This year marks an important milestone for our city as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment（成立）of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The theme for celebration of the 25th anniversary is “A New Era – Stability • Prosperity • Opportunity”.
On July 1, the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, and senior government officials attended a flag-raising ceremony to celebrate the anniversary. The flag-raising ceremony was held at Golden Bauhinia Square outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai. The police band performed at the ceremony and participants sang the national anthem. It was followed by a fly-past（檢閱飛行）and a sea parade by the disciplined services.
On the previous day, President Xi Jiping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrived in Hong Kong by train to attend a meeting celebrating the anniversary. The President said he has been all along concerned about and caring for Hong Kong. “My heart and the central government’s heart are always with the Hong Kong compatriots（同胞）.” On July 1, the President oversaw the swearing-in ceremony of incoming Chief Executive and his cabinet（內閣）at the convention centre.
The celebration of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland（祖國）is as much a major event for the city as for the nation. The government will collaborate（協作）with various sectors of the community to present a broad range of celebration activities. These activities aim to display Hong Kong’s achievements（成就） over the past quarter century. They also aim to display the successful implementation（實施）of “One Country, Two Systems” ensured by the Hong Kong National Security Law and the improved electoral system.
The occasion presents all of us an excellent opportunity to experience and enjoy the festivity（慶祝活動）. The Chief Executive invited everyone to take an active part in it and share the joy together.
A host of celebrations will be held throughout the year. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department（康樂及文化事務署）announced that it will host a series of programmes to celebratethe anniversary. These programmes include exhibitions, artistic performances, floral displaysand so on. Events and celebrations will also be organized by the various District Councils（區議會）. Besides the main celebrations on July 1, hundreds of events will be held in the rest of the year. They include sketching and painting activities, dancing competitions, football matches, dragon and lion parades, cultural nights, martial arts shows, live music, concerts and so on and so forth.
There will be plenty of activities throughout the year for kids, too. These activities include all sorts of drawing, calligraphy, poetry, dancing competitions and the like as well as the many carnivals（嘉年華）and fun days staged by all the local districts. These 25th anniversary celebration activities will showcase a new era of opportunities for Hong Kong. With new vitality（活力）, Hong Kong is set to usher in（引領向）a brighter future.
Did you know?
People have been living in Hong Kong for thousands of years. Around 220 BC, Hong Kong became a remote（遙遠的）part of the Chinese Empire during the rule of the first Qin（秦）emperors. It remained part of various Chinese dynasties（朝代）for the next 2,000 years.
Towards the end of the Song Dynasty（宋代）in the 13th century, a large number of people from the mainland settled in Hong Kong after they were driven from their homes during the Mongol conquest（蒙古征服）. They began to build walled villages （圍村） to protect themselves from external threats.
Hong Kong is a region on the southeastern coast of China. It juts out into the South China Sea. Hong Kong’s deep harbour makes it valuable for shipping. In 1821 British merchants began to use Hong Kong’s harbour. Britain and China fought several wars in the mid-1800s. Britain won those wars. In 1842, the British took control of Hong Kong island. Its territory（領土）was expanded on two occasions – in 1860 with the addition of Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island, and again in 1898 when Britain obtained a 99-year lease for the New Territories.In 1984 Britain agreed to return Hong Kong to China. The Chinese decided to make Hong Kong a special administrative region of China. This means that Hong Kong does not follow all the policies, or rules, that the rest of China does. Control of Hong Kong went back to China in 1997.
What does “One Country, Two Systems” mean?
Hong Kong returned to China’s control on July 1, 1997. The handover ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong becomes a Special Administrative Region of China. Under “One Country, Two Systems”, Hong Kong is part of China but retains（保留）its own systems and way of life. It has its own currency（貨幣）. It also has its own economic and legal（司法）systems, but defense and diplomacy（外交）would be decided by Beijing.The Basic Law（基本法）gives legal effect to the “One Country, Two Systems” policy. It guarantees（保證）fundamental rights and freedoms such as freedom of speech and freedom of religious belief. It also guarantees everyone is equal before the law.
How Hong Kong began?
When people talk about how Hong Kong began, they will probably begin with the First Opium War（第一次鴉片戰爭）. The First Opium War left a deep scar on China. China lost Hong Kong and was forced to open up trade to foreign countries.
Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty（清朝）in the 18th century, the British grew opium in India and sold it at a great profit in China. Opium is a harmful drug and was illegal（非法的）in China. It weakened people’s body and mind. The opium trade gave the foreign traders such huge profits, but it had become a serious problem in China. Huge outflow （外流）of silver used to pay for opium led to a major economic crisis.
The Qing government had banned（禁止）opium trade several times, but the ban was ignored by the British traders. They continued to smuggle（走私；偷運）opium into China. Corrupt local officials and Chinese merchants were part of the smuggling network. In thirty years’ time, the import of opium had increased from 4,500 chests to 40,000 chests per year. There were over four million people in China using the drug. Emperor Daoguang（道光帝）decided to put an end to the opium trade. In 1839, the emperor sent Lin Zexu （林則徐）to Canton (now Guangzhou) to supervise the ban on the opium trade and to crack down on its use. Hostilities（敵意）soon broke out between China and Britain, and in 1840 the British sent its warships to China and the First Opium War began. After the war, Hong Kong island was ceded （割讓）to Britain.
Did you know?
Hong Kong covers an area of 425 square miles (1,102 square kilometers). It is made up of the main island called Hong Kong, Lantau Island, the Kowloon Peninsula, and some 200 small islands. Hong Kong also includes a region called the New Territories, to the north of Kowloon Peninsula. The central district of Hong Kong island is the centre of business and government.Hong Kong has a mixed culture. The people celebrate holidays of both the East and the West, such as the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Chinese New Year, the Easter and Christmas. Many people speak Chinese as well as English. According to Hong Kong’s recent census（人口普查）report, Cantonese remains dominant（主導的）with more than 95 percent of speakers. As for Mandarin, 48% of Hong Kong’s population can speak it, compared to 46% of population that can speak English.
Hong Kong profile – Timeline
1839 The First Opium War between China and Britain broke out.
1841 British forces occupied Hong Kong island.
1842 The Treaty of Nanking （南京條約）was signed. China officially ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain, although the British had already started arriving on the island since the previous year.
1856-1860 The Second Opium War broke out.
1860 The First Convention of Peking（北京條約）ceded Kowloon formally to Britain.
1898 The Second Convention of Peking（第二北京條約）was signed, China leased the New Territories together with 235 islands to Britain for 99 years from 1 July.
1937 The Sino-Japanese War broke out. Hundreds and thousands of people from mainland China fled to Hong Kong.
1941 Japan occupied（佔領）Hong Kong. Many people escaped to mainland China. The population droppedfrom 1.6 million in 1941 to 650,000 by the end of the Second World War.
1945 After three years and eight months under Japanese occupation, the British administration returned to Hong Kong.
1946 After the war, hundreds of thousands of former residents returned to Hong Kong. They were to be joined over next few years by refugees（難民）fleeing the civil war in China.
1982 China and Britain began talks on the future of Hong Kong.
1984 China and Britain signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration （中英聯合聲明）. It was agreed that Hong Kong would revert to Chinese rule in 1997. China declared that Hong Kong would become a Special Administrative Region after the handover under the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.
1997 July Hong Kong was handed back to the China after more than 150 years of British control. Tung Chee-hwabecame the first Chief Executive of HKSAR.
