwhelming number of language dialects. Spoken Chinese ( comprises many regional variants the largest of which are Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, and Min.

Education

Those who were born in Hong Kong were provided education and housing by the government. The first group of refugees were only granted temporary asylums since the government believed they would return to the mainland. An estimated 9% of the government's expense were spent on education and healthcare^[6]. The curriculum made it crucial that students did not feel associated with Hong Kong or China in any national sense. In formal education a curriculum (plural curricula) is the set of courses and their content offered at a School or University. It emphasized that they were the middleman for the Sino-British trade relationships^[7].

An internal government paper in the period indicated about 34 schools in the urban area were actually classified as controlled by the communists including 24 in the New Territories. New Territories, abbreviated to NT or NT, is a region in Hong Kong excluding Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Stonecutters Island Another 32 schools by leftist elements such as staff and teachers. A new ordinance was passed in 1952 to allow any Director of education to shutdown a school believed to be controlled by political indoctrination^[8]. Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The refugees mostly sought their education and social services from Christian churches. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Actions were taken at the Heung Tao Middle school and Nanfang College^[9].

Entertainment

One of the main form of entertainment in the 1950s was cantonese opera. Cantonese opera is one of the major categories in Chinese opera, originating in southern China 's Cantonese culture. While the art remained relatively static, if not declining in China, it was still popular in Hong Kong. Mainland China was housing new programs to train new artists at the Guangdong opera house in the 1950s, many of the artists would flee to Hong Kong and bring more addition to the art. Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the The traditional opera form would begin to overlap with big screen cinemas starting with the 50s. The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the Cinema of China The Shaw Brothers would also produce some of the first groups of martial art films. The Shaw Brothers Studio ( Chinese 邵氏片場 owned by Shaw Brothers (HK Ltd Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for Combat. Their notable sword fighting style would be emulated on many movies and TV dramas for years to come.

Law and Order

The Hong Kong 1956 riots was one of the first full scale riot. The Hong Kong 1956 riots began with looting and attacks by Pro- Nationalist on Pro- Communist citizens and property in Hong Kong during October 1956 It showed the government the dangers of low wages, long working hours and overcrowded condition^[10]. Tighter law control would diminish the triads in the period. Triad ( also known as) is a term that describes many branches of Chinese underground society and/or organizations based in Hong Kong and Macau and also Most of the social problems in the 1950s dealt with nationalist and communist factions on Hong Kong soil. The term nationalism can refer to an Ideology, a sentiment, a form of Culture, or a Social movement that focuses on the Nation Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based The British government feared the communist would stir anti-British sentiments and pushed for any anti-communist policies in the foreign office in London. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

Economy

Transportation

Hong Kong Taxi service was founded in 1947 with just a mere 329 cars. Hong Kong Observatory ( known as the Royal Observatory ( before 1997, is a department of the Hong Kong Government. See also Taxicabs by country Taxicabs of Hong Kong provide a taxi system Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. By the end of the decade in 1959, it would have expanded to 851 cars^[11]. The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The service became more popular, since it does not require passengers to follow a particular bus route.

Industrial

In 1953 two land reclamation projected added 3 million square ft to Hong Kong. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Land reclamation is either of two distinct practices One involves creating new land from sea- or riverbeds the other refers to restoring an area to a more natural state (such as after The first project would specifically add runway space to the Kai Tak Airport. Kai Tak Airport (officially Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to closure The airport ran out of landing slots and parking bays and flights often had to be diverted Additional land would turn Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan into industrial towns^[12]. This article is about the area of Kwun Tong For the administrative district covering Kwun Tong Ngau Tau Kok, Yau Tong, Ping Shek, etc Tsuen Wan ( formerly also Tsun Wan) is a Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong, opposite to Tsing Yi Island across The early industrial centers churned out anything that could be produced in a small space, like buttons, artificial flowers, umbrellas, textiles, enamelware, footware and plastics. In Clothing and Fashion design, a button is a small plastic or metal disc- or knob-shaped typically round object usually attached to an article of Clothing Artificial flowers and imitations of natural flowers are sometimes made for scientific purposes (the collection of glass flowers at Harvard University, for example "Parasol" redirects here For other uses see Umbrella (disambiguation, Umbrella (song or Parasol (disambiguation A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. In a discussion of Material science, enamel (or vitreous enamel or porcelain enamel in U Footwear consists of Garments worn on the feet, for protection against the environment and Adornment. Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products

Hospital and Hospitality

The handling of the refugees required the collaboration of numerous services and programs. The British Red Cross would set up their first branch in Hong Kong in July 12, 1950 as the Hong Kong Red Cross. The British Red Cross Society is a prominent part of the largest impartial Humanitarian organisation in the world – the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement Events 1191 - Saladin 's garrison surrenders ending the two-year Siege of Acre. The Hong Kong Red Cross ( is a Red Cross society in Hong Kong They started in the Lai Chi Kok Hospital and began the Patient Concern Service. Blood donation also began in 1952 with 483 people donating in the first year. Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A Disaster Relief service was established in 1953 mostly to deal with the Shek Kip Mei fire^[13]. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Hong Kong Tourism Association was established in 1957. The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB a Government-subvented body was founded in 2001 Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar)

Finance

The banks at the time were not regulated by the government. There were no central banks or monetary policies. The governor did not want to regulate the Hong Kong Stock Exchange even though it has become a serious problem in financing the fast growing economy at the time. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange ( also 港交所 abbreviated as HKEX;) is the Stock exchange of Hong Kong. Manufacturers constantly complained about the shortage of investments^[14]. Pressure was coming from within and outside Hong Kong to get the policies fixed.

References

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