LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT HONG KONG

LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT HONG KONG

There are plenty of well-known facts about Hong Kong, like it being one of the densest cities in the world, it was occupied by the British for 156 years and that Cantonese is its native tongue. But we bet you didn't know a few of these little tidbits, some might surprise you and some just make sense.

You'd think the British were top tea drinkers, but it's actually Hong Kongers. We drink 3 times more tea than the world average. That works out to be 1.4 KG (3lb) of tea per person every year. On top of, that we LOVE our Ovaltine here, a little leftover from when the British were about.

Living in Hong Kong ain't cheap, but did you know that retail rent is even wilder? Causeway Bay has the highest retail rent in the world! It costs an average of $2870 HKD per sq ft a month.

Hong Kong, known to be a rich man's haven, has more Rolls Royce owners per head than any other city. Flashy!

Hong Kong is in the top 10 for World's Highest Life Expectancy. Sitting at number 7, the average is 83 years, while our neighbours in Macau sit at number 4 with 84.60 years. Must be all that tea.

The Hong Kong Star Ferry began operating in 1880. At that time, to travel from Victoria Harbour to TST took up to an hour. Due to land reclamation and some technological upgrades, the same journey today takes only 10 minutes.

Hong Kong Island and Kowloon are the go-to's when you think of the city, HK is actually made up of 263 islands. There are well-known destinations like Lamma, Cheung Chau, and Lantau, which are just a ferry ride away. But most are basically unreachable and are unpopulated.

Did you know that the character for 'good' in Chinese is made up of the symbol for a girl, followed by a boy? That's because you're considered lucky if you have a daughter, followed by a son in Hong Kong.

You probably know that ' Hong Kong' means Fragrant Harbour, but do you know why? It's because Hong Kong was a massive transportation hub for fragrant agarwood. So much so that the scent of it overpowered the not-so-fragrant smells you experience today.

While it's not the most thrilling ride, it is damn practical, so we'll wear this one with pride! HK boasts the world's longest and covered escalator. The escalator leading up to Mid-Levels is half a mile long.

Pineapple buns are a breakfast and snack favourite at local bakeries. But they aren't called that because they contain any pineapple, but for their pineapple-like crust!

If you're hungry, Hong Kong's the place to be. We have the highest numbers of restaurants and cafes per capita. You can even dine on the cheapest Michelin-starred food on the planet at Tim Ho Wan. Each dim sum dish starts at around 15HKD.

Did we miss a good one? Drop your HK knowledge below!