With a population of approximately 6.8 million, Hong Kong is overwhelmingly Chinese -- some 95% of its residents are Chinese, more than half of whom were born in Hong Kong. But the Chinese themselves are a diverse people and they hail from different parts of China. Most are Cantonese from southern China, the area just beyond Hong Kong's border -- hence, Cantonese is the most widely spoken language of the region. Other Chinese include the Hakka, traditionally farmers whose women are easily recognizable by their hats with a black fringe, and the Tanka, the majority of Hong Kong's shrinking boat population. Hong Kong's many Chinese restaurants specializing in Cantonese, Sichuan, Chiu Chow, Pekingese, Shanghainese, and other regional foods are testaments of the city's diversity.
Since the handover, Hong Kong's newest arrivals are again from mainland China. Many Hong Kong Chinese look down on these newcomers as provincial, rude, and uneducated, and indeed, many of them now occupy the lowest rung on the economic ladder, accepting squalid living conditions in hopes of forging a better life, just as other Hong Kong Chinese did before them. There are also many young mainland Chinese wives in Hong Kong, since eligible Hong Kong bachelors often return to their parents' or ancestors' homeland in China in search of a bride. "Hong Kong girls are considered too materialistic," one Hong Kong resident told me, "and mainland Chinese will work harder." And, for those in mainland China, Hong Kong has long been the promised land.
Hong Kong, with a total land area of approximately 1,100 sq. km (425 sq. miles; about half the size of Rhode Island), is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The best place to appreciate this is atop Victoria Peak, where you can feast your eyes on Hong Kong's famous harbor, and as far as the eye can see, mile upon mile of high-rise apartments. If Hong Kong were a vast plain, it would be as ugly as Tokyo. But it's saved by undulating mountain peaks, which cover virtually all of Hong Kong and provide dramatic background to the cityscape and coastal areas. Because of its dense population and limited land space, with more than 16,000 people per square mile, Hong Kong has long been saddled with acute housing deficiencies. Just a few decades ago, in an area called Mong Kok in northwestern Kowloon, there were an astounding 652,910 people per square mile. One house designed for 12 people had 459 living in it, including 104 people who shared one room and four people who lived on the roof.
After 1953, when a huge fire left more than 50,000 squatters homeless, Hong Kong pursued one of the world's most ambitious housing projects, with the aim of providing every Hong Kong family with a home of its own. By 1993, half of Hong Kong's population lived in government-subsidized public housing, a higher proportion than anywhere else in the world (today, that number stands at about 30%, as new housing is constructed by the private sector).
Most public housing is clustered in the New Territories, in a forest of high-rises that leaves foreign visitors aghast. Each apartment building is approximately 30 stories tall, containing about 1,000 apartments and 3,000 to 4,000 residents. Seven or eight apartment buildings comprise an estate, which is like a small town with its own name, shopping center, recreational and sports facilities, playgrounds, schools, and social services. A typical apartment is indescribably small by Western standards -- approximately 250 square feet, with a single window. It consists of a combination living room/bedroom, a kitchen nook, and bathroom, and is typically shared by a couple with one or two children. According to government figures, every household in Hong Kong has at least one TV; many have one for each member of the household, even if the house consists of only one or two rooms. But as cramped, unimaginative, and sterile as these housing projects may seem, they're a vast improvement over the way much of the population used to live.
