Essay On Chinese Culture In Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a multicultural society, with its citizens stemming back to pockets of settlements thousands of years ago. Starting out as a small fishing village, the city later evolved into a major trading port, a manufacturing center, then eventually an international financial centre and one of the three Alpha+ cities, with high per capita incomes, modern architecture and numerous high international rankings.

During the time when major developments reshaped and evolved the city, Hong Kong has mainly been under the rule of China and Great Britain, with a short period of occupation by Japan during the Second World War.

The earliest settlers, as well as a large influx of immigrants from the 1930s to the 1960s, were from Mainland China. Hong Kong’s population nowadays can be traced back to early Chinese settlers and the influx of immigrants escaping Communist rule, who brought along with them the rich Chinese culture of their time. It is arguable that Chinese culture was the “cultural backbone” of Hong Kong, whereas British culture only forged and molded the “original” Chinese culture brought to Hong Kong, developing and modifying our culture to what it is today. Hence, we believe it is reasonable to state that most of Hong Kong’s culture is derived from both Chinese and British culture.

Hong Kong is frequently described as a place where "East meets West", mirroring the culture's mix of its people’s Chinese roots with influences from its time under British rule. The fusion of east and west characteristics of many aspects of Hong Kong, per se Hong Kong's cuisine; where dim sum, fish fillet and international buffets synchronize. Hong Kong’s buildings use modern Western architecture, yet at the same time buildings u...

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...atly influenced by and is composed of both traditional Chinese and traditional British customs. Examples include the Chinese tradition of using the color “red” as the theme color and the British custom of cutting the wedding cake, both of which are commonly practiced customs in Hong Kong-styled weddings.

This peculiar phenomenon of both cultures mixing within such an important event in which most cultures stand adamant about is what we believe can represent, to a certain degree, the unique cultural mix in Hong Kong. It is curious how two vastly different cultures can mix so well within a small place with a large population. Thus, with the above considerations, we decided to fix our topic on weddings. We believe that through this project, we will be able to learn more about our rare and uncommon culture, in terms of its origin and composition of other cultures.