Hong Kong SAR, China 2018
I traveled to Asia with Rachel’s family in March 2018. Hong Kong is a very large and diverse city in Asia, with a long history of British colonialism.
History of Hong Kong
Hong Kong was officially handed over to the People’s Reublic of China in 1997 by the United Kingdom as a part of it’s decolonisation process, and exists as Special Administrative Region (SAR) within China. A SAR is a relatively autonomous region within the People’s Republic of China that maintains separate legal, administrative, and judicial systems from the rest of the country under the “One country, Two systems” policy. This policy keeps Hong Kong sepearate from China’s socialist politicial and economic systems until 2047, however this policy is slowly erroding.
Investopedia: What is Hong Kong SAR, China?
Trip Background
Our flight to Hong Kong marked Rachel’s first trip to Asia and mine as well. It was a great opportunity for us to spend time with her family and learn more about where her parents were born and grew up before moving to America.
Rachel’s father was born in southern Vietnam and fled with his family via boat during the later years of the Vietnam War. Rachel’s mother was born in Macau, then a Portguese colonial posession, and moved to Boston, Massachussets, USA. They met each other in Boston and were married before moving to southern California in the early 1980s.
First stop on the trip was Hong Kong SAR, China, where we arrived after a 12 hour flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I spent most of the time on the flight watching Bollywood action films & Hong Kong crime dramas while Rachel slept.
Exploring Hong Kong
Comix Home Base - Hong Kong comics museum
Comix Home base is a museum that is focused on Hong Kong comics. In America, most people would have little exposure to Hong Kong comics unless they were from a Hong Konger / Cantonese background. This is a big contrast to American comics and Japanese Manga, which became much more prevalent in the 1990s when I grew up.