The vibrant and bustling seaport of Hong Kong has enjoyed a prominent part in the grand opera of Asia. Roderick Eime travelled to Hong Kong for a whirlwind tour of the sights, sounds and smells of the former British colony and discovered a bright and brassy city with a long and colourful history

The dramatic events of the mid-19th Century created Hong Kong from a string of minor fishing villages on the island that now bears its name. The British, on an expansionist roll, obtained Hong Kong Island in 1841 and then, in 1860, Kowloon on the adjacent mainland, after giving the Chinese forces of the Qing Dynasty a sound hiding in the two Opium Wars.

Read more > (opens in new window)